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American Bonsai Association, Sacramento, 54th Annual Spring Show
Last weekend the American Bonsai Association, Sacramento, held their 54th Annual Spring show in McKinley Park’s Shepard Garden and Art Center. Michael Hagedorn provided demonstrations Saturday and...
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A Large Korean Hornbeam at the ABAS Annual Show
One of the standout trees at American Bonsai Society, Sacramento’s, recent exhibit was an old Korean hornbeam. Korean Hornbeam It’s a great example of a tree with an unusual feature that provides...
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The easiest pine maintenance of the year
Like so many varieties, black pine bonsai tend to require our attention throughout the year. In addition to regular watering and feeding, needles need plucking, roots need repotting, and branches need...
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New bonsai fertilizer
Every year I experiment a bit with fertilizer and every year I seem to keep returning to my standard duo – cottonseed meal and fish emulsion. Although they’ve worked well for my trees, I’d like to try...
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Hinoki air layer – preparation
About a year has passed since I picked up two large Tempelhof hinoki with the aim as developing them as bonsai (see “New hinoki bonsai“). The first real bonsai work began last year when I repotted one...
View ArticleArtisans Cup postponed until September 2015-
Reblogged from Crataegus Bonsai: This is a guest post by Ryan Neil. I am in full support of his words here: Over the past fourteen months of research and planning the potential of the Artisans Cup has...
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Hinoki air layer
When the time came to air layer two large grafted hinoki, Michael Hagedorn happened to be in town for a visit – a perfect opportunity to learn how he approaches layering. He’d last visited my garden...
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Japanese maple air layer – a check up
Last May I started an air layer on an old Japanese maple (see “Air layering a Japanese maple“). Curious if there was any root growth, I opened up the bag in February. There was callus, but no new...
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Large cryptomeria air layer – part 1
Over three years ago, I mentioned picking up a cryptomeria at Maruyama’s Bonsai Nursery, but had yet to follow up with a post. Here’s the tree. Tall cryptomeria – about 48″ The tree was the left-over...
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Large cryptomeria air layer – part 2
Sixteen months into a layering project for a large cryptomeria, it was time to separate the layer (see “Large cryptomeria air layer – part 1“). September 2012 – time to make the cut Over the previous...
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Yaupon holly – before and after
For the past few years, I’ve been refining a Yaupon holly with an eye toward showing it at an upcoming Bay Island Bonsai exhibit. It’s now one of my better candidates for our upcoming 15th anniversary...
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Ficus bonsai – more cutback
If any one tree in my collection deserves the moniker “project tree,” it’s likely my ficus. When I wanted healthy roots I let the branches run. Now that I want to stimulate new branches I cut back...
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What is decandling?
There is a lot to say about decandling pine bonsai. There are as many approaches to decandling as there are bonsai professionals, and many of these approaches have merit. As we go into this year’s...
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Why we decandle pine bonsai
Sometimes the reasons why we decandle pine bonsai can get lost in the discussion of how we decandle. In short, decandling is the single-most important technique used to develop beautiful pine bonsai....
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Selecting trees for decandling
While decandling is a great technique for refining red and black pine bonsai, knowing when to decandle is just as important as knowing when not to decandle. When is decandling not appropriate for red...
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Preparing trees for decandling
Preparing red or black pine bonsai for decandling is straightforward – keep trees healthy, give them lots of sunlight, and feed heavily. If the tree is growing in poor soil, repot it in soil that...
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When to decandle
Depending on our approach, we can decandle all of a tree’s new shoots on a single day or spread out the process over a few weeks (more on that later). This period of time is defined primarily by...
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Decandling black pine – making the cut
After many years of decandling red and black pine bonsai, I find I still need to pay close attention as I work. It’s easy to cut too high or too low, cut at an angle, or accidentally cut nearby...
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Techniques for controlling vigor
So far we have covered techniques for controlling the vigor of summer shoots for an entire bonsai. Today we’ll look at three techniques for controlling vigor branch by branch. One of the greatest...
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