Menu
roots
Repot, or not?
When we acquire plants or young tree material, we plant them in pots to let them develop further to allow them to adjust to growing conditions at home. But what do we do when we need to repot outside the dormant period, or if we see that our tree is…...
Best of enemies?
Why plants don´t like to grow in pots Jens Lindworsky: ‘Sometimes too hot, sometimes too cold, never enough space and no ground water to be found. If you want roots to flourish in such an unnatural environment some knowledge about their functionality is very useful’. The stress begins as soon…...
Is crataegus ideal for shohin?
Harumi Ishii (Ueharu-En) will guide you through the techniques of creating shohin from hawthorn Material 1: Japanese hawthorn (large tree) All the branches are focused in the top section of the tree and there are none at all further down the trunk. Initially it was thought to create this in…...
What’s under the soil?
Repotting your bonsai is rather like a health check The trees of Hiroshi Takeyama, the head of Fuyo-en bonsai nursery, have a distinctive character and elegance. He is renowned for his conscientious and thorough work, particularly with repotting, and is considered to be one of the most skilled at developing…...
Pruned by air
Roots are happy in pots with an air pruning function Jens Lindworsky invented the Tie-Pot with knobs for attaching guy wires and with air root pruning, which prevents the formation of unfavourable circular growing roots. Now he has expanded this concept to real ceramic bonsai pots. What is air (root)…...
Fabulous feet
Thread and approach grafting new roots to improve the nebari Many enthusiasts would like to improve the nebari of their bonsai. By using thread grafting and approach grafting techniques this can be easily done A young and pliable branch from either a separate plant, or the bonsai itself, is threaded…...
Give me space
Understanding the basics of repotting through the example of a young tree One of the big objectives in repotting is to remove a tree’s old roots to provide more space for new roots to grow into, allowing it to flourish continually. The actual techniques used in transplanting are not that…...
Bonsai ‘built’ on a frame
How to create a bulky maple As I have said previously, this technique implies wrapping a number of young plants, seedlings, around a man-made structure, called a ‘frame’. Its shape will be the one the finished maple will take on eventually. The structure can be made of metal or wood…....
Mycorrizha fungus: A partner for life
As bonsai enthusiasts we’ve all heard about mycorrizha, which is supposed to be beneficial to the root system of our bonsai. Is there any truth in this claim or is it just another commercial hoax? A misunderstanding The name mycorrhiza originates from the Greek words mykos and rhiza meaning fungus…...