The first batch of cascade black pines I started are now five years old. After decandling the trees last spring, it’s time for cutback and wiring. Five year-old cascade black pine Right side There are a number of spots along the trunk where too many branches emerge. Ideally, no more than a single branch would […]
Black Pine
Bonsai Development Series #11: Culling trees with poor characteristics
I’d like to say that every pine I start from seed grows into a winner, but that isn’t the case. To avoid investing time in trees with flaws that are difficult to correct, I periodically evaluate all of my bonsai and cull out any that don’t make the cut. Doing this frees up time in […]
Bonsai Development Series #10: transitioning to a new sacrifice branch
Here’s a six year-old pine with a large sacrifice branch. Six year-old black pine It’s great that the sacrifice branch has grown this much, but it’s getting big relative to the future trunkline. Sacrifice branch Future trunk If I had reduced the sacrifice branch a year or two ago, it would have grown less but […]
Two year progression on a cascade black pine
Two years ago this month, Daisaku Nomoto did a demonstration at the Pacific Northwest Bonsai Clubs Association convention in Olympia, Washington. His helpers were Boon Manakitivipart, Matt Reel and Tyler Sherrod – quite a team! Here’s the finished product. October, 2016 After the demo, I brought the tree home, repotted it in winter, and decandled […]
When to keep old needles on weak branches
Here’s another black pine that’s slowly regaining vigor. There’s plenty of new foliage on the strongest shoots, but many of the weaker branches have just a few new needles each. Old black pine Where there are many new needles, I can remove all of the old the needles. Relatively strong branch After removing the 3rd […]
