You just don’t know what you’re going to see next at Dan Robinson’s Elandan Gardens, in Bremerton, WA, but you can bet it’s been around a while. Or, at least it will look that way. The Japanese larch below is younger than I am, grown from seed since 1974. Robinson planted this tree on a lava […]
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Defoliating a Korean hornbeam – part 2
On May 6, 2012, I defoliated my Korean hornbeam. Here is what it looked like after removing the leaves. Defoliated – May 6 (the few leaves in back belong to an escape branch) One of my main goals for defoliating the tree was to expose the interior buds to more light (see Decandling a Korean […]
Decandling projects
In my ongoing effort to develop interior buds on two of my black pines, I tried decandling them in fall almost two years ago. I decandled them again last year, and to really push these trees, I cut them back heavily after decandling. The result has been very vigorous growth and a number of new […]
Decandling season isn’t just for decandling
Decandling season, typically late spring through early summer, can entail a lot more than removing spring growth from pine bonsai. It’s also a great time for removing extra needles, light cutback, and even wiring. Because the timing of the decandling is of some importance, I usually decandle my trees at the appointed times and then […]
A cutback-decandling technique
This past January, I attended a workshop run by Daisaku Nomoto. As I was about to start plucking needles on a young pine, Nomoto recommended I leave some of the oldest needles in place. I asked why, and he suggested the following technique. Many branches on the young pine below have grown vigorously. Even after […]




