Japanese Black Pine, Shimpaku Juniper, Japanese White Pine, Maple — together with Toshifumi Sato, we trace everything from how to choose among these four species, to placement, Watering, and seasonal Bud Cutting / Decandling and Pruning. All of it begins the same way: a quiet, ongoing conversation, held in the presence of the tree.
From the very day you bring it home, the conversation with your tree begins. You check the color of the leaves, choose where to place it, give it water — each small decision quietly building on the last.
The question is always the same: 'What does this tree need right now?' How often to water, when to do Bud Cutting / Decandling — everything starts there. Rather than learning the rules first, begin by simply observing the tree. That is where everything begins.
Japanese Black Pine, Shimpaku Juniper, Japanese White Pine, Maple. Each has its own character, its own seasonal rhythm. Japanese Black Pine walks you through the full year — from Bud Cutting / Decandling to Old Foliage Removal — until the flow of care becomes part of you. Shimpaku Juniper trains your eye to ask: 'where is the growth too strong?' Japanese White Pine, through the delicacy of summer, teaches you what must come first. And Maple, stripped down to bare branches after the leaves have fallen, quietly puts a question to you: 'what do you keep, and what do you let go?'
The species may change, but the nature of the question does not. The eye that reads a tree's condition develops slowly, through time spent honestly with these four.
There is a common assumption among those new to bonsai: 'a smaller pot must be easier to manage.' In practice, the opposite is true. Small pots dry out quickly, and the risk of Water Stress rises. A somewhat larger pot holds moisture better and leaves a little room for the occasional lapse in attention.
Not 'does it seem manageable,' but 'does it suit this tree.' Even in the small decision of choosing a pot, keeping the tree at the center is everything.
In summer, watering three times a day is a rough guide. But on cool days, or when humidity is high, that no longer applies. The right moment for Bud Cutting / Decandling, the right time to fertilize — the sense of 'somewhere around here' settles into you gradually, season after season.
Not memorized, but absorbed. Keep asking questions in front of the tree, and perhaps one day the answers will come back through the feel of your hands.
The Novice: “Ayumi” journey begins with registration.
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