Time to Decandle your Black Pines-
Those pines that can be de-candled (de-shooted, de-foliaged—chose your favorite term) include Japanese Black pine, Japanese Red pine and a few of the less often decandled but sometimes very vigorous trees like Scots and Pitch pine. It’s nearly the last week or two for decandling in many temperate zones in the Northern Hemisphere. Here in […]
The Joys of Chojubai-
I’ll find any excuse to share photos of Chojubai! A few of these photos are of older trees blooming in my yard this spring, in their new antique pots. (Love that oxymoron, ‘new antique’—new to me, but also old to me and everyone else). I’ve also included photos of younger plants I’m growing. ‘Chojubai’ is the […]
Apprentice Jorge Trak and the Trident-
I’ll keep this photo essay short on words and long on images: Jorge Trak studied repotting techniques in February. We covered a lot more trees than I show here, but this Trident was one of the better documented of those we did photograph…
Cryptomeria and Foemina Juniper—Year Two
Since a few of you seemed interested in the work going on at a client’s place with these two well-known trees, I thought an update on them might be fun. We start with the first cryptomeria photo from 1 1/2 years ago: And now the Foemina juniper. Here’s a progression of photos showing how that […]
Juniper Grafting- Curious Results
This was interesting and seemed worthy of sharing. This tree, owned by a client, was originally Rocky Mountain juniper. It had some of the worst scale infestation that I’ve ever seen, the Rocky Mountain foliage was so covered with it that it looked nearly white from a distance. When we decided to graft on it […]
Burning Bush—Seasonal Styling and Potting
This tree was originally collected by Kevin Yates from a park in Eugene. Apparently it had been kept stunted by the nutria that lived in a pond nearby. When Kevin saw this post he recognized his tree and corrected me on several points on its origin- Thanks! Euonymus is a popular genus for bonsai. The […]
‘Chojubai’ Quince—Diminutive Jewels
This unassuming dwarf quince can steal your heart. There are many who have gone to Japan for the spectacular pines, junipers, and maples, only to discover the quiet but memorable Chojubai. Those ‘many’ included a few friends of mine, and myself. This post is a little longer than most because Chojubai is so little known […]
Tar and Feathering? Changing a Famous Juniper…
No matter how assured you are, changing the design of a famous tree is done with a deep intake of breath. One takes precautions. Like boarding up windows and doors, in premonition of a rowdy gang of tree maniacs in green cloaks with picks and axes and rolls of wire for who knows what horrible […]
Leafless Red Maple
This is the same tree as was featured in the previous post. I took that picture in leaf, then took a trip, and when I came back it was completely bare. Here’s a winter silhouette, and, since several commented on it, a close-up of the nebari.
Revisting a 2009 Ezo Spruce
Spruce bonsai have been ‘in the news’ this past year or two. I’ve posted one spruce already this fall… and I thought, why not continue the trend… Some of you might remember this four-trunk Ezo spruce clump from an earlier post. It was styled in 2009 and left rather leggy as we can’t always cut […]