Kagawa, Japan’s smallest prefecture, happens to be one of the country’s larger bonsai producers. Fifty years ago, to hear some of the local nurserymen tell it, the area was rife with bonsai growing in the region’s sandy soil. The clusters of nurseries around Kinashi and Kokubunji, about 15 minutes by car or train from Takamatsu, […]
Black Pine
Where should the apex go?
Some years back I dramatically shortened the trunk on the black pine below to create a small sized bonsai. Shohin black pine I regrew the apex from a branch that pointed forward. As a result, the apex wasn’t centered close to the base of the trunk. I figured this was fine as I’ve seen a […]
Decandling projects
In my ongoing effort to develop interior buds on two of my black pines, I tried decandling them in fall almost two years ago. I decandled them again last year, and to really push these trees, I cut them back heavily after decandling. The result has been very vigorous growth and a number of new […]
Decandling a shohin black pine
The last of my pines to be decandled this year are the smallest of the bunch. Giving these trees less time to recover helps keep summer growth in check and needles short. I removed all but the smallest spring shoots, and then removed extra needles, leaving around 5 pairs on each branch. Shohin black pine […]
Treating a successful approach graft on black pine
Here’s how to treat a successful approach graft on black pine. The first step is removing any tape holding the graft in place. Tape holding graft in place After removing tape Next, remove the stub with concave cutters. Removing the stub A chisel can be used to further gouge out the stub to ensure that […]