I love this time of year. June through mid-August is one of the busiest, most productive, and impactful times for working on trees. Yes, it is a little hot and unpleasant out in the sun, but it’s the core growing time for the trees.

The Summer Solstice was June 20—the longest day of the year and the height of the growing season. It’s a great time for summer bonsai activities.

For our hot area, decandle healthy black and red pines from now until early July.

The days are getting longer and warmer, and the sun angle has been increasing, so we need to get into watering mode now, as the growing season is in full swing. My shade cloth is up and operating!

This spring the weather has been all over the place. It obviously can’t make up its mind. However my trees are pushing ahead with gusto.

The rainy season has been spotty so far, with intense downpours and long dry periods. We’ll see how it pans out going forward.

My yard looks like a yellow flowered oxalis field. And my bonsai pots have some too. Put a reminder on your cell phone to check for weeds and other needs every week.

This year, Juan Cruz will devote the first program to transplanting. I’m looking forward to learning something new or a clearer way of expressing the process.

It’s a good time to study the future of your trees and by mid month, the nights are going to be cold.

What a great show we had this year! Thank you all for your hard work in putting it together.

We're in the final lap before our annual show. At this month's first Thursday's meeting, bring in your show trees that you want to spruce up.

Coming up is our show on October 19th. Getting our trees ready is now an important priority.

I find that this time of year, June through mid-August, is one of the busiest and most productive and impactful times of year for working on my trees.

Use every opportunity to improve the trees. Every time you touch or water your trees ask yourself what you can do to make them better.

Check back soon for the June Tree Tips!

The days are longer and warmer, and the sun angle has been sneaking up on us, so we need to get into watering mode now, in earnest, as the growing season is in full swing.

Spring is pushing everywhere. I’ve pretty well finished transplanting and have been refreshing the top soil on many of my trees that didn’t need transplanting.

Nice rain year for bonsai—though not so much for my golf game.

This year we’ve had a steady stream of soaking rain, but very little sticking as snow pack in the mountain watersheds which may create a problem later in the year. Still I hope there is more on the way in February and March.

This month’s first program will be on Transplanting. This is a vital activity that jump-starts the bonsai year.