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You're awesome -- thank you for the link ;-D Yeah, I just talked to my friend and he said he plucks and cuts at the same time. Didn't mention anything about doing it any time of the year, but still encouraging. And now, I go to cut. ;-D

I've heard of cutting needles in half before, but I wonder what time would be appropriate to do that in my zone. I would like to experiment with that when I know what time of year is best for it. Yes, wiring and metsumi are next. I was examining both trees and have a good idea of what I will...

Effects of plucking are a bit more obvious in this one. Before: After:

The little guy was indeed dense. There was a surprising amount of buds towards the inside of the canopy. I wish I could show through pictures but I'm not a skilled cameraman and my camera isn't great. Pretty sure the piles of needles is larger than the tree remaining. lol Still looks like a lot...

Hey Dan, No, I just rearranged stuff in photobucket and it got all screwy. I've just been too lazy/legitimately preoccupied to fix all the links. lol As for Matt, Ryan had a little snippet of some of his trees in one of his recent posts. His pictures are far better than mine ;-p...

Ohh, I see what you're saying now about matsumi. Yes, I don't believe I did an adequate job of bud selection on the bushy pine. I will reassess it. Not sure what I can do at this point, though. . . .

I feel like I have a clear understanding of what you are describing and will follow your advice. Thank you for the detailed explanation. I'll trim old needles by less than half and report back. What is matsumi? ;-p I purchased the tree last winter. All I've done so far is candle cutting in...

I hope I didn't come off as if I were simply (and disrespectfully) saying "prove it!" lol -- I just want to be sure I have things down correctly. =) Reading your response, it looks like I have the right idea about plucking mid-to-late winter (for old needles). My teacher and I have not gone...

I know, I feel very lucky to've nabbed it for a decent price. As for winter protection, I have a good friend with a nice winter setup (enclosed/insulated porch-ish thing with a couple oil heaters for the cold nights). I'm still in the midst of developing a good overwintering strategy as Michigan...

HAH! I have exactly the same outlook. Also works well when they don't know how to estimate the prices of trees. . . . "Bought it on a super-sale for $10" is a pretty regular saying for me. lol

Thank you, Ed. I can't really take much credit for the current styling as I've had them a little less than a year. For the moss (I'm trying to keep the bright green stuff (keeping it off the trunk)), I'm using peroxide (diluted from 34%) to kill the dark, slimy stuff. As for finnegans wake...

I really love this pot. . . .

Too lazy to find the old ones right now. lol -- Here it is currently. Cut back, repotted, etc. My cat thought it'd be funny to jump on the shelf and break that bottom branch. Oh well -- it'll grow back.

This one looks like a big ball of needles. Can't wait to pluck this winter. . . .

Yeah, I'll have to spend a while taking pictures of stuff in the garden as I've been doing a lot lately. I updated my photobucket to make it more organized and I'm pretty sure like 98% of my pictures I posted here are dead links now...so that's fun. lol -- I'll post some soon, though. ;-D

Yeah, just a tad. lol -- For what it's worth, I've been told that keeping trees in smaller pots is great for establishing the nebari as long as you consistently trim the roots each year, pushing more root growth to the nebari. I'll be using this technique when my Trident seedlings are at a...

Nice tree -- looks like there's a nice nebari there? Apparently Korean Hornbeams are expensive -- I heard that a pound of KH seeds is upwards of $1,000 while, say, a pound of Trident maple seeds is like $20. lol

How much? ;-D

Oh don't worry, guys. I know how to keep things alive. 1. Always keep pines indoors as they don't like too much sun and they don't like to get cold in the winter. 2. Cut candles as soon as they sprout -- this is especially important with the second flush of growth. 3. Keep in dense...

Thanks Kennedy, fore, and Ris. Yeah, I've got to refine it a bit, but it was grown very well before I acquired it. I got the easy part ;-D Dave, it definitely needs some work and some side look very promising. I'm bringing this to my friend's house this Friday to see what suggestions he has...

Now y'all know a lady doesn't purchase bonsai trees and tell. ;) Also, thanks for all the compliments. I haven't had much influence yet on the overall styling, but come time for it, I'll sign my name on 'em somehow, somewhere. Al, whatchya mean?

Lol, it's from Finnegans Wake. ;) I'm glad to hear about your results, by the way. Congrats, Ryan. =)

How else am I supposed to prune my trees?? This is 'merica! Lol, thanks guys ;-D

First Shimpaku I've ever owned. I can totally keep this inside all year round, right? ;-D