How To Tweak Fall Color We tend to think of fall color in deciduous trees in clear terms. The fall leaves of Gingko are yellow. Those of Red Maple are red. Except, sometimes the Red Maple has yellow leaves. Which asks a few questions. Why are plants not the same color year after year in the fall? What’s going on […]
https://crataegus.com/2025/10/....17/how-to-tweak-fall

How To Balance Long-needled Pine Shoots The long-needled pines like Ponderosa and Austrian Pine tend to grow large end shoots with many needles. Selectively trimming needles off can help balance shoots, weakening strong ones and strengthening the smaller ones. Typical Ponderosa pine branch with a fat end bud on the main shoot (left) and 2 smaller shoots back down the branch […]
https://crataegus.com/2025/10/....10/how-to-balance-lo

What Do We Do With Bonsai In October? In fall, bonsai are starting the slow slide into slumber. The following photo essay shares a few ideas of how to read the results of our summer work, and what to do in the bonsai garden in fall.  This Satsuki Azalea is telling us that watering and fertilizing were adequate over the summer, as we […]
https://crataegus.com/2025/10/....03/what-do-we-do-wit

East Bay Bonsai Society and Lake Merritt This past weekend was the East Bay Bonsai Society’s annual show in Oakland, CA, where I gave a talk about conceptual bonsai and ran a couple workshops. And I critiqued the show.  The following photos are from the EBBS show and from the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt, which was only a 2-minute walk from […]
https://crataegus.com/2025/09/....26/east-bay-bonsai-s

The Effect of Gravity on Tree Growth While a branch’s origin on the trunk doesn’t change—one thing I remember answering correctly on my biology SAT test 400 years back—the branch itself may bend and reorient. Trunks and branches are subject to many forces that change their shape. Some are environmental. And some are of the tree’s own making.  One curious force that […]
https://crataegus.com/2025/09/....19/the-effect-of-gra