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@Adair M, do you remember what gauge copper wire that Tyler used to re-position the large branches during his demonstration? I'm thinking I'll need wire with similar holding power to for the side branches on my juniper.

Here are a couple of shots of my entry (after getting some extra moss and help from our guest artist Friday afternoon): Seeing it up higher on the show table really showed me how badly the tree is leaning back... when viewing it straight on, lots of the foliage is hidden. Tyler Sherrod, our...

A 5'x8' U-Haul trailer is only $19 if you return it to the same location within 24 hours, which is probably cheaper than renting a minivan.

No I kept it in my pants, thank you very much! :p

Got my pot oiled and put some moss around my tree the past couple of nights. I had a lot less usable moss than I thought, so I wish I had started on these finishing touches last week! I'll probably end up using crushed granite as a top dressing on the rest of the soil.

I'll be showing my procumbens juniper: That picture was taken a couple of weeks ago, after the first root prune out of its nursery container. I was lucky enough to have this pot on hand because I didn't have time to go shopping before the show! I had been planning to do a two-tree display...

It's usually sunny on warmer days, so I wasn't completely off base! :p One more question... what sort of watering schedule should I plan on? I've had a daily watering timer on my bonsai bench since spring, but I know that they'll need much less than that in the cold months.

Ah, I didn't think of this. Is that to keep them from coming out of dormancy on warmer days?

This is the first winter I that I've got a few trees in display pots instead of larger training pots, and I want to make sure I prepare for the cold weather. I'm in zone 7a around Atlanta, which has relatively mild winters. From what I've read on Evergreen Garden Works and Bonsai4Me, I...

Bringing this thread back from the grave! I finally had a chance to put a tourniquet wire on my trident maple last weekend, to try and build up some root flair for an air layer next spring. I think the reason everyone recommends copper is that aluminum wire tears very easily when you tighten...

@AlainK, can you use aluminum wire for a tourniquet like this, or is copper wire required? Everything I've read about tourniquet air-layering online says to use copper wire, but I haven't read a good reason why.

A couple of reasons: Try my first air-layer on something that I'm not super invested in My collection is still small enough that I'd love to have a shohin trident maple, even if it's just okay stock I hope this doesn't come across like I don't value your advice! I'm just curious to try out an...

I defoliated this maple about six weeks ago, without understanding the full effects of it. It did reduce the leaf size, but now I know that this is at the cost of thickening the branches. After seeing @AlainK's awesome results I think I'll apply a wire tourniquet to the tree this season, and...

That's going to be a great looking nebari after you chop the top!

I'm hoping to air layer the top half of my trident maple, because the trunk is too tall, and want to see if I can get a "free" tree out of the trunk chop. It's just getting to the hot part of the summer in Georgia... Did I miss my window this year? Or can I go ahead and start the air layer in...

Thanks for the input! I'll probably pick up a Kosteri later on in the week. I do love heading up to Plant City Bonsai, but with a brand new 2-month old baby it's been difficult to schedule an afternoon trip!

I saw a few raw Hinoki cypress at my local nursery this week that would be great for shohin, but I wasn't sure which cultivar to choose. The three varieties I saw were Kosteri, Butterball, and Fernspray. I definitely prefer the dark green Kosteri and Fernspray foliage more than the Butterball's...

I know when you trim the terminal bud on other species, it stimulates back-budding on that branch. Is there any way to do that with a shimpaku?

I got around to trimming the yellowing/dying foliage this weekend, and it's looking much better! I didn't realize how many growing tips I had removed a few weeks back. For a quick review of what I've learned, always leave at least one growing tip on a shimpaku branch, or else that branch will...

I'm really interested in getting a couple of black pines of my own, and would love to check out one of your classes. Do you have a "JBP for beginners" class? The ones I've seen on the Plant City Bonsai mailing list have all been about black pine repotting or ramification.

Adair, I actually met you (very briefly) at Plant City Bonsai last spring. I was in Dave's beginner class while you were teaching a JBP repotting one. I'm not a member of the ABS, but am thinking about joining this year. I swear I used shears to trim back a few shoots last month, but it's...

Nope, I haven't been pinching. I read this a couple months back, which led me to mostly leave it alone for now: https://crataegus.com/2012/08/26/how-to-pinch-junipers/ I did trim half a dozen shoots with no branching or budding about 2 weeks ago, but that's all. Is there a good rule of thumb...

I've had this shohin shimpaku for about 6 months now, and I noticed the interior foliage starting to turn yellow. I haven't really done any defoliation to it, so could this be caused by low sunlight? Any help or ideas would be appreciated!

:( My condolences!

Very nice! I just bought a juniper from Lowe's last week to try as my first cascade... This thread has provided some great inspiration.