I’d like to write a few articles this season about fall work for pines, in particular needle-pulling and thinning.

I’ll start with a simple example. One of my recently acquired pines was very weak last year. When I repotted it for the first time, I found enough healthy roots to make me think the tree had a chance to recover. I watered carefully, fed moderately, and avoided pruning or decandling.

As the new growth filled in, much of the old foliage turned yellow or brown.

Black pine

Discoloration of old foliage is common for pines that are in recovery. Now is a good time to remove these old needles.

Branch with old needles

After removing the old needles

I removed almost all of the old foliage on the tree. Doing this gave me a good idea about how healthy the tree is as I can now see that there is a good number of healthy, green needles.

Healthy foliage

Because the tree is still gaining vigor, I have yet to decide if I’ll do any pruning or wiring before spring. I may, however, repot again to bring the tree closer to the intended planting angle.

New planting angle

What caught my eye about the tree was the interesting movement and deadwood – not common features on black pine.

Trunk detail

I don’t know the history of the tree so I don’t have a good idea about how long it’s been in training or what might account for the deadwood features. I am, however, enjoying these distinctions as it’s fun to have a pine that stands out from the others a bit.

Midori Bonsai Club’s 57th Annual Show this Weekend!

Midori Bonsai Club will be hosting its 57th Annual show this Saturday at the Quinlan Community Center in Cupertino, California. Show hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. I’ll be doing a bonsai demonstration on a hinoki cypress at 1:30 p.m.

A beginning bonsai workshop will kick-off at 10:00 a.m. and several bonsai vendors will have trees, tools and supplies on hand. I’ll be vending before the demo so stop by and say hello!

For more information, see the Midori Bonsai Club website.

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