We can divide the bonsai year up into significant periods of activity and equally significant periods of wine and tea drinking in anticipation of periods of activity. Right now, in many temperate parts of the northern hemisphere, we’re just ending a period of bonsai inactivity.

Let’s call this period of inactivity between the start of growth in late winter and the hardening off of leaves in late spring our ‘Spring Break’. If we were to remove shoots and foliage in April, usually we’re a bit ahead of the ball and we’ll swing with a whoosh and no CRACK that would indicate a hit. (For those of you overseas who are now scratching your heads wondering what the heck I’m talking about, I’m referring to baseball, which is a delightfully strange game involving a bat and a ball. It’s incredibly easy to miss the tiny ball as it whizzes past your midriff.)…