Slowbranch缓枝

Slowbranch is a working diary kept against the calendar: four seasonal panels below, and inside each one the records that belong to that season. The panel holding the current month is opened wider, because that is the one you are standing in.

entries published: 24
tree records: 11
technique papers: 8
style forms defined: 12

春 Spring

Bud swell to hardened first flush

Scots pine on rock: twelve years for roots to take hold 10 Oct 2026
Thread and approach grafting: replacing a missing branch or root 7 Oct 2026
Guyu: full feeding begins, and the season's first hard shoot selection 5 Oct 2026
Qingming: the repotting deadline, and what happens if you miss it 26 Sep 2026
Jingzhe: the first real inspection of the year 8 Sep 2026
Zelkova forest planting: spacing five trunks on a 42 cm slab 5 Sep 2026
Repotting and root pruning: the day the tree either speeds up or stalls 3 Sep 2026
Trident maple, moyogi: the first structural wiring 22 Aug 2026

8 entries

夏 Summer

Candle work, wiring checks, shade

Double-trunk larch: making two trunks read as one tree 14 Oct 2026
Lixia: reading pine candles and the beginning of shade management 12 Oct 2026
Dwarf pomegranate, neagari: exposing roots 8 mm at a time 3 Oct 2026
Candle pruning two-needle pines: cutting the whole tree in one three-day window 13 Sep 2026
Black pine, chokkan: eleven years to a straight trunk 27 Aug 2026

5 entries

秋 Autumn

Wire off, fruit, colour, ripening

Air layering: turning one good branch into a second tree 17 Oct 2026
Clump-style Japanese maple: five trunks from one root 28 Sep 2026
Jin and shari: carving deadwood without cutting the live vein 23 Sep 2026
Defoliation: cutting every leaf to make the second set smaller 18 Sep 2026
Trident maple in full cascade: growing against gravity 16 Sep 2026
Crabapple, shakan: getting fruit to hold past November 10 Sep 2026

6 entries

冬 Winter

Structure, deadwood, protection

Trunk chopping and leader selection: building taper in segments 30 Sep 2026
Windswept black pine: training a tree to lean into one wind 21 Sep 2026
Itoigawa juniper, bunjin: carving shari without losing the tree 1 Sep 2026
Lichun: the late-winter window that decides the year's structure 30 Aug 2026
Structural wiring in late winter: eight steps and the six mistakes to avoid 25 Aug 2026

5 entries

Most recently entered

Technique paper Air layering: turning one good branch into a second tree Literati · 17 Oct 2026
Tree record Double-trunk larch: making two trunks read as one tree Double trunk · 14 Oct 2026
Seasonal note Lixia: reading pine candles and the beginning of shade management Formal upright · Lixia — start of summer (around 5 May) · 12 Oct 2026
Tree record Scots pine on rock: twelve years for roots to take hold Root over rock · 10 Oct 2026
Technique paper Thread and approach grafting: replacing a missing branch or root Informal upright · 7 Oct 2026
Seasonal note Guyu: full feeding begins, and the season's first hard shoot selection Informal upright · Guyu — grain rain (around 20 April) · 5 Oct 2026
Tree record Dwarf pomegranate, neagari: exposing roots 8 mm at a time Exposed root · 3 Oct 2026
Technique paper Trunk chopping and leader selection: building taper in segments Formal upright · 30 Sep 2026
Tree record Clump-style Japanese maple: five trunks from one root Clump · 28 Sep 2026
Seasonal note Qingming: the repotting deadline, and what happens if you miss it Informal upright · Qingming — clear and bright (around 5 April) · 26 Sep 2026
Technique paper Jin and shari: carving deadwood without cutting the live vein Literati · 23 Sep 2026
Tree record Windswept black pine: training a tree to lean into one wind Windswept · 21 Sep 2026

Use the breadcrumb to move between the atlas, the technique papers and this entry.