A Simple & Instructive Little Quiz, Part 2

My way or the highway? Here it is and don’t blame me. Who you should blame is unknown; Bonsai Today issue 21 doesn’t provide the artist’s name. Should’ve or could’ve? On April 16th we posted a little quiz from Bonsai Today issue 21. Several of you took the challenge (see comments). Now we are posting the artist’s answers. One could take issue with the ‘should have’ language (the problem may have been in the translation). Still, whatever your thoughts on the language, you can bet that the original artist had a pretty good handle on the art of pruning (see … Continue reading A Simple & Instructive Little Quiz, Part 2

Green Workshop: Pruning Tips

The drawing on the left shows a young deciduous tree before pruning. Notice that the tree’s energy (growth) moves primarily upward, forming a more or less inverted triangle (tip down). In order to control this growth and move the energy down, prune to form the tree into a triangle (more or less) with tip pointing up. The drawing on the right shows the same little tree a year or two later. Now your goal is to control growth and keep the tree’s basic shape by continuing to prune back vigorous upward growth (thus forcing energy down into the trunk and … Continue reading Green Workshop: Pruning Tips