A number of the Japanese black pines I’ve grown from seed have been developed in the exposed root style. It’s a fun style to work with as roots offer possibilities that aren’t always available for specimens whose roots are firmly secured in the pot. My first exposure to the style was at the Green Club […]
Exposed root
Pulling needles on black pine
Density is a key concept in bonsai. We want young trees to develop good density. With mature trees, we aim to maintain density. Density, it seems, rarely takes care of itself. Some of the young pines I’m developing have been decandled for the past several years. This has dramatically increased the trees’ density. Dense foliage […]
Pot selection – exposed root black pine
One of my favorite activities relating to bonsai display is pot selection. I’ll be showing a young black pine at tomorrow’s Bay Island Bonsai exhibit and the pot used for the past year isn’t exactly show quality. 13 year-old black pine in colander Here are 11 options for the tree. Some look great to me, others […]
Exposed root pines in progress
Last year I made reference to a process for developing exposed root pines (see “Repotting 1 year old black pine seedlings“). I started two last year, one black, one red. Here’s the black pine at 1 year. 1-year-old black pine The tree has done well – here it is a year and a half later. […]
Repotting 1 year-old black pine seedlings
Last year I tried two different approaches to planting black pine seedling cuttings – planting them in individual containers, the approach I’d most often taken in the past, and planting groups of them together in terra cotta pots (see “How to pot seedling-cuttings“). While the seedling-cuttings planted in 3” pots did well, the ones planted […]