This fall’s Pacific Bonsai Expo is coming together quickly. As a result, all of us working behind the scenes wanted to share some updates so here we go! Volunteer signups are online now If you’d like to help set-up the exhibit or make sure things run smoothly when the Expo opens to the public, we’d […]
Search Results for: pine
Kokufu scoring exercise results
For those of you curious to learn which trees scored best in the recent Kokufu scoring exercise (see part 1 and part 2 for details), here they are! Large conifer – shimpaku juniper Large deciduous – Japanese beech Medium display – trident maple and shimpaku juniper Shohin display – white pine, black pine, gardenia, privet, […]
Wrapping up decandling season
I finished decandling my black and red pines about a week ago. And since I’d neglected to pull needles or thin branches last fall, I did that work too. (If you’re new to decandling, see “Decandling: an in-depth guide” for details.) Here’s what this work looked like on an 18 year-old pine. Before decandling After […]
Bonsai Development Series #26: Focusing growth in a single sacrifice branch
For the last few years I’ve been pruning my young pines down to a single sacrifice branch. This slows growth but allows me to fit more trees on the bench. Decandling time is a good time to do this work because it gives me the opportunity to slow down branches that are gaining too much […]
Visit to Rakuyo, the bonsai garden of Andrew Robson
During my recent visit to Portland, Oregon, I spent the bulk of my free time at Rakuyo-en, the bonsai garden of Andrew Robson. Andrew started Rakuyo to focus on deciduous bonsai. Although I’d seen photos of the garden before visiting, nothing prepared me for the scale and scope of the collection. For starters, many of […]