I have a fetish about putting all my trees into bonsai pots, even the trees in early training that don’t begin to deserve a dedicated pot. My benches are just outside my dining room and kitchen windows so you can see the trees all the time, and they simply look nicer in nice pots. But […]
This is a great time to bring tropical species such as figs to work on. Root pruning and styling are both possible, so make sure you bring everything you’ll need if you want to spend your evening developing your figs. Pruning the foliage and styling of your deciduous trees and conifers is also appropriate during
Don’t we all have pots like this or am I just weird? One of the downsides (?) of being a bonsai enthusiast is the tendency to collect pots for which you have no tree, not now, often never. This translates to a pot collection greater than the number of trees you have. Still, you won’t
June is a busy month at the NBPCA with a large portion of our deciduous trees requiring structural pruning now that the leaves have fallen. Any deciduous tree that bleeds sap heavily requires its structural pruning done as soon as the leaves have fallen. Japanese and trident maples are first up. Deciduous trees that are
Well known for her very beautiful kusamono and kokodama, Young Choe has a deep interest in moss and is a member of a moss identification group along with Zach Stanley, a bryologist from the Pacific Bonsai Museum. In this workshop, she and Zach explained mosses, their identification, collection and cultivation. It was most interesting, even
Have this charming little privet, all of 16 cm high. The trunk has great movement, showy roots and a mushroom top. What more can you ask for? The problem was, the roots were getting too big and the top had nowhere to go/grow. There was bar branching but it wasn’t in your face so it
Lovely trident, upper structure well developed and ramification coming along very nicely. But the nebari looked like two legs doing the splits. A couple of years ago I cut a path all along the front nebari, brushed on rooting hormone and covered it up. A few roots developed but grew straight down. Which, while understandable,
I took over care of a Japanese red pine in December of 2017 from a very good friend who had had the tree for many years. It is an old Koreshoff pine that was grown from seed planted in 1951. I have come across quite a few 1951 Koreshoff pines with a number living in
At this time of year a lot of azaleas and camellias have or will be finishing their flowering period. It is important that if you want to have them for bonsais, there are a few things that you must do straight after they flower. Cut off all the old dead flowers and seed pods. Trim
As John’s demonstration had to be cancelled due to Covid restrictions, he has kindly provided these detailed notes on preparing trees for show. So, after some time nurturing and styling your bonsai, the time has come when you think it has reached a stage where you would like to put it on display for others
