Beginning Bonsai

Well almost two weeks after one night of heavy snowfall, the temperatures have risen, we have had a little rainfall, and the snow and ice has disappeared! My trees planted out in the ground are again visible and appear no worse off for the experience. Spring will be, like last year, another nervous wait to see what emerges unharmed!

This week I will have a look at –

Collingridge Handbook of Bonsai, the - by, Anne Swinton

This book was given to me as a gift from a family member who spotted it in a charity shop. The first edition of this book dates back to 1982, so this is a slight problem to begin with, but only in that some of the techniques may be outdated by today’s practices. The book is of a decent size, and is crammed full of page after page of useful information. This book unlike others relies less on imagery and more on text. This is not to say it has no pictures, because it does have a number of colour photos illustrating various different bonsai. Where techniques are discussed the author has chose to use more diagrams than photos to help explain this point. This is not a problem at all though, as the diagrams are easy to follow and pleasing to look at. Spread, seemingly randomly, throughout the book are examples of the authors bonsai trees, complete with a description. The description of each includes their origins, styling choices, growth characteristics, and their dimensions also. With the description of each there is also a photo to accompany this. Whilst the styling progression is discussed, it might have been useful to include perhaps some earlier pictures of the tree, so the viewer could see the visual progression themselves.

There is a useful section which gives a rough month by month annual guide to caring for bonsai. This discusses what techniques are generally undertaken at specific times of year and to what species this is done. This can be a useful guide, especially to beginners, however care must be taken in simply following it, as considerations should be made to differing climates, and species. The book includes the usual plant glossary at the back which looks at suitable species for use as bonsai, however this again take a text format as opposed to using pictures or photos. As I already mentioned the fact the readers climate may differ from the authors, this is dealt with at the back of the book, in terms of over-wintering. The author discusses different scenarios of how to help over-winter bonsai depending on different climates. This is a helpful addition to make the book accessible to more people.

In summary, this book is very good, it is more of a “reading” book as opposed to a instruction manual, that said, I found it very enjoyable to reads through and took many new ideas from it. For the price that was paid, as a second-hand book there was not really much that could go wrong, and so it takes pride of place on my bonsai book shelf.

This week we have episode 8 from the second series of Lindsay Farr's World of Bonsai. This episode has a really in-depth look at some techniques associated with Lingnan Penjing bonsai, with some excellent trees on display!

Enjoy :)

So this weekend the snow finally hit our area. On Friday night we had over a foot of snowfall, and it looks as if it is here to stay probably for a few weeks now, with consistent low temperatures! It is the most snow I have ever seen in our area and it has really transformed the look of the town. I have mentioned before that looking for inspiration for your bonsai within the naturally nude forms of the deciduous trees in winter is very useful. This seems to have been made even better by the snow, which sits either side of the branches, framing them so you can see the fine branch structure even better. I just hope the snow and very low temperatures aren't too much for some of my trees, only time will tell.

Here is a shot I took yesterday at a local park. It shows how somewhere I would normally take for granted has been transformed into something quite beautiful.

Winter Park

This week I will be looking at:

Bonsai Basics – by, Colin Lewis

This is a really great little book, it is quite a small format, yet it is absolutely packed with useful information. It is billed as a “comprehensive guide to care and cultivation” and it is exactly that. The majority of the book is spent looking at almost every aspect you can think of for the care and maintenance of bonsai trees. With each subject, been given ample room, to fully explain all the necessary components. It is written in a very clear and easy to read way, and the bright pictures found throughout the book provide added interest and inspiration for your own work. A useful section is the “buying a bonsai” section, this section looks at what to look for in potential material, but possibly more important, what not to look for. This allows beginner and less experience enthusiasts to begin to understand “undesirable” traits which potential stock may possess, which may in turn mean the tree will never be a good bonsai. It talks through, in detail, the fertilisation of bonsai, and the necessary nutrients that trees need in general. This is also a good explanation of the NPK values of fertilisers and exactly how each of these elements relates to the tree and what effects they produce. To accompany this section there are some useful diagrams that show the annual feeding schedule for different types of fertiliser. These diagrams could be easily re-produced to provide the enthusiast with their own chart to follow for their trees in the early years of the hobby.
Also included in the book, is a very good “tree directory”, this is basically a species guide. Similar to many other bonsai books, the species guide section can be a very useful one indeed. To be successful they must be clear and concise and easy to navigate. This is no exception in this particular book. Included with each tree species are 3 different symbols, these symbols relate to how hardy the species is, how easy it is to cultivate as bonsai, and what level of light it requires. These symbols make it very easy to access suitable species very quickly, and give the reader a quick idea of the trees general requirements. Each species has a picture of a bonsai to again give the reader an idea of what one may look like.
In summary, I really like this book. Its small format makes it an ideal pocket book for the beginner to even carry around nurseries when looking for suitable trees, and its ease of use would suite this role too.

ISBN- 978-0-600-61213-1

This week we have another video from Graham
Potter at Kaizen Bonsai. Graham works on a Taxus Baccata (English Yew), to illustrate what can be achieved from fairly easily available stock. A good video, and one that will have you eyeing up your neighbour's plants should they want to get rid of them!

Enjoy :)

It recently came to my attention that a new form of media for viewing bonsai over the internet had come about. The technology is quite a common one and one that many people will see daily on sites selling products. The technology is used to allow the viewer to move an object around to view all of it's angles. This is obviously important when selling products so the customer can get a better idea of how exactly the product looks. However, this could also be a very useful tool for bonsai enthusiasts, allowing them to see a 3D view of a tree and move, by their own will, around the tree, to see every angle. There will be some critics of this I am sure, some may say that bonsai should only be viewed from a set angle. I feel this could be useful to people trying to seek help with bonsai however, allowing others to evaluate the tree and then more easily provide help and advice. I am very excited about how this can be evolved and used in bonsai, the example below was just a tester really to try the technology so apologies for the relatively poor image quality.

For this weeks book review I will be looking at

Choosing and Growing Bonsai – by, Peter Chan

The author of this book, Peter Chan is a renowned bonsai artist with some very famous trees. He now owns a bonsai nursery in the South of England called Herons. This book is one of a number of books he has written. The reason I bought this book was because when flicking through it in the shop I was impressed with the extensive species guide in this book. In fact, the majority of the book is dedicated to species guides for a large number of trees.

The first section of the book offers a condensed overview of bonsai. Like most books it discusses where bonsai began and how it has evolved to today’s standards. Whilst these sections are an interesting read the first time, once you have a number of books on your shelf it quickly becomes apparent that you are reading the same “story” time after time. This book deals with the subject well though without going to in-depth. It also talks about getting started, choosing bonsai, and brief look at the differences between indoor and outdoor bonsai.

After this initial section, the real “meat” of the book begins. The next section is split into four distinct areas. The species guide is set out into “outdoor coniferous bonsai”, “outdoor broadleaf bonsai”, “outdoor flowering bonsai”, and “indoor bonsai”. This makes navigating this section very easy, and finding a specific species less of a task. Each section has a good selection of species contained within each. Every species has a double page spread which contains lots of information about their specific culture and special techniques needed. There are accompanying pictures to illustrate each species and give the reader an idea of what a bonsai of that species may look like. There is a particularly good section on Japanese maple where it lists a large number of cultivars and talks through their special needs and characteristics. Overall, this section is a very useful source of species specific data and one that can be looked back on quickly and easily.

The final section of the book looks at the various techniques involved in styling and maintaining bonsai. This section is quite brief in comparison to other books, however the real strength of this book is in the previous species guide section so this can be over-looked I feel. It briefly outlines, pruning, wiring, watering, feeding, and some of the common pests and diseases.

In summary, I feel this is a very concise and easy to use book with some really great info and pictures contained within it. It is of a small format, yet has a multitude of pages to explore. I would definitely recommend this book, purely on the basis of the species guide.

ISBN – 978-0-600-61442-5

This week we have episode 6 from the second series of Lindsay Farr's World of Bonsai. In this episode he visits Southern China, Foshan, and looks at some very interesting Chinese Penjing bonsai. An interesting watch, with some great trees!

Enjoy :)

Lindsay Farr's WorldOfBonsai series 2 episode 6 from lindsay farr on Vimeo.

Although my area is yet to have any significant snow fall, there has been an extreme drop in temperatures, well below zero. I looked out this morning to see everywhere white again with frost and ice. When I went out to look at some of my larger deciduous trees which are still outside, I found bare branches and twigs literally covered in frost and frozen solid. This is a bit worrying, and I am expecting severe die-back of the areas if the trees survive at all untill next year. I have made some more space in the unheated greenhouse and managed to move a large maple of mine inside. The trees in the greenhouse appear to be staying just above freezing point, and I am continuing to monitor their watering needs.

This week I will be having a look at my favourite book on my shelf

The Bonsai Book - by, Dan Barton

I bought this book a few years ago whilst wondering around a second-hand book shop. It only cost a couple of pounds and initially I just bought it purely because it was about bonsai. At the time I bought it I had no knowledge of the author as a bonsai artist or the acclaim that this book had amongst the community. I now know, mostly in thanks to this book, a bit more about the work of Dan Barton and some of his famous trees. The book was first published in 1989, and is a larger A4-sized hardback.

The book starts like many others, giving the background to bonsai, talking about where it came from and some of the philosophies it holds. He discusses in depth about how the “soul” of a tree must be discovered before the bonsai can be created. This is a very useful point and you could be mistaken to substitute “soul” for “style”, however I think what he was implying was the character and aspects that make the tree unique must be found and then these worked around in the design. After this, there is a section on where to gather useful material for bonsai. At this point in the book I was already struck by the number of wonderful photographs and hand-drawn diagrams to illustrate each point. Carrying on, pots and repotting procedure is briefly talked about, again, with relevant pictures to help. The next section talks about different compost mixes for different species of bonsai tree, and how to make you own mixes. This is the only section in the book that I feel suffers a little from its age. This, however, is inevitable, with constant new progressions in areas like growing medium, even ideas of less than 10 years ago would seem dated. The mixes stated in the book are still perfectly sound, it is just now that even more effective solutions have been discovered. Then, tools, and general maintenance are dealt with, including, watering, feeding and siting your bonsai.

The next section, is one of the gems of the book for me, it is an extensive look at the different styles of bonsai. First he sets out the “Prime order of 5 styles” which include, formal upright, informal upright, slanting, semi-cascade, and cascade. Each one of these styles has a full description of what makes up the particular style, some suitable species, brief training, pots, and even the general “essence” of the style. After the first 5 are dealt with, he goes on to discuss all other variations on these. This section is a great read, it really gives you an idea of each style, also accompanying each description are examples of bonsai in this style, and diagrams to show you too. If I am looking to produce a specific style I will often read through this section again to get a good feel for what I am trying to achieve.

In the next part the techniques for styling and maintaining bonsai are set out. This chapter, again, contains an extremely useful section, regarding candle pruning of pines. He shows with the use of drawings, how and when to prune the candles on pine bonsai depending on what outcome you wish to achieve, there are a large number of different outcomes discussed. This section is very clear and easy to follow and is used by many enthusiasts to make what appears to be a complicated procedure a bit less daunting. After this, propagation and pests and disease are also displayed. Next there is a large section on case histories. This is a very interesting read, and you can follow a number of different bonsai from raw material to styled bonsai, whilst he discusses the reasons for each step. This section has helped me to see how the styling process runs from start to styling, and gives you insight into how potential in raw stock can be seen. The end of the book looks at associated culture such as accent plants and suiseki.

In summary, this book is without doubt my favourite in my collection. I have enjoyed reading it through many times, and despite its age, still gain new knowledge and ideas from it every time I look. It can be found very inexpensively and in my opinion is a must have for any bonsai bookshelf. Have a look yourself though and make your own mind up.

ISBN – 1-85605-079-3

This week we have a great video from Mike K. of MiKo Bonsai. He discusses the styling of a garden juniper, and then shows the techniques used in the process. A great illustration of seeing the potential in a tree and then some of the techniques necessary to realise this.

Enjoy :)

The frosts have most definitely hit now in the UK. My area is lucky to escape the snow for now, but I believe it will be on its way sooner or later. My bonsai are now frozen solid in their pots, despite mostly being in the greenhouse. Although the greenhouse does not offer much rest bite from the frost, it does give me a better chance of monitoring the trees watering needs over the winter, I can easily see when they are drying out, and also do not have to worry about excess water from rain over the coming months. These severe frosts have come very early this year, so it may be that we are in for a long winter, all I can say is, hurry up spring!

As I have mentioned before, winter is when I do more reading and study around the subject of Bonsai. With this in mind, I thought I would present some short book reviews of books in my collection. This list will be by no means exhaustive, and there will be many for which I cannot review due to not having actually read them. Each review will just be a summary of my general opinion of the book and what it has to offer, others may have different opinions to mine.

I will start with –

The Bonsai Pocket Encyclopedia – by, Harry Tomlinson

This book was one of my very first bonsai related books. I bought it right at the start when getting interested in the subject. I was initially attracted by its small dimensions yet abundance of pages. This book immediately became my bonsai “bible”, with a large array of information and guides around the subject. The first part of the book covers the different aspects of bonsai, ranging from the art form itself, traditions, where to find stock and draw inspiration from. It also discusses the design principles of bonsai, whilst at the same time, offering a multitude of examples and pictures to help the reader visualise what is being discussed. The seasons are talked about and how they offer different opportunities and dynamics to our bonsai trees. After this section, begins an extensive species guide section, where well over 60 common species used for bonsai are set out. Within each species there is a magnitude of different information to be found including, general information, suggested styles, full cultivation information, and all of this is accompanied by at least one photo of the species as a bonsai. This whole section is very easy to follow and find the exact information you are after, the tree species are placed in alphabetic order which also makes navigation very easy. I use this section of the book often still now, when I come across a species I am unfamiliar with, I will always turn to this book to see what it says about that tree. The next section talks about the styling and maintenance of bonsai trees. First the distinct styles are outlined for the reader, and each one discussed. Then bonsai pots and tools are talked about, again, with many accompanying pictures to illustrate points. After this, many techniques are talked through including, pruning, wiring, and creating specific styles. At the end, general pests and diseases are outlined, and the prevention and treatment also given. The very last section is a dictionary of species suitable for bonsai, this time instead of supporting pictures, a more concise format is taken, giving the cultivation information, and some general habits of the tree. A large number of species and varieties are outlined in this section.

In summary, this is a really excellent book to both beginners and more advanced practitioners. There is a wealth of knowledge contained within the pages and the array of pictures and different bonsai trees are useful and inspiring to look at. This book started out as my “bible” and it still is to a degree now.

If you are interested in this book the ISBN number is – 978-0-7513-0139-7

I decided to compile a list of useful websites I use on a regular basis. This list consists of both, information and guide type sites, and also online retailers who I use. I will add to the list as and when I find new sites to share.

You can find the links on the page tab on the side of this page, and also via this link - Useful Bonsai links page

This week's video is episode 3 from Lindsay Farr's World of Bonsai series 2. In this episode he has a look around some Japanese bonsai nurseries, and talks to the owners about some of the trees. There are some really stunning bonsai on show. The episode is split into two parts, so be sure to watch both!

Enjoy :)

Now we are getting into the cold months, the majority of bonsai are shutting down and going dormant until spring. This means there is less work to be done on the bonsai, and just simply monitored for watering to keep them just moist. I like to use this time to have a good think about my trees, and begin to formulate and plan the styling of trees that currently do not have any particular direction. This is not always easy, trying to envisage the style of a tree has been one of the hardest tasks I have found in this hobby. It requires sound knowledge of bonsai, horticultural expertise, and also a good degree of creativity. A method I have found particularly useful in helping this process, is the collection of inspiration. By this I mean both natural trees and finished bonsai. Whenever I go for a walk out in the country I am constantly on the look out for interesting trees, and when I find them I always have my camera ready to capture them. These photos can then be kept in a special folder on my computer and used to give me ideas on how to style some of my trees. During winter, this works even better for deciduous species, because they are devoid of leaves. This means you can really see the structure of the branching. As well as taking inspiration from naturally occurring trees, an important source of ideas comes from looking at as many bonsai as you can. This is where the internet plays a huge role. You can easily, by a couple of clicks, find many thousands of images of other people’s bonsai they are displaying on the internet. I find this very useful to look at, especially when you can search for a specific species and see examples of them. I regularly look at the galleries of as many bonsai artists as I can, and seeing this high level of bonsai really helps to see what can be achieved. Indeed, it has been said before, that an artist must first be able to mimic a master before they can become a master themselves. So by drawing ideas from other people's work, you are improving your skills in the hobby. Once you have done this enough, your own ideas and creativity will come to you a lot easier.

Tuesday of this week marked the date of the annual club auction at the National Bonsai Society. Having never been to an auction of any kind, I was really looking forward to it. I had also been waiting for some time to add some decent stock to my collection. So I attended, not knowing what to really expect. When I arrived I could see a vast number of trees all layed out in the centre of the room, so I made my way over to have a good look around. I was astonished at the variety of material, ranging from very small, raw material, and even well established show-quality bonsai. I made my way round and ear-marked any trees which I would like to bid on. There was one tree which immediately struck me, this was a large Chinese Wisteria. I decided this was my main target, and settled down to wait for the auction to begin. The auction began, and people began spending their money. I was surprised at the reasonable prices at which a lot of trees were selling, it really was a good source for obtaining new material at a decent price. So the time came for the Wisteria to go on sale, at first a couple of people began to bid on it, I left them to get on with it, already with a figure in my mind on which I would go to. The bids began to slow down, so I jumped in, and managed to secure the tree after a couple of bids, and way under my top limit.

I am incredibly happy with the tree, I think it is a real stunner. I was informed also that the tree is a regular flowerer, which is what Wisteria are grown for essentially. They can take upto 20 years to begin flowering, so this news was most encouraging.

So here is the tree, it stands around 66cm tall, measures about 5 inches at the base of the trunk, and has a root spread of about 7 inches.

This tree is now easily my largest bonsai in my collection, it is probably also the further along it's bonsai route. I am really looking forward to next year to see if it flowers. It is also a good chance for me to enhance my skills by looking after a tree with different needs to anything I currently own. I will clean up the base and remove the moss, and carefully remove any bits of moss from the trunk. I will do this to ensure there is no risk of rot to both roots and trunk!

This week we have a video from Graham Potter of Kaizen Bonsai, styling a yamadori Oriental Hornbeam (Carpinus Orientalis). Always interesting to hear his thoughts on styling, design, and then see the process take form. As always, there is some carving to see too!

Enjoy

When I first got interested in Bonsai, my first couple of trees were all bought with the intention of keeping them indoors. My further reading and research around the subject soon led me to the conclusion that this was not the ideal growing environment for the majority of material used for Bonsai. So with this new knowledge, some were moved outside where they were immediately happier, however some were less lucky and did not survive this early mistreatment. This said, there are a number of species that are used for Bonsai that are sub-tropical and therefore would not survive outside in our British weather, and so need to be cultured indoors. Now, a number of years after my initial indoor blunders, I became curious again as to whether I could now grow and indoor Bonsai and keep it both alive and healthy. One species common for indoor growing is that of Ficus, they are a sub-tropical species and like warmer temperatures, usually nothing less than 12 degrees. They are mostly evergreen, and are usually grow quite well in less than perfect growing conditions.

So the subject for my experiment was to be a Ficus. I found myself a cheap little Ficus Microcarpa, and set it up in my bedroom. The tree was ordered over the internet and when it arrived it seemed fairly healthy. It was however in a very small pot, and poor growing medium. The tree was also clearly pot-bound, with roots coming out of the drainage holes at the bottom. So my first job was to repot the tree into a more suitable sized pot and better, free-draining, growing medium. This done I gave it a drip tray underneath filled with a layer of moist gravel to increase the local humidity, which the tree would thank me for. It was placed by the windowsill in my bedroom and left there to settle in.

Ficus, although forgiving, can often be a little temperamental, and when they are moved to a new position, or repotted, can throw a bit of a wobbler and begin to shed leaves. This happened often with my first few trees, and being less experienced I presumed it was something to do with watering and then proceeded to over-water them, resulting in their demise. So when this begun to happen with this new tree, I knew my watering was correct and so had to assume it was just temporary. It is still alarming when any tree loses it’s leaves unexpectedly and so I wanted to remedy the situation as soon as possible.

I had recently read an interesting article by a forum member, who had stated the same problem and actually come up with a solution to the leaf drop problem. The solution found is to cover the tree completely with a plastic bag. This traps in the moist air and provides a humid atmosphere for the tree. So with this new advice to hand, I proceeded to cover my tree with a plastic bag. I left the bag on for a week and have now removed it. Before the bag went on, there were perhaps one or two new yellow leaves daily which then fell off. Now after the “bag treatment” I am yet to see any yellow leaves and the tree appears to be stable again. This has been a very useful technique, you can read the full article here - http://www.mariusz.andrzejak.biz

Over the last week, the temperature here has dropped dramatically. This spurred me into starting to get some of my bonsai ready for the coming winter. Hopefully this winter will not be as bad as last, which was the coldest in memory. We do not generally get much snow here due to us being on the coast, but last year we had a thick covering for well over a month and temperatures staying firmly below zero. With this is mind, I will offer some of my smaller and more fragile bonsai some added protection this year. Included in these will be the small japanese maple seedlings which sprouted this year, as these are by no means ready for a winter outside yet. This will be in the form of an unheated greenhouse, I also have a small polythene greenhouse which can accommodate a few extras. Protection of native species is generally unnecessary as this is the weather they are used to, having said that I did lose a yamadori European Larch last year, but it was possibly on the weak side already. I had a few other losses but these consisted of species that I should of really protected, namely, a katsura Japanese maple, and a group of dawn redwoods. So not taking any chances, this year, I begun to prepare some of the trees. This mainly consisted of weeding them out and removing any moss that had appeared on the surface for the time being, the weeds and moss will only make monitoring the watering that bit harder. The moss can also offer a hiding place for creepy crawlies over the colder months. This also gave me the chance to have a good look at them, and see how they have got on this year. Most of my deciduous are now without leaf, all bar a little Japanese larch which is hanging onto its last needles, and also a trident maple which is planted in the ground, and still in full leaf. With the drop of needles on another larch of mine, the chance to wire it presents itself. Wiring a larch while it is covered in needles is almost impossible and possibly even detrimental. So wiring of these occurs strictly at the start of winter. My Chinese elm have for the last couple of years acted like evergreens, they never seem to drop their leaves for winter and carry them all the way until next spring, and the new growth. With all of the trees prepared, all that is left to do is to bring them into the greenhouse over the next month, when I see a considerable and consistent drop in our temperatures.

Thought I would share a random bonsai related video each week. This week it is an interesting interview allowing us an insight into the thoughts of a very renowned bonsai artist, namely Walter Pall. Sharing his thoughts on the perceived differences between Western and Japanese bonsai.

Enjoy

Since I started growing bonsai, probably my single biggest source of both frustration and disappointment has been related to the material. For the first couple of years I was determined to create masterpieces out of completely unsuitable material aka "stick in a pot". This could only lead in one direction, that of frustration and eventual disenchantment with the hobby. I believe I have now come out of the other side of this time period, and feel a lot more realistic now when looking at potential material for use as bonsai. I mainly became frustrated with my benches being filled with very juvenile plants decades away from anything near "bonsai". This is not to say that this juvenile stock should be avoided, I do see it as a very cheap way to gain species to work on, but only if you don't mind waiting and are realistic about how to grow them in the mean time. On forums especially, I see countless new people to the hobby looking for help with either growing trees from seed or from very young plants, and countless more experienced members giving them a reality check. As a beginner myself, I can see now that, whilst it is fine to grow young trees, it is important for you to have something a little more established to work on in the mean time, so as to keep your interest in the hobby.

There has been a lot of talk recently on the Weetrees forum about this subject and some very useful criteria set out. This is helpful to new people to the hobby, to avoid the frustrations which many people suffer. This said, my problem has always been lack of disposable income, and in general, older and more developed stock comes at a higher price. However, if you look around enough, good material can be sourced from many different places, sometimes at little to no cost. Neighbours clearing out gardens are an excellent source of unwanted and usually quite established shrubs and trees, the so called "garden yamadori". Also commercial building work can throw up certain opportunities, whereby they may be clearing some land to build something new on it, and you can ask to remove any trees which may be there already for them.

All in all, I feel I can now start from a new point in my hobby, and cease buying unsuitable material, and look out for more suitable stuff.

So I was tidying around some of my trees over the weekend, and I couldn't resist having a look inside the air-layer I have previously mentioned on here. I thought, I may as well check before I go to the trouble of wrapping it up and protecting it over the coming winter months. So I began to unwrap the plastic covering, and as I did so, my worst fears were realised. It appears the layer has been unsuccessful, as underneath the layers of plastic and moss, there were no roots, but an abundance of callus material and healed over cambium at the layer site. All I can attribute to this is that, when I originally did the layer, I did not fully remove all of the cambium layer, and so it has been able to heal. I cannot say that I am not disappointed by this, but on a plus, it is of no real issue to the tree, it is still perfectly healthy. All this means is that instead of being able to remove the top of the tree next Spring, I will have to recut the layer, probably in April/May, and wait again. I feel this is another positive on the virtues of airlayers as a way of propagation, as it can be seen that even if it is unsuccessful, you get a second chance. Something that is impossible, with say, cuttings. Anyway, a slight set back but not a major one. It has served more in a lesson of attention to detail, and less haste to get things done.

On the Weetrees forum there was proposed a Bunjin/Literati tree competition. Entrants had untill the 31st of September to enter a piece of material, which would then be worked on and developed into a literati style bonsai. Entrants would have from the 31st of September untill the 31st of December to work this material and then submit final shots of the tree, which would then be judged on by the forum members in terms of the finished result and how this was achieved from the starting stock. After searching in a couple of local garden centres, I couldn't find much suitable for the task. I eventually chose a small Cedrus Deodara "Feelin Blue", I chose this because I liked the foliage, and it looked to have fairly good small branching in place giving me more choice.

Here is the tree, as bought.

As you can see, it had a good amount of foliage. It already had this leaning over style which I thought could be encorporated into the final design. It would however need extensive styling to come near to constituting and bunjin style tree. Work at first was slow, I was unfamiliar with this species and have not owned any Cedrus before, so I did not want to make any obvious mistakes.

The first job was to clear out any foliage that would obviously play no role, any small twigs, and also have a little dig down at the base to see how deep it went. Whilst doing this I examined the substantial branches which were mainly at the top of the tree, to begin to decide what would stay and what would go. Next, on some of the branches I had decided would go, instead of removing them completely, I stripped them of foliage to later use them as jins.

The foliage was fairly sparse on the lower half of the tree and mainly consisted of a few very weak shoots. This was probably due to the bulk of the foliage up top drowning out all light for anything below. This unfortunately left a large area of trunk devoid of any interest either from branches, movement, or foliage itself. This was a problem. I decided to leave a low branch on and make a jin out of it for now, just so there was something in that area.

The stripped branches were then cut roughly to the length I wanted them as jins, and I begun to strip the bark off them to reveal the wood below. I have never done any sort of deadwood or jins before and so this was a new skill to try out. The branches I was using were quite small so this kept the task simple for now. Also the bark was fresh and came away from the wood quite easily with a little help. Here are the jins freshly stripped with a little wire to shape them while they dry.

After this stage I had to make a choice on which branches would be kept and used at the top, and which would go. What I had left was basically three branches. I had two at the very top, and one slightly lower down pointing towards the back.

The two top branches can be seen from this picture. My problem was that both branches originated from the same spot on the top of the trunk, this meant that if both were left on, swelling would occur around that point on the trunk and cause ugly inverse taper. So one had to go. If I chose to keep the red circled branch, it would currently be pointing forwards which wouldn't look right. So I decided to go with the blue circled branch and go and remove the other. I figured I had to keep the lower down branch to add a bit of balance and depth to the design.

So this done, the two remaining branches were trimmed roughly to the size I wanted, and some wire applied. The jins had also had chance to dry out and set in place. So the wire was removed and the jins applied with lime sulphur to give them a aged white look. Again, another procedure I was doing for the first time, and boy does it smell!

Now, all that was left was to give it a new pot and some minor tweaks and refinement to the pads of foliage. I was unhappy with the two upper jins so these also got shortened at this point. Most trees are usually repotted in the Spring, but it is fine to repot a lot of evergreen species in Autumn time.

This is how it looks now, it will be left to settle in for a while now. I have over a month untill the competition ends to make any minor tweaks or take more photos but it will probably stay the same as it is here. Next year it will be allowed to grow and hopefully I can gain some nice compact foliage in the pads and develop them further. Looking now, it could also be slight rotated clockwise in a future repot.

From this process I have been able to try out some new techniques, gain more practice in evaluating and styling trees, and gain more experience in techniques I am already accustomed with. Overall I have enjoyed the journey from the raw stock, and this is what we do this hobby for. Whether or not you end up with a show stopping piece (in my case not even nearly lol) is irrelevant.

You can follow this tree and all of the other entrants into the competition at the WeeTrees Bonsai Forum

I completely forgot to post this up in August, but here we are, better late than never. August saw the arrival of the annual Southport Flower Show, a much anticipated event by myself and one that promised a good bonsai turnout. So I got my ticket and headed down on the Saturday, and I was not disappointed in the least. There were a number of different bonsai exhibit stands in the show tents from various clubs and societies. With some really great trees on show. The main one there was that of the National Bonsai Society who are actually based in Southport. This being my local club, I took this chance to introduce myself to some of the members there and enquire about attending the club. This was brilliant to have the chance to talk to some like-minded individuals and discuss bonsai face-to-face, instead of behind a PC monitor to which I was accustomed.

Here are a couple of trees from the show plus a link to the full set of images.

SLIDESHOW

Enjoy :)

After the successful completion of my first bonsai wood work project earlier in the year, I was spurred on to try and create something again. Untill this point, all of the bonsai wire I owned was simply coiled up and lying in the bottom of a tool box, this was both impractical and unefficient. So I decided my next project would be to create something to tackle this problem, and this meant a wire caddy. I have seen many different types of wire caddy around on the internet and club meetings before, and I always liked the look of them. Rather than buying one I decided to break out the tools again, find some unwanted wood, and attempt to create another recycled project. I chose quite a simple design to ensure maximum ease during the creation process. I then gathered together bits of wood which were unwanted in the shed, these included items such as parts of an old chest of drawers, a cricket stump, and childs snooker cue, wind-break pole, amongst others.

So I took my time over a few days to measure, cut, and fix my wire caddy together, and this was the finished result.

I would like to point out, the finished article was not without imperfections, but overall I was pleased with the outcome and it's use. These recycling projects I have undertaken have been immensely rewarding, and also cost practically nothing, so it is worth a go!

In April of this year I decided that the scattering of trees around the yard would benefit from a bit of organisation, in the form of a dedicated display bench. Now not being any kind of craftsman, I thought my first project would be better to be a recycling job. So I acquired a sorry looking indoor table which had been left outside for some time and suffered. I planned roughly what I wanted the finished bench to look like and and begun to take the table apart. My plan was to use only the wood which currently constituted the table, but I ended up using a couple of extra offcuts which were also lying around.

Here is how the table looked before hand, as you can see, in a bit of a poor state, and would benefit from a revamp.

So I begun to take the table apart to see how much wood I had to play with. Once this was done I then started to piece it back together in the design I had in mind. From the outset I had envisaged a two-tier arrangement, with the top tier set back from the lower, also with space underneath the top tier for some possible protective space for small trees. Now the bench was always going to be of modest proportions due to the amount of wood I had available, but as my current collection wasn't huge this suited it fine.

So here is the bench after much tinkering, I was pleased with the end result and all it needed was a coat of exterior stain to seal the wood and protect it against the elements.

Back in June, I decided that I would attempt my first air-layer. This technique is much like taking a cutting except the part being layered is left on the tree untill sufficient roots have formed. At this point the branch is then removed and potted up by itself. I had a largish japanese maple which I had been allowing to grow freely for a couple of years. I decided that I would like to shorten this tree before it began bonsai training, but rather than just cutting the top off, I would air-layer it and get two trees for the price of one.

The spot on the trunk was selected and a ring of bark was removed from around the trunk at this point.

I carefully removed all of the "pithy" wood from the area which is the cambium layer of the bark which transports food within the plant. If all of the cambium is not taken off then there is a chance the area could just heal back over and the layer would fail. I have seen people suggest that leaving a "bridge" of cambium across the area might help, but I think this would just increase the chance of it failing. I applied a small amount of rooting hormone to the top edge of the layer and then prepared the sphagnum moss which would be used to cover the air-layer and facilitate a healthy rooting environment. This was done by simply soaking it in a bucket of water for a short while.

Clumps of the sphagnum moss were then taken out of the water and rung out to remove excess water and leave them moist. These clumps were then arranged around the prepared area and held in place with plastic wrap.

A final layer of black plastic was used to cover the clear plastic wrap, this was to reduce the amount of light getting to the new roots and hopefully help them to grow. I would need to check on the layer frequently to ensure it did not dry out, I could provide it with moisture via a syringe and a small hole in the plastic covering.

The layer has now been on for 4 months and on inspection I am unsure whether there has been much root growth. Unwilling to disturb it I will provide it with some Winter protection in the form of some garden fleece, and leave it on over the Winter to inspect it again in the Spring.

These Japanese Maple seedlings were somewhat of a surprise to me when they sprung up early this Spring. Originally I received the seeds from another hobbyist who I purchased a tree from. I planted them out in pots almost 2 years ago now and left them completely unprotected in the yard. The seeds were planted in roughly 50:50 coarse grit and general compost. When they didn't sprout the following Spring I left them where they were and eventually forgot about them all together. Then around March time of this year I noticed a number of things growing in what I thought were the Maple pots, bearing in mind this is some 18 months after planting them, this is what I saw..

On first examination I just presumed they were weeds that had taken up residence in the pots, yet due to the concentration and similarity of each seedling it got me wondering. So I decided to ask the opinions of the other WeeTrees forum members and post my pics. The resounding response I got was they could be Japanese Maple but its far too early to tell as most seedlings look similar at first. So I left them growing for a few more weeks to see what happened and to my joy the second pairs of leaves emerged and were unmistakably Japanese Maple. The seedlings have now been transplanted into individual pots and are doing very well.

An interesting point that can be seen is in the variation of leaf type between the seedlings, some have more dissected leaves than others. Although all seeds were from one mother plant, each seed has the chance to develop into a completely new form of that variety, so seeds can offer an exciting variety. I think the thing I learnt most from this was that nature will do what it wants, it will grow whenever and where ever it wants to and very rarely where you think or want it to. I may have been quick to dismiss the seeds after the first season but I gave them more time and have been rewarded for that. So I now have 12 seedlings which I will keep a record of and update their development on here.

Although my time growing bonsai is still very limited since I have started a new development in the standard growing medium used for bonsai occured. When I first started out, many people, books included, suggested the most suitable growing medium was a substance called Akadama. This was a Japanese form of baked clay, which retained water very well but at the same time allowed free drainage of any excess. Due to it being Japanese and therefore needing to be imported I found that this was not exactly cheap. It seemed that other people felt this too and so had been looking for a cheaper, more readily available alternative. This is where Cat Litter comes in, it may sound strange at first but this is now the preferred growing medium for a vast number of growers. The reason for this is that there are a couple of brands of cat litter name Sophisticat Pink, and Tesco Premium LightWeight cat litter, which use a very similar formula of baked clay granules. This meant that large bags could be bought of this product for a lot cheaper than their Japanese counterpart, and the cat litter works just as well and even slightly better in frost conditions. This was an excellent find especially for a beginner like myself who often doesn't have a huge budget to be spending on extra supplies. Care must be taken however when purchasing the cat litter to ensure it is the right brand, other brands have been shown to clump up around the rootballs of trees which can be disastrous. The only difference between the Sophisticat and the Tesco brand is the average grain size, the Sophisticat having the slightly larger sized grain, this is purely down to personal choice though, I am using Sophisticat and have been very happy with it so far, and my trees planted in it seem even happier!

One thing I found when starting to practice bonsai was the wealth of reading material available in both books and on the internet. Whilst this is great for learning about everything you need to, and finding inspiration through pictures, if you have a question there is little hope of a response. This is where the internet forum trumps the lot, through a forum you can ask a specific question and have it answered by experienced bonsai artists very quickly. The first forum I found on bonsai was called BonsaiHelp, unfortunately this site has closed down now for various reasons, however its core community has created an off-shoot forum of their own which is currently thriving. I find this forum to be the most important tool I have available to help me along with this hobby, and as a beginner in the art myself it is incredibly insightfull to listen to more experienced people talk about the subject and show off their collections. At first I was a more passive member, rarely posting questions but merely reading the wealth of information contained in other peoples topics. Now however, I take a much more involved role in the forum asking more questions and even on occasion trying to help other beginners with things I may have experienced too. The forum currently has over 300 members and many new posts each day, and I will continue to read and contribute as much as I can. I would just like to recommend the following site though to both beginners and more experienced bonsai artists due to the crucial help and enjoyment it has afforded me.

Give it a visit and say hello WeeTrees Bonsai Forum

So my first purchased over 3 years ago was what I have already described as another "mallsai" I was inexperienced at the time and knew no better place to get one than in my local Homebase. The tree was a Chinese Elm, and I immediately took the labels advise and kept it indoors. The tree sat in my room seemingly happy enough and pushed at new growth. This new growth was however pale and slightly leggy, the first indication that the position of the tree was not ideal. Following this pale and leggy growth the tree began to display yellowing leaves and also drop them. At this point I knew something was wrong and so after researching a little on the internet decided the tree would be much happier where it was intended to live, namely outside. After I moved it outside its recovery was almost instantaneous, it pushed out new growth where it had previously lost it, and a much more compact habit.

This Is the earliest picture I could find of the tree, still sporting it's original blue glaze pot. This was probably about a year after purchase. I know now that I left this tree far too long in it's pot I bought it in and more importantly in the same growing medium it was bought in. The soil these trees are usually growing in from purchase is very unsuitable, it holds far too much moisture and has little drainage capacity. In order to get maximum growth and health for the tree's roots it needs to be planted in a free draining but moisture retentive at the same time type of medium. You will also notice I had added some moss on top of the medium to simulate grass. Whilst this can look alright, it should only really be used for a short period i.e. for a show, as the moss can cause further drainage issues and also harbor unwanted guests e.g. creepy crawlies! The moss also provided a further problem for me in that it began to grow up the trunk, making the bark underneath it constantly wet, this led to the trunk beginning to rot at the bottom, which I have now sorted out but was worrying at the time. Since this picture I have repotted the tree into a more suitable growing medium and it is being allowed a period of free growth as I am planning to extend it's silhouette into a much broader shape.

Here it is as it stands today, no dramatic change but looking very healthy and well on it's way to my future view for it. In hindsight the pot I repotted it into is all wrong both in shape and size, and once it has achieved the desired shape I intend to pot it into a more suitable round pot with a dull glaze, more suited for this style a informal broom tree.

Lastly I have included a rough virtual representation of the shape I would like to achieve to give some idea of where it is heading. The current more rounded shape will be replace by a much shallower and wider dome which will appear to bring the height on the tree down, appear as if the trunk is thicker, and give it a bit more presence. Then with the addition of a more suitable pot I think this tree will not be a bad addition to my collection, from humble beginnings.

I would like to start with a little background to how I became interested in bonsai and where I am at present. I have had a strong interest in bonsai trees really since I was a little kid, my Dad always used to take me to the local flower show every year and I would stand and marvel at how they made these seemingly ancient trees fit into little pots. Various members of my family have also owned a couple of "bonsai" trees widely known as "mallsai" (cheaply bought supermarket trees) and so had a little experience with them up close. However, as with most of these purchases they are often mis-sold as easy to keep indoor plants when they are usually quite the opposite. So it is of no surprise that these early forrays into bonsai were unsuccessful and the trees succumbed to over zealous care. My interest hightened in my late teens when I became involved in eastern martial arts and this meant I was enlightened to the wider eastern culture also. So I decided it was time I tried to care for a bonsai tree of my own, and this is where my journey began!

Thursday 30 December 2010

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Tuesday 14 December 2010

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Tuesday 30 November 2010

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