A Camellia from a transplanting article in Bonsai Today issue 96.
Some silly blog? Okay, it’s not really a silly blog. In fact Michael Hagedorns’ Crataegus Bonsai is one of the best blogs around. It’s just that Michael referred to it as a silly blog and it struck me as a catchy title for this post (after four years of posting 3-4 times a week, desperation sets in).
Anyway, Michael’s Crataegus’ post on repotting is definitely worth a look. To peak your interest, here are two of Michael’s seven repotting tips:
“2. As a general rule, don’t bare-root your trees. That’s for specialists doing special work and try your best to ignore the Japanese magazines showing someone boldly bare-rooting a 100 year old pine, or some silly blog like Crataegus Bonsai showing hosing of a deciduous tree. Bare-rooting probably kills more things than all others combined, so without the attending techniques, I would say don’t do it unless you’ve been taught how to, and which ones it’s ok to bare-root and which ones you should never do that way. Bare rooting is extreme, for extreme circumstances.
3. Sing while you work. Or at least put on some calming music, as repotting tense does not help us or the trees. (Singing is the primary job of apprentices, by the way. Evenings are usually taken up by long singing lessons, as to not dishearten anyone overly with poor vocals.).”
As long as I’m stealing from Crataegus there’s this too.
Could this be what Michael is referring to when he says ‘try your best to ignore the Japanese magazines showing someone boldly bare-rooting a 100 year old pine‘? Okay, it’s not a pine… but the original article is from a Japanese magazine (it’s a translated Kindai Bonsai article that appeared in Bonsai Today 96).
A page from Bonsai Today issue 96 that’s titled ‘Transplanting and Pruning.’ I’m not going to tell you what the mysterious little water play is about (bottom center). If your curiosity is getting the best of you, you can always buy issue 96 to see for yourself.
Still the best bonsai read around. If you haven’t read Michael Hagedorn’s Post Dated, don’t put it off any longer.