I’m starting this series on cork oak with the second step – reducing branches that are too long or too straight. The first step is repotting the tree into bonsai soil and generating healthy roots. Last year I repotted this oak in a training pot after nearly bare-rooting it. The field soil supported few roots […]
Cork Oak
Checking the roots on a large cork oak
I’d like to highlight a comment from the last post: “Whenever I get a new tree I like to repot it at the first ideal opportunity, regardless of whether or not the tree or soil are showing signs of a required repot because that is such an important component to the future of the tree […]
Restoring an old cork oak bonsai
Toward the end of 2014, I picked up an old cork oak bonsai that belonged to a former member of Bay Island Bonsai. The tree hadn’t been repotted for maybe 5-10 years. Getting it out of the pot took several hours – the whole repotting took more than a day. At the time, the tree […]
Reducing the trunk to improve a cork oak bonsai
One of the first cork oaks I started working on has developed quickly. I let a couple of sacrifice branches grow freely and they have now adequately thickened the branch that will become the new leader. It’s time to make a big cut. Field grown cork oak The decision to cut has also been influenced […]
Initial work on a cork oak bonsai
I recently picked up a field grown cork oak with some nice movement in the trunk. There are, however, few usable branches at this point. Field grown cork oak As I’d like to encourage new branches to grow from the trunk, I cut back the existing branches to small side shoots. After cutback Most of […]
