How To Drill Holes In Bonsai Pots For Better Drainage
Due to warping in firing, or poor planning, some bonsai pot drainage holes don’t do their jobs. A pot that doesn’t drain well may make bottom roots sit in water, which isn’t ideal for species like pines. A willow or wisteria wouldn’t mind. You might also wish to address antique pots, which often have tiny […]
Design Options For A Bunjin
This bunjin featured in a recent post. Like many bonsai, it has several design options. Shore Pine after a couple years of free growth. Though it has been styled once, each reset is an opportunity to disagree with the earlier one. What other design might work? With some branch bends, we could go in any […]
Another Way To Think About “Helmet Heads”
For many, the large domes of foliage on bonsai that are popular around the world are ridiculous. The “helmet head” label is accurate enough—they look not unlike the impressive headgear of Lord Dark Helmet in the movie Spaceballs. Rather intimidating. And, top heavy. To give the critique credit, such large domes are often out of […]
Can’t I Just Use A Water Softener For Hard Water?
It would seem the perfect solution. Water softeners are often used in homes to prevent white scale buildup from hard water. Why not use it to prevent the hard water that can weaken our bonsai? Trouble is, water softeners introduce sodium to our water. It’s only a small amount, and plants do use very small […]
A Witches Broom And A Lighthouse
Longtime blog readers may know that two of my hobbies are birding and tree watching. Out on a hike I’m open to both, and depending on the day, one goes better than the other. On a recent vacation to the coast the tree watching had the better of it. I took one hike that snaked […]
Are Plants Stressed By Wildfire Smoke?
Given the spate of fires in North America and Europe this summer, those growing bonsai may wonder if wildfire smoke affects plants. And it does—in both positive and negative ways. Wildfire smoke has a lot in it. There are gases, like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, and ammonia. Then there are the particulates, […]
Managing Rocky Mountain Juniper Foliage
Rocky Mountain Junipers are grown for their magnificent trunks. Junipers in general are known for their dynamism, but Rockies are exceptionally sinuous and exciting. The foliage of Rocky has a great genetic variability. The color ranges from green to blue to gray to yellowish. And the structure also varies, from the rare trees with fine […]
Mr. Shinji Suzuki Visits Portland, Oregon
Long-time readers of the blog may remember I apprenticed under Mr. Shinji Suzuki in the early aughts, before moving to Portland in 2006. Being a busy fellow, Mr. Suzuki had never been here. The Portland Japanese Garden, who often bring in Japanese masters to give presentations on various traditional arts, invited him over. Personally, having […]
Dwarf Bamboo Care And Display
Dwarf Bamboo in the genus Sasa is a common ground cover and makes a good accent. This is a moss ball, or kokedama, planting. A kokedama doesn’t have a pot, it’s just a mass of roots and soil. Sasa is a vigorous grower and can fill out fast. This one has grown out well but […]
Summer Doings in the Bonsai Studio
These are some of the projects we’ve had going on in the bonsai studio this month. A small bunjin Shore Pine in need of a touch up. The needles stopped growing a month ago, and now some older ones may be removed. After needle pulling and a reset. Some of you may recognize this bunjin […]