I thought I was in for a simple before and after post about a coast live oak until I began the root work. Live oak before pruning Live oak after pruning After removing a few large roots, I found a pocket of old soil. Old soil Curious about where this would lead, I began picking […]
Coast Live Oak
Coast Live Oak update – plus submission tips for the Pacific Bonsai Expo
For the past five years I’ve been working to rehabilitate a semi-cascade coast live oak. Now that the tree is healthy, the silhouette is filling in quickly. Here’s the tree after cutback and wiring last summer (see “Rehabilitating a coast live oak – part 2” for details). Coast live oak – July 2021 And here’s […]
Initial cutback on a coast live oak – and Tree Sale!
One of my favorite oaks in the garden has been growing freely for the past few years. Now that it’s showing signs of vigor, it’s time for pruning! New shoots on a coast live oak It turns out that many of the interior branches lacked ramification so I ended up shortening most of the branches […]
A visit to John Thompson’s garden
If you’re a fan of oak bonsai, you’ve likely heard of John “JT” Thompson. For those who don’t know JT, he’s one of the most generous bonsai teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’d seen JT’s trees in exhibits for years but I hadn’t seen his collection until last week when I visited to […]
Rehabilitating a coast live oak – part 2
It took a while to get to this point, but my semi-cascade coast live oak put on enough new growth to warrant pruning this year. Here’s a photo of the tree from 2019 (see “Rehabilitating a coast live oak – part 1” for details). Coast live oak – March, 2019 And here is a photo […]