Bonsai tree: Photo Art Contest: Entry #9

 
“I shot this photo in October 2008 in Stony Mountain park near Atlanta. The sole pine growing on bald rock was very dramatic…” Alex Shapiro.
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Source: Bonsai Bark Read more!

Bonsai tree: A Very Wild Mugo Pine

This is a wild and wonderful mugo pine showed up on facebook a few weeks ago.
There are at least two things that come to mind when I look at this wild mugo pine. First, that it represents a break with traditional bonsai styles, particularly traditional Japanese bonsai. It just doesn’t look like what bonsai used to look like not too long ago.The second thing about it is that it’s a mugo pine. It wasn’t too long ago that the only pines you’d see as bonsai were Japanese whites and blacks. Gradually, as bonsai spread to the west, other varieties started showing up. Now, mugos are becoming quite common and for good reason; their needles are small, they are tough, over time they can show a lot of character. Read more!

Deciduous and broadleaf trees

Despite the fact that half of the trees in the winter exhibit are without leaves and most of the other half are fighting off winters tendency to tinge foliage with a yellowish or bronze cast, many bonsai are at their best look this time of year. Late winter and early spring are great times to show flowering bonsai, but managnig the silhouettes of trees coverd with new growth is a challenge. Fall is a good time to show bonsai as pines are in check and fall color may be evident. But it is only in winter that we can clearly see the structure of deciduous trees.
With careful technique, leaves can be shrunk to fit the scale of tree. Leaves hide the degree to which a tree’s branches are ramified. Great branch structure is a source of pride for deciduous tree owners.
Although the tree is attractive in summer, it’s far more dramatic in winter. We experience the tree in three dimensions by examining the tree front to back and top to bottom. We can also get a better sense of its age without leaves. It was a pleasure to have this tree in the exhibit.

Chinese elm

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Repot a Japanese black pine

I wanted to post an example of repoting a tree into a two hole pot – my small pine is a good candidate. Here is the rootball after removing it from the pot.

Before root-work – one year of growth

I was conservative with the root-work as I had yet to determine which pot would be best for the tree. I ended up with removing almost half of what you see below.

After the root work

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A Couple Bonsai and Landscapes

This generally old Japanese white pine (P. parviflora) is from a Japanese gallery. Unknown artist.

Hyperbole aside, it is one of the most mind bendinglly wildly beautiful places on this planet. I will keep you posted. Meanwhile, here are a couple of trees plus a taste of what is in the store for today.


A piece of Point Lobos.
Shooting landscapes is a bit like shooting bonsai. No matter what you do, the shot is always as powerful as the real thing. Stil, this might give you some idea of the extreme natural beauty that exists here and there on this planet.


Juniperus rigida (Needle juniper, or Temple juniper). Artist unknown.


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Literati (bunjin) style pine

Found this weeping literati (bunjin) style pine and wanted to expose it to the whole audience, isn't it a marvelous piece-of-art? The representation on the white background underlines its perfectness. Read more!

Controlling Conifer Growth

These simple tips on triming and pinching are from an extensive article entitled ‘How to Train Coniferous Bonsai’ from Bonsai Today issue 42.

Books on the subject
Two of the best books on training conifers are part of our Masters’ Series: Growing and Styling Juniper Bonsai, and Growing and Styling Japanese White and Black Pines.




Here is another piece from the same Bonsai Today article. Pruning and pinching excess foliage are always a good idea when transplanting. Less foliage means less work for stressed roots.

We transplant all summer
As far as the until June part, here in Vermont we can transplant conifers all summer long because it seldom gets very hot. If you know what you are doing, you can transplant conifers all summer in all but the hotest and driest climates. Read more!

What is the best kind of bonsai tree should I get and why?

Looking to get a Bonsai tree. But what kind do i get and where should i get it? there are, Junipers, Ficus, Pines/Palms, and other Unique Trees.

Junipers cost less and won’t kill you if they die.

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Pinus sp.

The most of the plants from this specie are the natives of the northern hemisphere and are fitted out to any medium. These are the inhabitants of coast, which grow on the strip of the adjacent to the beach dunes, which grow at the steepest abrupt and most unapproachable apexes. They all can become majestic bonsai. Pinus incinata and Pinus mugo are the most valuable because of the size of the aches and small height.
Pine trees have the unique crust, formed by numerous shield-shaped plates and fish-scales of the irregular shape, which easily are separated from the stem. The needles are grouped on the branches, beginning from the formation of small beams from two to five needles, but the remaining surface is covered with scaly needle without the chlorophyll. Seeds in the majority of the cases are winged and resound by wind. Both needles and cloths of stem and branches have glands, which release resin - very dense substance, which heals and which protects pine tree from the pathogenic organisms.

Caring in vegetation period

Sunlight is necessary for pine trees the whole year; therefore they require arrangement at the open and solar places. It should always be selected a well warmed place for the best growth of the tree. The only exceptions are the superfluously moist and closed places with poor air ventilation, especially in the rainy season and frost, since such conditions are heavy for the roots. Irrigation must be moderate. It is possible to manage without sputtering water from the pulveriser even in the summer period, since the pine trees fell well in hot and dry medium. To prepare a good soil, it should be considered the needs of each species, since some plants need exceptionally lime soils, others in the clay and siliceous and even sandy soils. Fertilizer must be introduced on the peak of the development of plant from the beginning of the spring to the autumn only before the radical trimmings or after transplantation. Transplantation should be produced before the appearance of the first flights, trying with the cutting of roots not to injure pivotal root.

Styling the bonsai

Needles in autumn are moved away, removing the dry and damaged needles at any time of year. Since the beginning of the appearance of new flights the needles should be removed, leaving about 1/3 of it in order to stimulate the appearance of smaller and more numerous needles. If on a branch appear immediately two flights, then the longest flight should be removed. Pruning branches should not be performed in the period of an intense growth of the pine tree, when the loss of resin can be very significant; branches should be cut in autumn. For changing the direction of branch growth it is necessary, prior to the beginning of the rest period, to wire them, dismantling them only in spring.

Illness and wreckers

It is necessary to scrupulously inspect leaves and branches in order to reveal the wreckers, which were settled on the tree (silk cocoons of the caterpillars of march silkworm, larva of beetle - grinders, aphis and woodlice). All this must be thoroughly processed by chemicals in order to avoid their propagation. From the most extended diseases it is possible to expect the appearance of brown abscesses, rust and root white rot. The introduction of poor quality fertilizer can cause the appearance of dry or reddish tips in needles, it is possible to entangle it with the fungus infection.

Typical forms of species

Pinus cembra. European cedar (European cedar pine tree). The alpine pine tree, which is possible to achiev remarkable results in the style “cascade” and “the tree, bent by wind”. Pinus sylvestris. Forest pine tree (usual pine tree). It issues characteristic pale crust, and also small needle and pine lumps. The mountain regions of the European continent are natural living environment; therefore this form of pine tree is fitted out to the extremely unfavourable climatic conditions. The separately appreciated property is the dual painting of its needles, dark green outside and gray from within. Pinus densiflora. Dense flower pine tree. Native of Asian continent. One of two undersized forms together with Pinus of mugo from the pinus sp., that are developed in the form of bushes, especially in the first years of life. Pinus mugo. Mountain pine tree. Natural living environment is located in the central Europe mountains. It is characterized by slow increase and thickset form in the adult state, which makes it separately suitable for the cultivation in the container. Pinus nigra. Austrian pine tree (s. black Austrian). Native of South and central Europe. It grows on the lime-stony soils. It has long, flexible and almost dark needle. Pinus pentaphylla. Himalayan pine tree. The native of Japan contains in the beam five needles. In contrast to the rest of the kinds when cutting of branches it is recommended not to touch the place it was cut, till it is completely dry.
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