Star Magnolia - Spring 2023 Update

It’s early spring here in the Seattle area that means its time to get into my very modest garden and start going any repotting that needs doing. We had a very warm early February, followed by a a cold spell in the second half of the month. Which meant that all the trees woke up, and then had to be shuffled in and out of my workshop. But when the trees start to wake up you have to do the work of repotting them before you miss the window....

March 11, 2023 · 3 min · Andy Nortrup

Better Product Management through Bonsai

Two years ago my wife bought me a class to make a bonsai. I made a tiny tree in a small pot. It was generous to call it a Bonsai and most practitioners would look upon it with a sense of “that’s cute”. Since then, I’ve managed to keep that tree alive and now have a collection of trees that I’m slowly turning into Bonsai. Along the way I’ve learned a lot about horticulture and art, and maybe some things that make me a better product manager along the way....

December 27, 2022 · 6 min · Andy Nortrup

Star Magnolia Update

2021-12-04 I got this tree in November and wanted to do some initial wiring on it and start to pull down the major branches that I wanted to keep. Before well I wrapped but didn’t bend): I broke a few minor branches while trying to put some bend in. Attempted to fix with superglue, we’ll see what happens. Generally happy with bringing secondary branches closer to horizontal and adding some shape to them....

December 4, 2021 · 1 min · Andy Nortrup

Star Magnolia Bonsai Log / Plan

This is a running log for a Star Magnolia that I acquired from a nursery as a Bonsai project. ...

November 29, 2021 · 2 min · Andy Nortrup