Hi All,
firstly I need to apologise to Rob as I called him Ron in my last report, I knew I would get a name wrong sooner or later sorry Rob.
13 members attended the march meeting all bringing a tree or two for help or discussion.
Don’t forget a workshop is planned for 21st March for any one wishing to get help repotting trees or have a problem tree they require advice and help with, this is a good opportunity to have plenty of time and advice on hand to carry out work but please bring a lunch if required and all the means to protect the table tops and take away any debris and cuttings etc.
The evening began with a discussion on the matter of obtaining good quality bonsai material especially part trained trees or specimen trees. It is apparent that the price of trees from reliable outlets have become more and more expensive and this is mainly due to either the scarcity of species or the physical cost of import and container costs due to “brexit” and EU certification costs.
So please treat your trees with care and afford them good soil and food if you can as they may not be easily replaced economically.
This led onto another topic not normally considered in bonsai routine but is equally valid in the long term. What happens to your precious bonsai when you pass on and retire to the great bonsai nursery in the sky? Many established and mature bonsai perish or become forgotten when this happens as many relations do not know fully what to do with the collection that you leave behind. It would be a shame to let many years of work or indeed a nice specimen tree go into decline at this point. It is a fact that most bonsai enthusiasts forget to make provision for this even if it is just a letter of intent with your will giving loved ones instructions to contact a local bonsai club for help or instructions, or the collection’s disposal to family members. It is something to consider we think.
Going around the room from the top table,
Alan brought along a Itoigawa juniper which he is developing into a weathered twin trunk style that will eventually have some shari and jin in the lower trunks to give the impression of age. A long project he thinks but I’m sure he will get there in the end.
Roy had two trees, a nicely developed Blaauws juniper which over time he had wrestled a long lower branch and bent and twisted it to become a very convincing apex, goes to show if you are brave enough and have the know how you can make what looked like a failure into a convincing image. At first look you would have never guessed that this was the case at all, it looked very natural. Secondly he had a Dwarf Japanese quince “ Chaenomeles Japonica Sargentii” I think with red flowers about to bloom this planting was wrapped around what appeared to be lava rock and planted in a non glazed brown pot which Roy wanted to replace with a more suitable glazed pot complementing the flower colour and lush green foliage. This species has lovely small leaves and he was explaining they have become very scarce to acquire and relatively expensive but he is very fond of this species and just had to have one.
Alan Brought back his lovely Scots pine that he took to a workshop with “Caz” Caroline Scott, a bonsai artist with over 30 years experience specialising in conifers and pines, for help with styling and it had been wired nicely into position and given a tall cascading form. But interestingly Alan Craddock saw another image as a literati style, thats the fun of bonsai. Alan spent most of the evening weeding his pot to tidy up the image. A specimen tree in the making.
James had a Lonicera Hedging Honeysuckle but the actual species I’m not sure of as the leaves are much larger than the normal Nitida variety but it already had flower buds appearing at the ends of the new growth so he will leave the trimming to after flowering.
Mick had some questions about developing his Mugo pine that he had already made a good attempt at styling and wiring but was waiting for the buds to extend so he could nip the candles out to keep it compact. this will happen more towards late spring and summer.
David had a finely twigged beech that he was waiting for it to bud burst but it already had a nice shape already.
Berrice had brought along one of her many larches that had began to pop its candles and also had lots of female flowers on it which have an attractive pink and green hue to them, if fertilised they will become seed cones in the summer. She also had an established Itoigawa Juniper with shari and I think a large Acer Palmatum Seigen Maple with nice pale coloured trunk. Seigens are hard to get now and she explained that she is housing them for her Nephew who is in the process of making a Japanese style Zen garden.
Nigel has some interesting trees and this time he came with a hornbeam and a hawthorn which I offered some ideas for refining them to help him along.
Richard had cotoneasters this month one that he had potted into a cascade style and spent some time refining it, the other had not yet found a style but had began its life being gradually reduced in its pot size ready for a big decision on a style later.
Terry had come along with a Fuji Cherry in full bloom and looking lovely and also a very old piece of Forsythia that had a rot problem and he was looking for advice on the next steps. His conclusion was he had to remove the rotten trunk at the centre of the planting and perhaps combine the remaining two trunks together to form a new planting. I think this was sound advice.
I had brought along two larches a collected Dunkeld larch from a forest in Wales which had been heavily wired to shape it last year and now repotted and wires removed to form an informal upright style and also a sheep trimmed yamadori larch from the welsh hills, they had both just began to pop their leaves and I will continue to develop them keeping the yamadori looking slightly older by leaving its scared trunk and jin in place that the sheep styled for me.
see you at the workshop or next meeting
Kev