Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a Bay Island Bonsai workshop run by Daisaku Nomoto. I selected a tree I’ve been working on for the past 15 years – a hinoki. The tree improves every year, but slowly, as hinokis are notoriously slow growing. A year and a half ago, Boon and I performed some […]
Hinoki
Unwanted moss, or, Nomoto’s paradox
Covering bonsai soil with moss is a great technique for indoor exhibits. Covering your bonsai’s bark with moss is almost never a good idea. Moss weakens bark by keeping it moist. For trees on which bark denotes age – Japanese black pine comes to mind – moss can quickly ruin a tree’s appearance. In autumn, […]