Character, Strength & Boon’s Transplanting Tips 2/25/11

Though it has the raw look of yet to be refined tree, still, there’s a lot to like about this bonsai. Its massive nebari ads great strength, character and balance and the hollow in the trunk (sabamiki) provides a further touch of character and age that sets it apart from more ordinary bonsai. It belongs to Boon Manakitivipart, owner of Bonsai Boon (my mistake, see comments) and distinguished bonsai artist and teacher. Though Boon doesn’t say what it is, I’ll guess that it’s a California live oak of some sort (Quercus suber?).

From a bonsai tip entitled WINTER CARE: REPOTTING, by Boon that appears at his website, Bonsai Boon.

The last thing on your mind
If you don’t live in the San Francisco Bay Area or some other place with idyllic weather (relative to Vermont, at least), repotting your bonsai may be the last thing on your mind while you are thawing out by a fire or out shoveling snow*. Still, don’t put off thinking too long; even those of us who repot in May need to plan and get our materials together.

What Boon has to say
“Start repotting your bonsai now in the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of us have already repotted all type of bonsai in December. If you are not in the Bay Area, the best time to repot deciduous trees is after the buds start to swell, but before the leaves open; but do not wait too long. It is not safe to repot after the buds have opened.”

“Among deciduous trees, flowering apricots and Japanese maples are repotted first. Japanese beech is the last to be done because its buds open later than buds on other deciduous trees (do not wait until you see the buds swell; it may be too late). Repotting should be done by middle part to the end of February (remember, he’s still in the Bay Area). Trident maples can be repotted as long as new leaves still have a reddish color”(visit Bonsai Boon for the entire article).

*Most of you don’t have to wait until May. Just us poor slobs who made the unfortunate decision to move halfway to Siberia (from the SF Bay Area no less); a decision we come to loath every year until the buds break in May, when we start thinking it was the best decision we ever made.