One of the most common questions I hear relating to the development of pine bonsai has to do with the lower branches: What should I do with them? The answer is fairly simple – keep them. There are, however, some details that may come in handy. Let’s look at an example. The pine below is […]
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Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest sits at 10,000′ elevation in California’s White Mountain range, just east of the Sierra Nevada and Owens Valley. The main draws are the ancient specimens that are over 3000 – and sometimes 4000 – years old. The trees aren’t huge like their neighbors to the west, the Giant Sequoia, but […]
Larger pots make a big difference for young pines
I’ve been growing black pines for a long time. My approach has been pretty consistent the past few years and I can dependably produce trees that look like the following after 2½ years. 2½-year-old black pine This past year I made a small change to the process. Here’s the same 2½-year-old pine next to a […]
Decandling pines in development
A number of my 13 year-old pines are making the transition from trunk development to branch refinement. During this stage, I’ll often decandle branches that will be part of the final design while letting other branches continue to thicken. Most of the branches on the tree below were decandled this year. The branches that I […]
Thinning young cork bark pine bonsai
A few years ago I created some cork bark black pines by grafting. The trees have grown well and are now quite full. Corkbark Japanese black pine Some of the oldest needles have recently begun to yellow which is a tip-off that the interior branches will be yellowing out as well. To make sure that […]