This week I finally got around to repotting a red pine forest that hadn’t been worked on in a while. Midway through, I paused to take note of the different techniques I was using to do the work. Midway through the repot I’d started by combing out the mat of roots growing along the bottom […]
Red Pine
Bonsai Development Series #25: Pruning exposed root pines
Some of my exposed root pines are close to seven years old. They have long sacrifice branches to help thicken the roots. Although the fastest way to thicken the roots will be to let the tree grow freely all summer, I often prune this time of year to improve the branch structure. As an added […]
BDS #19: Encouraging interior buds on young red pines
After more than twenty years of growing pine bonsai from seed, I noticed a big difference between red and black pines this year. Red pines are harder. Specifically, red pines are less likely to develop small shoots in the tree’s interior that can be used to create primary branches after thickening the trunk. Here’s an […]
Refining the roots on an exposed root pine
One of the more fun parts of developing exposed root pines is adding movement to the roots. If you use a columnar container for the roots, the roots will grow in the shape of the column. Exposed root red pine It’s easy to add character to the shape of the roots as long as they […]
Thinning a red pine forest
In general, I treat red and black pines the same. This doesn’t, however, mean that the trees respond the same to the same work. Black pines are generally the more predictable of the two varieties. After decandling, I can expect between one and three shoots per branch in all but the strongest areas where it’s […]