Articles
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Tree 42: From Workshop Tree to the Display Stand
I took a vigorous Japanese black pine from a workshop, tilted its pot to find a new angle, repotted it half bare-root, decandled it, wired it, and watched…
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A Kentucky Scots Pine and the Hands That Shaped It
I bought this Scots pine from Tommy McCurry as rough stock. Akio Kondo set its bones, Peter Tea and I refined it, and after the ABS/BCI convention it…
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Hummingbirds in the Bonsai Garden
The bonsai garden has had some new visitors lately—hummingbirds! I’d seen them around the neighborhood before, but never this close, never this often. I knew they were fast,…
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Beneficial Insects: Lacewings
It’s easy to overlook the quiet heroes in our bonsai gardens—the tiny allies who hunt silently among the foliage, keeping pest populations in check. One of the most…
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Bonsai Pests: Pine Butterflies
Most bonsai pests don’t lay their intentions out in the open. Spider mites hide under foliage. Root aphids go unseen until it’s too late. Scale insects wear armor.…
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Bonsai Pests: Sawflies
If you work with pines long enough, eventually you’ll run into these tiny troublemakers. It starts with a pine needle that looks… off. A little row of bumps,…
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Bonsai Pests: Cicadas
This spring brought a level of tree damage I hadn’t seen in nearly two decades. It began with a low drone early in the day. By afternoon, the…
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Highlights from the 2024 Pacific Bonsai Expo
This past October, I had the privilege of attending the Pacific Bonsai Expo in Oakland, California—a premier event that celebrates the art and culture of bonsai. Held at…
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Japanese Black Pine Approach Graft
Another grafting technique Peter Tea demonstrated to the study group while he visited was approach grafting on a Japanese Black Pine. A new apex, first, and second branch were grafted to make…
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Grafting using Parafilm
Peter Tea was in this recently for our Matsu Bonsai Study Group. One of the things covered was grafting. Peter said the method I have been using, with the little baggies,…
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First Styling of a Western Juniper
I have posted this tree before in How To Bend a Western Juniper. Now, several months later I was tasked to finish the job. On October 31st I completed…
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Akio at Kirby’s
I spent a very hot weekend at my friend John Kirby’s house in Arkansas. Visiting artist Akio Kondo was in town. Mr. Kondo is a Kokufu award winning…