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Review of Bonsai Empire’s Advanced Bonsai Courses
Over the past year, Bjorn Bjorholm and Bonsai Empire released two online courses focusing on advanced bonsai techniques. Together, the courses provide twelve hours of instruction delivered by Bjorn....
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The benefits of thinning satsuki azaleas in fall
Last year I grew a batch of azaleas that had recently been bare-rooted. To help the trees get established, I let them grow freely all year. By fall they were healthy and full of new leaves. Normally I...
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An idea for a bonsai show
I’d like to host a bonsai show in November, 2021. You’re all invited. For the past few years, Eric Schrader and I have been thinking about how much fun it would be to attend an exhibit that shows off...
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Five patterns for pulling needles on black pine
When thinning needles on black or red pine, I treat branches differently based on my goals for refining them. I typically want weak branches to grow stronger and strong branches to slow down, but...
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New book – The Little Book of Bonsai
This Thanksgiving weekend, I’d like to introduce a project I’ve been working on for the past two years: The Little Book of Bonsai! Cover of The Little Book of Bonsai The book is a beginner’s guide...
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Pot selection exercise – contorted quince
Now that temperatures have cooled a bit, I’ve started repotting. Sometimes I return trees to the pots they were growing in, and other times I select new containers. Here are eight options I considered...
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Thinning shohin Japanese maple
Creating branch ramification on shohin Japanese maples doesn’t happen quickly. After three years of producing short internodes, the tree is now ready for cutback to improve the silhouette and branch...
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Refining cork oak – initial styling
I’ve been preparing a cork oak for its initial styling for two years now. In winter of 2018, I worked on the roots and planted the tree in its current container. This past February, I reduced the...
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Ume observations and cutback
I’ve been curious, for the last month or so, if my ume was planning to drop its leaves this winter. Ume with green leaves in December Upon taking a closer look this week, I noticed that the lowest...
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Cutback on an old cork-bark black pine
It’s been a year-and-a-half since my last update on an old cork-bark black pine. I didn’t thin the tree last fall so the foliage was extra dense when I brought it into the workshop. Cork-bark black...
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Setting design goals for refining mature bonsai
On Tuesday, I posted an update showing fall work on a cork-bark black pine (see “Cutback” for details). Today I’d like to critique the tree and talk about design goals for future development. For...
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Cutting back and wiring a young cascade pine
Some of my cascade black pines are almost six years old. Black pine pre-bonsai Now that the basic curves are set, the main focus is to improve the branch structure. I do this by cutting back to two...
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Refining a young root over rock black pine
I’ve been working on a root over rock black pine for the past two years. The tree was created by Eric Schrader (phutu.com) and is thirteen years old. Root over rock black pine The basic branches are...
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Developing grafted cork-bark pines
Two years ago I received a note from Pete in Virginia about his work grafting dwarf and cork-bark black pines. He was curious if his grafting was appropriate for bonsai so he sent me some samples to...
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The story behind The Little Book of Bonsai
Happy New Year! I’d like to kick things off by sharing the story of how The Little Book of Bonsai came to be. Two years ago, I received a note from the gardening editor at Ten Speed Press, a division...
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Thinning a mature satsuki azalea
I was relieved when it was time to clean up the last azalea on the bench. A friend and I had thinned around forty trees over the previous few weeks (thanks Dylan!) but I was still looking forward to...
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Pot selection exercise – dwarf wisteria
Earlier this week, I presented a program on repotting for the East Bay Bonsai Society. We started by covering techniques for securing trees into containers based on the numbers of holes in the pot...
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Refining a field-grown black pine
The pine below is several years out of the ground and is showing signs of becoming a bonsai. Japanese black pine In the past year, I wired the primary branches and made two grafts near the apex. This...
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Pruning to support development goals on crabapple pre-bonsai
When pre-bonsai are in the trunk-thickening phase, the work is simple – prune to avoid unwanted swelling and wire new shoots where you want movement. I’ve been doing this work on a batch of crabapples...
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The Little Book of Bonsai – a look at what’s inside
A few weeks ago I told the story of how The Little Book of Bonsai came to be. Today I’d like to share details about who it’s for and what’s inside. I wrote the book for people who are new to bonsai....
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