BONSAI CARE

PINE BONSAI CARE

AUTUMN
It certainly makes sense to start any discussion of pine care with the autumn season, as the work done at this time is critical to prepare your pine for the rest on the year's care. However Also keep in mind That the schedule for Some tasks is more flexible Than others, and this especially applies to Some of the autumn tasks.
Firstly, fertilize! Do not start putting on 0-0-10 in early Sept as you Might be doing with deciduous trees. Relatively heavy thumbtacks Give a full fertilization regimen through at least the time the freezing temperatures are starting That changed from a regular event. In the Central Midwest, this Would usually be late October. Pines fertilization use this candle to make the stronger the Following spring growth, and fertilizing now is critical to good secondary budding candle candle June after removal. I personally prefer natural fertilizer cakes (Bio-Gold is one of the Few the which does not seem to attract animals and Maggots in my area), but similar results be obtained with frequent cans Addition of Somewhat diluted chemical Fertilizers.
Needle pruning is a key activity in pine development. Needle pruning specifically refers to the process of removing all of the older needles. This accomplishes a number of Things. Firstly, it opens up the tree to allow light into the inner branches, budding Increasing opportunities and strengthening weak inner growth. It improves the health of the tree by Increasing light and airflow, in Addition to directly eliminating the needles most likely to be already diseased. Also it frees up the small terminal branches for you to be Able to place wire on Them. Since the present year's growth usually has the strongest upward growth, it improves the appearance Immediately Also of the tree. However, probably the most Important accomplishment of needle pruning is to allow you to equalize the strength of all the portions of the tree. Specifically, by Leaving more needles on the tips and fewer weak on the strong tips, They will of changed from Closer in strength and vigor over the coming year.
Needle removal cans be done Either of two ways. Needles cans Their be cut off near the base with Scissors, Leaving a tiny stub, the which will from subsequently turn brown then fall off. Or, needles cans be simply pulled out. I prefer the later, since it is faster and leaves a neater appearance, and cut needle stubs cans be a wiring problem over. However pine Some experts feel That pulling out the needle manually cans damage dormant buds at the base of a needle pair. To AVERT this, you cans always leave an extra pair or needle Remnant in a position you hope to have a future bud. In Addition, I seem to Observe plentiful back budding events in areas of previous complete needle plucking, so I'm not convinced That argument is valid.
Needle removal is one of our more Important tools for equalizing strength. By removing more needles from the strong upper and outer candles from the weaker lower Than candles, this redirects the energy to the weaker candles. Specifically, Should you remove all of last year's needles Throughout the whole tree. Then remove needles Some of this years, Leaving six or eight pairs on the strongest candles, ten or twelve on the intermediate candles, and leave all the needles on the weakest-ideally, this earnest be a larger number Than the six to twelve pairs you have left on the other candles.
Your tree will from now look entirely different; sparse, but more like a bonsai already!
WINTER
The next task is styling and wiring. If this is a tree is being styled for the first time, you will of need to tease the soil away from the rootbase as you first step. This will of allow you to choose a front According to the optimal combination (always a compromise!) Between the rootbase, trunk direction / shape, and branch position. How to style is beyond our scope here, but keep in mind That you will from your Want probably lower branches to flow downward, so do not choose a number one branch too close to the ground.
Late autumn and winter are the optimum times for removing large branches. However, do not remove the majority of the tree's branches all in the Same year, half of the branches Should Be safe on a healthy pine. We all know That you can not cut back to bare wood, you need to leave Some green for a branch to survive. But do not try to cut a large branch back to it's last tiny Either weak inner candle; do-it-Halfway, and next year will from That weak inner candle be a strong one, and you will from be Able to cut back to it Easily. When you remove a very large branch, installments inch leave a stub, and remove it the Following year. If you wish to leave a jinn, carve a slight circumferential depression around it so heal the wound will of flats around the jinn. Jinn grafts are possible with thumbtacks, but not easy since the callous aggressive growth is not Quite Enough to lock it into place looking natural.
Techniques for bending large branches are best applied Also During this time. The methods are most effective are the which the longitudinal bisection of the branch in a plane from the top through the bottom of the branch; shaving off the upper third of the branch near the base; shaving off the lower half of the branch then hollowing out the remainder from the bottom being sure not to extend the hollowing to the cambium, and cutting out a triangular wedge from the branch in a position Such That the cambium of the wedge aligns on EACH side for grafting together. In Addition, cork bark branches May be bent by removing the bark all the way to just above the cambium (it will from re-grow very Quickly cork). In all these techniques, the branch Should then be protected by wrapping with raffia or the equivalent, along with heavy wire.
Now it's time to wire. Start at the bottom since you will from Generally be moving the branches downward; if you started at the top, you would be bending branches into you're your next downward target wiring, crowding your ability to work. Annealed copper wire is preferred for aluminum thumbtacks but Also earnest work. Wire your primary branches with a single wire rather large Smaller Than multiple wires if possible. Your wiring angle Should Be pretty close to 45 degrees. Any wider, and you loose holding power, and loose ability to make fine closely spaced bends back and forth; very wide wiring Also Provides less protection from disrupting the cambium During extreme bending, and earnest notes as evenly distribute the stress along the branch, allowing it to snap more Easily. On the other hand, wiring with too narrow of an angle causes you loose to holding power, have a congested appearance, loose space for secondary wires, and makes it Such That the wire will not be removed Pls Easily you cut it. EACH wire Should Be firmly anchored, with the best method being to wire two branches with wire EACH, EACH branch with Becoming the anchor point for the other. Secondary branches Should Be Likewise wired two at a time. Carry out the wiring as far as the branch is Appropriate for the thickness of the wire, but at Some point you will from the branch end of wire and wire the tip with Smaller gauge wire, pairing it with a secondary or tertiary branch. The wiring Should Be Extended to the very tip of EACH candle eventually, Such That Pls you finish the tree, and every single branch tip and candle is wired.
Should you wire the candles / tips outward or upward? I show you two cans well Respected authors writing in different publications in the Same month last year, Opposite giving advice on this, and this is typical. No one Seems to agree. However there are distinct advantages and disadvantages to Either, and the best approach Actually Might depend on what your immediate goals are for that branch. Thus, there Might be good reason to wire the tip upward on one tree, and outward on another, in fact, you May even mix methods on the Same tree!
Wiring the tips upward Auxin flow increases. This will of make this a tip grow more strongly and be more likely, to Produce multiple buds / candles next season. However auxins Also Suppress the growth of anything proximal to Their origin, as long as there is no Uphill flow involved. Thus, if you have a branch parallel to the ground and wire the terminal tip upward, it will from Suppress the growth of the inner tips Closer to the trunk, and Suppress backbudding. On the other hand, the tips outward wiring will of Suppress Auxin production by That tip, and allow the inner candles to increase of strength, as well as encourage backbudding.
It May seem thus if You Want That New backbudding for branch development, or have weak inner candle growth, that you Should wire the tips outward, at least on the terminal ends of the branch, but if you have a mature tree and do not Want backbudding, and have Fairly equal distribution strength, wire Them upward. However there are other considerations. If you wire the weak inner tips upward, this increases Their strength itself, so you do not absolutely have to wire the outer terminal outwards tips to accomplish this. Uphill and auxins do not flow, so if you wire the entire branch downward, or even just a short wire downward bend or kink in the branch, it will from Suppress the inhibitory effects of the auxins from the strong terminal even if these terminal tips tips are wired themselves upward. So you cans have your cake and eat it too! Just wire all your tips upward, and Either put a downward orientation of the branch, or add a wire downward kink just before the strongest outer tips to Prevent Auxin flow from the inner inhibiting growth and budding.
Several other advantages of wiring the tips upward Are That the appearance of the tree is Immediately improved, and upward tip light wiring allows better flow into the interior.
The bottom line Is That you cans wire up the candle tips, or you cans wire them out. You can even wire up the weak ones and the strong ones out. Just Realize what effect you are creating, and use this to your advantage. Remember: tips up, stronger candle; tips out, weaker but more backbudding candle.
Winter is Also the proper time for carving shari. The only possible time would be better Immediately (and I mean Within minutes!) Prior to root pruning and repotting. Any other time you cut into the trunk in a major way, you will from have sap leakage for many months. Pines tolerate a fair amount of abuse, so you cans carve shari Relatively Freely. However Their nutrient flow channels are not as versatile as shimpaku, and too wide of an interruption of the sap flow and water cans result in loss of branches and / or Roots Within the flow lines above and below. You Should not exceed about 25% of the trunk diameter, and Avoid cutting below major branches.
SPRING
The time for repotting is just before the candles begin to swell. This is typically mid to late March. You'll see at least the stubs of Some fresh new white root tips in the bottom of the pot if it's ready. The most Important task of repotting is to clean the roots of ALL the old field or nursery soil, especially just below the roots. This soil holds moisture old avidly and will of stay wet even as the Surrounding bonsai soil dries out. Thus, the roots are attracted to the areas of greatest moisture, and They will from head straight for the muck, and never really grow outwards into the bonsai soil.
When you remove the previous soil, do it carefully. Try not to traumatize the roots too much. This is especially true with very old corkbarks and thumbtacks. With a healthy young black pine the which is not a corkbark, you cans Easily cut the roots back by half or more, but with less remove older trees. With corkbarks, it is best to not remove any roots, cut back only a few, and simply curl the rest back into the new soil.
The optimum soil type for pine bonsai has been subject to debate, and in fact there are as many different recommendations as there are experts in this country. However installments principals are unquestionable. The soil must be coarse, very well draining, but still with Some ability to retain both water and micronutrients. Organic components Should Be minimal. I use akadama with about 10-20% of Various other components to add consistency (whatever I have around, Including pumice, turface, occasionally coarse pine bark); I have to say That The Closer I get to puree akadama, the better my thumbtacks seem to grow. Incidentally, akadama is available in at least three grades-soft, fired, and hard fired. Do not use the soft, it turns to mud in a year. The hard fired is REALLY hard, you break the window with these cans little orange suckers; They Are Almost useless except for drainage.
It is Also Quite helpful to have miccorhiza in the soil. This is a pure white fungus the which cans be found especially around the bottom soil, the which has a co-facilitatory relationship with the pine roots. Your earnest pine grow better if this is present. Although miccorhiza is commercially available, the best source is from the old soil you are removing, if it is already present. In fact I keep a large plastic bag full of miccorhiza scrapings. Any time I bothered a pine with lots of good white miccorhiza around the bottom, I scrape as much of it off as I cans, and save it in this bag. It does not take too much to reestablish the miccorhiza in the new soil, so it tends to accumulate Such That 'there is extra available Pls I bother a pine the which has none. The miccorhiza spores will from live from season to season even if They dry out, so I continually use this bag of scrapings over many years.

Bonsai-Detailing Your Pine

Detailing Your Pine
The process of detail styling a pine is one you either love or hate. Hopefully it's the former, because this process is what actually transforms your pine from a bush in a pot to an awe inspiring piece of artwork. If one examines most American bonsai books from the last four decades, and compares the pines we see in these resources to the pines we see in the Japanese exhibition books, a major difference is the detail styling. Of course there are differences in the basal material itself, but almost any pine can be made to look better with detailing work. By better, I mean looking like a true miniature aged tree, with layers of foliage, movement, balance, and visual cues of great age. Such trees are an inspiration.
Wiring is not a task which comes naturally. In fact, non-bonsai people would likely relate its fun-factor scale in the same category as scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush! But have faith, because if you keep it up, several things will eventually happen.
First, your technical skills will improve to the point that the wire starts going on more easily. Suddenly you know what size and how much wire to cut off; you know which branch to anchor to which; you find it more and more natural to avoid crossing wire; and you stop knocking off all the buds and foliage on the branch you are wiring! In other words, you get good at it. Before long you can wire in your sleep!
Secondly, as you work, something happens to your trees. They become transformed before your very eyes, as you sit there! The scrappy shrub turns into a magic character, looking more and more awe-inspiring as you work it to greater and greater detail. The psycho-emotional consequence of having this creative energy rewarded over and over again as you detail more trees is quite significant. Psychologists refer to this process as positive reinforcement. This phenomenon is a major drive towards shaping what we do and want to do in our everyday lives.
Thirdly, your artistic eye becomes better trained. The sloppy pine needles pointing in every direction, the rising bottom branches, the overly long straight sections of your trunk and branches - all of these things begin to jump out at you. Your trees begin to look more refined as you learn more ways to correct these deficiencies, and your concentration and awareness of styling cues increases. Eventually this translates into the development of a better eye for styling and greater ease in spotting the "hidden tree" in your material. This doesn't necessarily mean all your trees have to appear Japanese styled; they simply must become the best tree for your individual tastes. In fact, you develop more and more of an individual style, eventually to the extent that others may at some point recognize your trees.
Thus, you have become transformed! You no longer walk by your trees thinking: "arrrgh, I dread having to wire that, maybe next time..." In fact, you begin looking for things to wire. And as you wire, if you are lucky, you eventually reach the point where wiring a tree becomes like a "runner's high". You become totally absorbed, at peace with the world.
However for now, I'll begin by describing a year of care of a pine which is old enough to style but is still essentially unstyled. In addition, I'll be directing most of my comments towards black pine, or two-needle pines, unless specified otherwise.
Among the primary goals of the various tasks in pine care are to equalize the strength of all parts of the tree and to induce dense compact growth. Without accomplishing both of these goals, your design will suffer.
Ideally, from a standpoint of styling, we would wish to have every candle tip identical in size, needle length, and number of new buds put out. No matter how hard you try, this will never happen. Auxins from each growing candle suppress all proximal growth (growth closer to the trunk or roots) such that the candles at the end of each branch are stronger than the ones in the middle. These auxins tend to flow downhill with gravity but never upwards, thus causing the top of the tree to have stronger growth, a property referred to as apical dominance. Thus, we will constantly battle to try to increase the strength of the lower and inner growth relative to the upper outer growth. If we don't accomplish this, the weaker areas fail to ramify, turn spindly and elongated and eventually die back. None of this is good for maintaining the design of your tree.

Bonsai-Saikei

Saikei
 
Trees, soil and stones in the landscape saikei.
Saikei, Literally translated as "planted landscape". This is the art of creating miniature landscapes that combine miniature living trees with earth, stones, water, and vegetation-related (such as land cover) in a single tray or container that serupa.Sebuah saikei landscape will remind the viewer of nature through the topographic location of the whole, the choice of materials soil, and species used in planting them.
A derivative of the Japanese art of bonsai, bonseki, and bonkei, saikei differs from its parent form in a few key things. A typical saikei contained in a large ceramic tray with a low side. In the tray, rocks and soil have been prepared to suggest landscapes, often mimic certain types of real landscapes such as beach or mountain path. small trees planted in the ground and can be arranged to emphasize the perspective of, for example, with the trees smaller to the back of the screen. The trees themselves are similar, but usually much more complicated than, bonsai tree. They selected and cultivated to look like a tree grown in accordance with their simulated landscapes grow into non-tree plant specimens can also be grown in saikei, such as cover crops or non-specimen trees that help evoke the landscape.
According to Lew Buller, Toshio Kawamoto (founder of saikei) "insisted that his life is not bonsai landscape", Citing saikei mandatory rules such as the use of stones, and placement of trees and roots on the upper edge of the tray. Shape the ground is very important in saikei, where necessary reduced or absent in bonsai. In general, saikei concentrate on the revival of live natural landscape, rather than on the character of individual trees as emphasized in bonsai.
Art bonseki and bonkei also describes a miniature landscape in a tray, but does not include living trees or other flora. In bonseki, simple landscape depicted on a flat baking sheet using a sand and stone. In bonkei, stone and materials sculptable (eg, cement) are formed into the hills and mountains rise from the ground materials such as sand and gravel. Miniature human figures, animals, buildings, and other outdoor elements can be placed on bonkei but will be out of place in a saikei. The lack of material means of life and bonkei bonseki simple to preserve and display relative to saikei.

National Bonsai and Penjing Museum

Penjing U.S. National Bonsai and Penjing Museum
 Penjing Tree (also called shumu penjing in Chinese) are considered the same as bonsai, with emphasis on the layout of the baggage. Usual style as the straight stem, stem side and forest regulations. Because of this similarity, only one category Penjing Trees will be discussed here. It's an interesting part of the tradition Penjing Tree is a stylish Literati (mu wenren called in Chinese), and was originally created by the scholars of China as a method of self expression. Poets usually have long, thin, tapered trunk and rarely branched. This is in contrast to other tree Penjing who generally have more "dense" quality. Poets generally displays four principles that reflect the feelings and aspirations of educated scholars who began the tradition.• The first is Gugao (indifference), which is evident in the long trunk lines from writers and is considered to symbolize the spirit of elitist lonely bachelor. These rods are usually extraordinary thin for the height of trees.• The second is the principle Jianjie (lack of), and this is basically a lesson in "less is more" and the idea is to create a statement with the smallest number of branches. In this way some artists Penjing equate this principle with calligraphy, because of lack of trees reduces to the line, but the lines still have a deep significance despite the lack of depth and variety.• The third principle is Ya (elegant) in which the scholars tried to create a sense of elegance and tranquility in their tree.• The fourth principle is Pingdan (simplicity), where the quality of plain, smooth, and hard sometimes taken in order to create a simpler kind of beauty. Basically, the scholars tried to contrast their "no frills" natural beauty with art objects and ornaments decorated the higher they see as low as they are considered impediments to seek true understanding.• It is also important to remember that Literati is not supposed to be funny or disability, but only have to show a tree that has been struggling to overcome obstacles in its lifetime.• Other properties which some believe have influenced the creation of this form is a painful longing for the past, the perception is wrong, intense loneliness, and the bitter taste of rejection combined with an already elitist attitude of the community of Chinese scholars.Stone is the main medium Penjing scene trying to invoke a sense of great panoramas within the confines of limited water tray.

Bonsai Mini Size

Bonsai Mini Size
Bonsai tree is one big Minatur. But there is also a miniature bonsai, or often called Mame. Surprisingly enough, especially among the laity, but the small form, it is very sweet and funny to be.

In competition, the difference in the size class of plants in different rankings of large and small. There are four categories that will take the extra large, with a height of 101-150 cm, 61-100 cm tall, medium 1-60cm, small 0-15 cm and 16-30 cm classes Mame.

Viewed from a hobby, almost all classes many students are interested in, because every bonsai grower has a different character, so the fun and creativity certainly does not produce the same. The same thing with the size of the finished result will be displayed.
Beginner bonsai hobby, it's usually not quick to enjoy the beauty of bonsai. Simple alternative, the production of miniature bonsai is Mame. Time is relatively faster, which can be seen between 1-2 years. Tiny Bonsai is much more interesting when combined in an artistic pot.
To create a bonsai Mame four basic factors that must be considered, namely the desired environment, the selection of styles, choose the road, and institutions. seen from the shape, Mame Bonsai unique. For small size, but it shows the character of bonsai. One is age, size and direction of movement of the trunk and branches. Almost all types of plants can be cultivated Sun Mame bonsai class.

Bonsai - Air Layering

What is Air Layering?

Introduction by Brent Walston
Air layering is the process of removing a large branch or section of the trunk of a tree to create another tree. Before the branch is removed it is girdled, protected with peat moss or other media and the girdled section is allowed to root. After rooting the branch is removed from the tree. This is a very common practice in bonsai to obtain another tree from an unwanted branch or to save a thick trunk section that was going to be removed anyway.
Transport of Food, Water, and Nutrients
Under the bark of trees (dicotyledonous ones) there is a layer of cells called the phloem. This tissue transports carbohydrates and other photosynthates (including auxin) down from the leaves to the lower parts of the plant. Beneath the phloem layer is another layer called the xylem that transports water and mineral nutrients from the roots and soil up to the leafy parts of the tree. Beneath the xylem is another xylem layer called the secondary xylem. These xylem layers are thicker and deeper into the wood of the tree than the phloem layer. Lying on top of these layers just under the bark is a layer of actively dividing cells called the cambium.
The Air Layering Process
In the process of airlayering, the bark, the cambium, and the phloem layer are removed by cutting away about a 1 inch wide ring of these tissues from around the circumference of the shoot. The xylem however is left intact. This is known as girdling. Generally, synthetic auxins (in a vehicle of talc powder or by liquid) are applied to the site where the tissues have been removed. (Although applying auxin is the general practice today it is not necessary for many trees). Wet sphagnum moss (or another moisture retentive soil) is then bunched around and over this girdled site and covered with plastic and sealed.
What Happens at the Air Layer Site
The removal of the bark, cambium, and phloem, but not the xylem, prevents carbohydrates and photosynthates from flowing down the trunk past the girdling site but still allows water and mineral nutrients to flow upward to the leaves. This keeps the leafy portions of the shoot from drying out and maintains them with an adequate supply of nutrients. The removal of the actively growing cambium layer prevents the regeneration of phloem and healing over of the wound. Because of this the carbohydrates and photosynthates flowing down the trunk collect at the girdling site. The presence of these excesses of carbohydrates and photosynthates (esp. auxin) at the girdling site, plus the presence of the water in the sphagnum moss, causes dormant adventitious buds in the area to grow into roots. When there are enough roots to sustain the shoot independently the shoot is cut off of the tree and then planted or potted.

 

The Difference Between Air Layers and Cuttings
The propagation of plants by cuttings occurs by the same principles and has very similar circumstances. The difference is that the shoot is removed from plant at the start and water and nutrients flow up the shoot from the cut site by capillary action instead. This kind of propagation can only be done with small and thin shoots since the flow of water is insufficient for larger branches. Airlayering solves this problem and allows the creation of new plants from very large parts of trees.