The Redwood Empire Bonsai Society held their 28th Annual Show in Santa Rosa, CA, last weekend. Long known as one of the biggest and best bonsai shows in Northern California, REBS again lived up to their reputation. Two demonstrations by Kathy Shaner, a large vendor area, and over 200 bonsai on display drew large crowds […]
Search Results for: pine
Brushing branches
I recently learned, a bit late, how to treat black pines that were decandled in fall – see “Fall decandling, year two” for details. After decandling the tree, I took the opportunity to wire it in a workshop with Akio Kondo. After reviewing my wiring, Kondo asked if I had a toothbrush. Too soft, he […]
Fall decandling – year two
Last fall I decandled two Japanese black pines a few months later than normal – see “Fall decandling” for details. New shoots appeared soon after I decandled the trees but they stopped growing during winter. In spring the new shoots became vigorous. At this point I realized I didn’t know the plan for the second […]
Witnessed in a recent workshop – grafting follow-up and junipers
You can’t have too many branches on ume – or at least I can’t. Getting ume to ramify has proved difficult for me. I made several grafts this year and fortunately most of them took. See “Ume – cutback and grafting” for details about the grafting process. My job now is to help the scions […]
Summer at the Lake Merritt Bonsai Garden
On a recent visit to the Golden State Bonsai Federation’s Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt, a number of trees with scars caught my attention. The first is a Coast oak collected from Carmel with extraordinarily small leaves. The scar has completely healed over and how adds interest to the already gnarly trunk. Coast live oak […]