One of my favorite things about working on trees I’ve had for a long time is that the work is straightforward. My normal pattern is to spend the first few years of a tree’s time in my garden getting it healthy. Once the tree is healthy, I can spend the next few years doing any […]
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Tracking down banding symptoms in black pine
I was surprised to find yellow banding on a few of my pines this fall. It’s not something I’ve seen much of in my garden over the years so it caught my attention when small yellow patches appeared. Yellow banding on black pine needles The overall health of the needles is good, and the damage […]
Bonsai Development Series #18: Timing cutback to support development goals
I’ve often sat in front of trees and wondered if it’s a good time to prune or if I’m better off waiting. Even when the trade-offs are clear, it can be difficult to figure out the best approach year after year in a young tree’s life. One of the best ways to overcome this is […]
Developing field-grown trident maple – taking the next step
Not all field-grown bonsai are ready for refinement work when they come out of the ground. One of my trident maples is a good example of this. Although the trunk has reached the desired thickness, there are a number of steps to take that will set the tree up for refinement down the road. Trident […]
Bonsai Development Series #15b: removing unnecessary growth, part 2
In the last post we looked at the benefits of removing root sprouts on developing bonsai. We can take the same approach with water sprouts. Water sprouts are shoots that emerge from the trunk and generally grow straight up. If we don’t plan to use these branches in the final design, it’s best to remove […]