✳️ AT Workshop - Nov 22, 2025

Japanese Black Pines

  • Shohin focus on lower branches, make more compact.

  • Only one sacrifice branch, removing all branches above the lower branches.

  • Control vigor by needle pulling or cutting the length of older needles. We are trying to slow down growth, and it will still back bud but that is not the goal.

  • If a branch has many buds at the tip it is weak; and if a branch tip has many candles it is strong.

  • Younger trees, add movement low on the tree. If two wires spiraling up the trunk, keep them closer together.

  • Repot new Shohin in Feb/Mar. #7 training pot. Repot w Adam.

  • Wiring—don’t make erratic pivots in direction with the next section of trunk. Choose a branch that can continue to flow smoothly from the original movement. More natural.

Bunjin JBP

  • The initial bend was too much/tight and it grew fast—so uneven or oval trunk diameter. Ease up the curve or slow the growth to even out.

  • Boon Jieun does not have to abide by taper.

  • Avoid reverse, inverse, taper, looking for locations with an abundance of buds or branches, reduce to two.

  • Leaving more branch options for this Boon, until the final design is define then remove unneeded branches.

Growing

  • If growing in colanders, maximize the soil—cover the roots. Fill to the brim with soil.

  • Two years growth on its own, fill with fine roots.

  • Only when the colander is full or roots stack. Don’t mess with the roots in the colander until ready to repot to a training pot. Stack if the colander fills that season.

  • Heavily fertilize.

Juniper Wiring (carpet)

  • The procumbens-like juniper may naturally be sinuous and having lots of movement. But some seemed unnatural, and Adam pruned some branches.

  • Remove crotch needles.

  • Wore all branches in copper and bring back for final styling edits.

Cut and grow, assessing healing

  • Cut and grow Plum in development. Chopped this spring and assessing callous.

  • If the healing is too vigorous and will result in a bulge, even if a concavity was prepared, it may require removing much of the callous and carving deeper to smooth out the transition.

  • Callous growth may be influenced by vascular flow, where cuts in the spring may heal thicker than if created in the fall.

Michael Wei