Study Groups

Study Groups meet regularly in various locations around Puget Sound and Lake Washington. We have created 12 regional study groups. These regions are:

Far North (North of Snohomish County) 
Snohomish
Lynnwood/Edmonds/Bothell
Shoreline
Green Lake
Ship Canal and Lake Union
Georgetown
Sammamish/Issaquah
Bellevue/Redmond
Renton/Kent
Far South
Kitsap

Open study groups provide members an opportunity to work on their trees together to share bonsai knowledge and ideas. If you are a PSBA member and have not been contacted about being in a study group, please contact the study groups coordinator.

Advanced bonsai practitioners may be interested in the invitation-only Connie Raphael group, or a professionally-led group conducted by such noted bonsai artists as Dave DeGroot, Boon Manatikivipart, or Ryan Neil. There is typically a cost involved in these groups.

Chores for January:

-Wire your Coastal, Black and Red pines.
-Wire your Mountain Pines
-Wire your Junipers
-Wire your maples, elms and beech (Deciduous) mid-September
-Wire your deciduous trees. (flowering/fruiting varieties) mid-September
-Prune (December) your Larches
-Ignore your Ginkgos
-Ignore your False Cypress
-Ignore your Azaleas
-Ignore your Cedar & Spruce

-Start to plan your 2026 re-potting; identifying the trees to be repotted, choosing an appropriate pot, assembling soils and other needs.

Chores for November:

-Wire your Coastal, Black and Red pines.
-Thin, wire & graft your Mountain Pines
-Thin, wire & graft  your Junipers
-Thin & wire your maples, elms and beech (Deciduous) mid-September
-Thin & wire your deciduous trees. (flowering/fruiting varieties) mid-September
-Prune (December) your Larches
-Prune your Ginkgos
-Wire your False Cypress
-Ignore your Azaleas
-Prune and Wire your Cedar & Spruce
-Manually defoliate deciduous trees as needed.
-Pluck needles on dense healthy pines (this can wait till spring on young and developing trees)
-Continue weed and pest and disease control.
-Apply dormant oil and lime sulfur.
-Continue planning spring repotting. (choose pots and order soil)
-Can re-pot early blooming species now (Ume, Quince, Cherry, Crabapple, etc.)

Chores for December:

-Wire your Coastal, Black and Red pines.
-Wire your Mountain Pines
-Wire & graft  your Junipers
-Wire your maples, elms and beech (Deciduous) mid-September
-Wire your deciduous trees. (flowering/fruiting varieties) mid-September
-Prune (December) your Larches
-Ignore your Ginkgos
-Ignore your False Cypress
-Ignore your Azaleas
-Ignore your Cedar & Spruce
-Fall branch thinning, wiring and styling.
-Needle thinning on dense healthy pines.
-Leave stub on large limb pruning.
-Clean any dead wood.
-Finish winterizing your collection.