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If you’re a fan of oak bonsai, you’ve likely heard of John “JT” Thompson. For those who don’t know JT, he’s one of the most generous bonsai teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Earlier this year, I picked up a zelkova in need of repotting. I cleared out the old soil and let the tree grow freely. Now that it’s showing signs of great health, I thought I’d start working on the branches.

Towards the end of decandling season (mid-July where I live), I make a point of checking every pine in the garden to see if it’s a candidate for decandling.

“The Show Is On”
These past couple of years have been difficult for everyone, many had to adjust and make changes to continue. Fortunately people had an extra year to prepare their bonsai, and looking at the photo submissions they look superb!

It took a while to get to this point, but my semi-cascade coast live oak put on enough new growth to warrant pruning this year.

A year-and-a-half ago, I started working on a Korean hornbeam by removing a few branches and repotting the tree (see “Defining the branch structure” for details).

Some of my exposed root pines are close to seven years old. They have long sacrifice branches to help thicken the roots.

When decandling season comes around, I start with the biggest pines in the garden and work my way down to the smallest ones over a period of four-to-six weeks. This gives the larger trees enough time to develop needles over summer that are just the right size (see “Decandling overview” for details).

Our Spring 2021 Open House & Sale will be held in a few days on Saturday and Sunday in Rochester, New York. Although the Wisteria have finished blossoming the dwarf Japanese dogwood and golden smoke tree are in full flower. The growing season, so far, has been great for producing bushy pre-bonsai, ready for training into your own bonsai.

When all goes well, satsuki bonsai can produce lots of flowers in spring.