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As many of you have noticed, there is a large scar at the base of the trunk on my large stewartia.

For the last few years I’ve but cutting back an old stewartia when the leaves turn brown in fall. The work is similar from year to year – a common occurrence for trees in the later stages of branch refinement (see “Fall cutback on stewartia” for last year’s post).

If you’re looking for a new species develop as small bonsai, dwarf pussy willow may be a good option.

I received some good questions following the previous post about a Sierra juniper.

A few years ago, I acquired a tall Sierra juniper with interesting deadwood along the lower trunk. I repotted the tree and let it grow freely to encourage as much root growth as possible.

I first heard about the idea for Michael Hagedorn’s recent book, Bonsai Heresy, over ten years ago. Hagedorn explained that he had started collecting, and debunking, unproductive myths in the bonsai world. I couldn’t wait to read it!

When I see trees with prominent deadwood, I take note of where the foliage sits in relation to it.

I started to de-wire a grafted California juniper yesterday when I realized the tree was loose in the pot. The culprit was a loose tie-down wire.

Thanks entirely to reader contributions, I’ve published a guide to caring for bonsai in winter.

A few years ago I came across some tall and slender black pines that made a good starting point for creating literati style bonsai (see examples at “Decandling young bunjin pines“).