This past spring, as the deciduous bonsai in my garden began to leaf out, I noticed several dwarf flowering quince began to die back. Over the next two months, about half of these chojubai died. I found no evidence of insects or fungus, and a nearby lab couldn’t identify the culprit either. Our best guess […]
Search Results for: pine
Early appearance of summer buds and a decandling tip
Seeing a note on my calendar to finish decandling a pine, I headed outside and brought the pine below into the workshop. Partially decandled black pine The idea was to remove the weaker shoots ahead of the stronger shoots. Although I usually decandle all of a tree’s shoots on a single day, I occasionally remove […]
Bonsai Development Series #7: Preparing the next sacrifice branch
I’m working on a number of five and six-year-old pines. Several look like the tree below, with vigorous growth on the top half of the tree and smaller shoots below. Five-year-old red pine – 27″ I’d like to slow down the top half of the tree to encourage the bottom half to become more vigorous. […]
An early start to the decandling season
The decandling season is starting earlier than normal for me this year. I’m looking to prepare a few trees for an exhibit in September but the pines in my garden usually grow through October and into November. By decandling early, I can increase the odds that a tree will look good in September at the […]
An alternative approach to repotting trees in development
For young trees growing in colanders, a repot isn’t always necessary when the roots run out of space. Here’s an overview of an alternative approach in two photos. Red pine in 6″ colander After nesting the colander within a larger colander The theory behind this approach is that large roots are less likely to develop […]