What's happening at Muranaka Bonsai Nursery

New air-layers

2017-03-30T16:07:00.000-07:00

Today I added a few air-layers to the field grown pines. Air-layering is a quick method to form rooted pines. If anyone is interested in trying one for themselves, give me a call or text me at the nursery number and you can try one on your own.

Inventoryreduction!

2017-02-28T16:07:00.001-08:00

Due to the start of a new business venture, I need to immediately reduce my tree inventory. Buy at least 3 trees and receive a sizable discount. Cash and carry. This includes field grown trees so please bring containers. The sale will end when I have reduced my stock to a reasonable level. This is not a going out of business sale! Call me for details.

Preparing for the Santa Maria Obon Festival

2016-07-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

The Santa Maria Obon will take place on July 31st from noon til 5:00pm. There will be food,taiko,and bonsai demonstration along with our bonsai displays. We have been preparing for the Obon for quite some time. Now the finishing touches before we display our trees. If you are in the area, come by and say hello.

Return of the black bunny.

2016-05-12T21:06:00.001-07:00

Today was a normal day at the nursery. I started off by watering and weeding. As I was weeding near the cotoneaster plants, I noticed a dark blur out of the corner of my eye. When I got a closer look, it was a black rabbit. There was a black rabbit that visited the nursery about a month ago and stayed for about 4 weeks. The rabbit darted into the yard from the neighbors field that live behind me. Since I had not seen the rabbit for a month, I thought something bad had happened to it. Later in the day, I transplanted some cuttings that I did last year. As I was walking past the loquat tree, I noticed the rabbit eating the loquats that fell on the ground. It was comforting to know that he is still around.

Working on customer tree.

2015-11-19T11:18:00.001-08:00

This is a Phoenix graft of an Arizona cypress onto deadwood. The customer received this tree from a friend and has not touched the tree for years. This tree in the first picture is over 4 ft tall. The final height is just over 30 inches.

Jury duty and tagging.

2015-09-30T21:14:00.001-07:00

I just got selected as a juror. The first day to tag trees will be moved back to Saturday October 3rd.

Tagging day change?

2015-09-29T19:56:00.001-07:00

I have been chosen for jury duty. I am still in the jury pool and have not been dismissed. If I get chosen, the first day to tag will be Saturday October 1st.

Tagging field grown trees!

2015-09-23T20:38:00.001-07:00

Thursday October 1st is the first day to tag field grown trees for next spring. There will be a change this year. I have something to do in the morning and will not be here until late morning. I will not be opening until 10:30 am. Do not come early, I will not be here! There will be coffee and donuts. If you have any questions , call the nursery at 80 5-929-4818.

Trade in tree.

2015-09-14T11:41:00.001-07:00

This is a pine that I took in trade for a Japanese black pine that a customer wanted. His tree has many bar branches and bad branch placement. The tree was also weak. So, What do you do with a problem tree? Plant it in the ground and ignore it for a few years. I decided to work on the pine as a landscape tree. The pictures are in reverse order. I first thinned out the tree. I then removed unnecessary branches. This is the final result. Now I will leave it alone to fill in again.

Pruning a landscape pine.

2015-07-31T20:42:00.001-07:00

This is a pine that my Dad started to prune in 2000. The picture of my Dad pruning the tree is the same tree that I worked on. The last picture is the tree today. The lantern in the original photo fell over in the Paso Robles earthquake. The sago palm in the picture was moved 4 feet to the right.

Pruning landscape trees.

2015-07-22T20:56:00.001-07:00

Today I went to a customers house to prune her landscape trees. She has three Japanese black pines and one large twin trunk cedar. The cedar is nine feet tall. The pines are six feet tall. I have been pruning these trees for about 13 years.

New trees!

2015-06-20T10:45:00.001-07:00

I have a customer that wants to reduce his collection. Many different varieties. Hurry for best selection.

New life for old boxwood.

2015-06-05T11:39:00.001-07:00

This is a boxwood I purchased a few months ago. A customer asked what I was going to do with the tree. Rather than explain my thoughts, I thought I would show him. I removed the left trunk. I then jinned and removed unwanted branches. I wired the remaining small branches and repositioned the tree in the pot.

Pruning back elm.

2015-05-05T11:45:00.001-07:00

I dug out this elm last spring and have been pruning back the tree every few months. Today I decided it was time to prune again. This tree has never been wired and is starting to take shape.

Boxwood project.

2015-04-28T15:33:00.001-07:00

I worked on a boxwood today. I picked this tree up at a sale in Reseda a few weeks ago. It has a literati style with one lone branch. I switched things up and transformed the tree into a windswept style.

Cork elm cuttings.

2015-04-25T11:01:00.001-07:00

Removal of three pine air-layers.

2015-04-02T18:43:00.001-07:00

I removed three Japanese Blackpine air layers today. The one on the right has a base of one and a half inches and is 6 inches tall. The one in the middle did not have roots, but is trying to push roots near the callous.

Western skink sunbathing.

2015-03-13T09:59:00.001-07:00

This skink decided to sunbathe on our patio. The dog was preoccupied by some birds. I have seen some out in the field and nearly stepped on one in the garage. I think this little guy sleeps in the garage. His tail is about 3 inches longer than in the photo.

Completed juniper project.

2015-02-26T10:59:00.001-08:00

This is the shimpaku juniper that I posted a few days ago. I jinned ,(removed bark) the top of the tree and wired the remaining foliage. I did not like the planting angle or the pot, so I changed both. I hope the customer appreciates the change.

Trident air-layer, third times a charm.

2015-02-17T14:56:00.001-08:00

Interesting surprise!

2015-02-11T18:02:00.001-08:00

I pruned back some one gallon rosemary that we're getting out of hand. After I cut them back, I started thinning them to see what I had. These are two of the more interesting trees that I had. To give you a sense of scale, the trees are planted in a six inch pot.

Japanese black pine air-layer removal.

2015-01-31T13:07:00.001-08:00

These are a few black pine air-layers that I removed today. 5 inches tall, 2 inch nebari.

Ume in bloom

2015-01-12T16:13:00.001-08:00

This is a nice time of year on the Central Coast. The weather is crisp, not cold. The days are short, but the weather is mild. In a few more weeks, things will want to push growth. If we have a warm February things will start to push early. Hopefully we will have a little more rain before spring begins.

Frankenstein juniper.

2014-12-11T18:07:00.000-08:00

Today was very windy. I started out with my usual weeding. I also was checking the new feature on the i-phone6. It is the health app. What is interesting is how many steps I take in a day. My average is about 13000 steps which by their calculations is about 5 miles. The other day I had 18000 steps. Technology is simply amazing. Towards the end of the day, I dug out two prostrata junipers. Before you ask, they are not for sale until they are established in the pot. That usually takes 6 months to 1 year. Anyway, I have been in the habit of taking cuttings and placing them back in the hole in which I dug out the plant. This works about 60 percent of the time. Then I tried something new. I cut off a branch on the newly dug juniper and also a root of equal size. I cut both sides of the base of the branch in the form of a V. Then I cut a notch in the root and lined up the cambium layers. I then grabbed some green nursery tape and tied the two together. Lets see if I can get this to work. Here are some pictures of the two different Frankenstein junipers.

New Twitter account

2014-11-29T14:45:00.001-08:00

Last weekend I got a new smart phone,at least it is smarter than me. Now that I have a smart phone, I opened a new Twitter account. Now if you follow me on Twitter , I will be having some spur of the moment sales. So remember to follow me. The account is George@muranakabonsai1