Last week I wrote that it’s important to look for the surface roots when evaluating bonsai (see “Check the surface roots“). What is it that we’re looking for? We want to see the connection between trunk and roots. Surface roots on corkbark elm When we see surface roots – nebari, in Japanese – we can […]
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Bonsai buying guide: check the surface roots
Buying bonsai can be a lot of fun. Because it can be hard to find good material, when you stumble on something that has potential, it’s easy to get excited. How do you know when something has potential? For me, the best guide is the trunk. When we buy bonsai, most of what we pay […]
Options for applying bonsai fertilizer
I’ve been enjoying experimenting with the new fertilizers I’m using this summer. Ten days ago I applied Omakase fertilizer cakes to a number of my trees and I’ve already noticed a few things. One of my concerns had been whether or not the cakes would break down quickly as the cakes are very hard out […]
Watching bonsai become bonsai
If you have a lot of bonsai, you might feel like you’re doing assembly line work at certain times of the year. Summer, for those with a number of black pines, is one of those times. When I have a lot of repetitive work, I often line up a group of trees against the workshop wall, start […]
Cutback on Korean hornbeam
The 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition is just a few months away. The event will be held on September 10th and 11th in Rochester, New York – home to William N. Valavanis, the force responsible for bringing the event to life. As always, there will be demonstrators from around the world, a large vendor area, […]