It’s fun to see where bonsai come from. The journeys trees make from seed, layer, graft, cutting or point of collection can be subtle or dramatic. Rapid or dramatic changes are exciting, but continued improvement plays no less important a role in the creation of bonsai. Following a tree’s history can also be informative. People […]
Yaupon Holly
Yaupon holly refinement
Once or twice a year, my Yaupon holly gets a haircut. I cut back to the silhouette, remove branches that are growing up down and thin branches in crowded areas. The work is fun and the result is pleasing. Yaupon holly – before cutback After cutback Depending on the weather, I can expect a new flush of […]
Yaupon holly
A good rootball is fun to work with. This is especially true for varieties that produce fine roots like Yaupon holly. After removing the tree from its pot and starting to comb through the roots, I found it easy to sculpt the rootball into the exact shape I wanted. This makes repotting easy as the […]
Yaupon holly cutback
As it turns out, now’s the time for the final significant cutback and wiring ahead of BIB’s January exhibit. I shortened shoots that extended beyond the desired silhouette, thinned out dense growth everywhere and wired a few branches to add movement or make subtle adjustments up or down. Yaupon holly before cutback After cutback From […]
Watching trees grow
Common approach to writing about bonsai: photograph full tree, cut something, photograph less-full tree. Mixing it up for a change, here is progress after spring cutback on my Yaupon holly. I’m focusing more than normal on how quickly this tree grows as I’d like to show it in January and I’d like to calculate how […]