Welcome to the March Newsletter

Transcription

1 NEXT CLUB MEETINGS Welcome to the March Newsletter Green Square Community Hall 3 Joynton Avenue Zetland 7pm Tuesday 8 April 2014 Lee to talk on grafting a Trident Maple. 7pm Tuesday 13 May 2014 Brenda, President of Illawarra Bonsai Club will talk about Azaleas. Brenda is a specialist in Azalea bonsai. April Meeting Lee will do a short workshop on grafting a Trident Maple for bonsai. Demonstration on preliminary styling of a Sandpaper Fig from an advanced stock specimen - Lee. Club Members focus Junipers (root pruning), Olives, Privet and Buxus CONTACT DETAILS info@sydneycitybonsai.org.au sydneycitybonsai.org.au PO Box 486 Summerhill NSW 2130 COMMITTEE Patron Dorothy Koreshoff President Bryan Vice President Sue Secretary tba Treasurer Chris Newsletter Editor Roslyn Librarian Marianna Catering Philip Committee Lee & Tony MEMBERSHIP Full Membership $40.00 Concession $25.00 Family $55.00 Pensioner $25.00 SCBC wishes to thank Sydney City Council for their continued support for our club by providing the hall at a reduced rate. In this issue: MARCH WORKSHOP Bryan talks about collecting and placing moss for bonsai. Notes from US Bonsai Master Robert Kempinski on styling an advanced Scots Pine at the Bonsai Society of Australia March meeting - see pages 2-4 Club March talks Tree Health by Sue and Moss for Bonsai by Bryan page 5 Report on Ausbonsai Auburn Sale and Bonsai Events Calendar page 6 Top pots on sale at the next SCBC meeting: Finer older Japanese pots and an older Mirkwood round pot. These pots will be at the April meeting with prices ranging from $10 to $30. The Mirkwood pot by Pat Kennedy is and older style/glaze and will never be repeated. The quality of each pot is rarely found on sale these days. An opportunity not to be missed. The revenue will go in the club coffers so come prepared to buy a pot and beautify your bonsai.

2 US BONSAI MASTER, ROBERT KEMPINSKI STYLES SCOTTS PINE Robert Kempinski Robert Kempinski is a Past President and Past Vice President of Bonsai Clubs Inter-national and his International teaching level is expert. "Dante's Inferno" Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus) 39 inches wide, Chinese pot Winner of the World Bonsai Contest Photo by Joseph Mullan Rob began his interest in bonsai in He first came to worldwide attention in 2002 when he was awarded the Joshua Roth New Talent Award. Rob s trees have, three times, been selected in the JAL/World Bonsai Friendship Federation Top 100 Trees Competition, which is supported by the Nippon Bonsai Association. Phase 1 Raw material to first style The initial styling is to establish the structure of the trunk, roots and perhaps the main branches. Emphasis on the roots at this stage pays dividends as problems with root structure take the longest to correct in the long term. Rob tries not to get carried away with his initial styling; we just need to get the tree started on its journey. You work in conjunction with the tree and always work a tree to ensure its survival. There s no sense doing impressive work on a tree to have the tree die because the work was too intense Phase 2 Basic styling The tree needs time to recover from the initial work and branches and roots need to develop and cut marks need to heal. Plenty of sun and fertilizer assist in this stage. If the trunk needs to thicken a sacrifice branch in an inconspicuous position will assist. This stage may last anywhere between 6 months and 5 years depending on the variety. Phase 3 Refinement AN EVENING WITH ROBERT KEMPINSKI From notes taken by Lee Wright during Rob s demonstration on an advanced Scots Pine stock plant with additional material by Colin Hugo and Rob Kempinski Noted American bonsai master, Robert Kempinski, gave a demonstration at the Bonsai Society of Australia at their March 4th meeting. Robert lives in Florida managing 300 bonsai in tropical conditions and this visit was his first time in Australia. Rob s philosophy is that work done on a tree today must be done with some future goal in mind. There is no such thing as an instant bonsai. This adds a fourth dimension to bonsai work, that of time, and makes it unique among the arts. This requires patience from the artist and awareness that a bonsai has to be developed in concert with the growth of the tree. When you start to work on a tree you need to establish a design goal. You need to have some idea where you are taking the tree and how you are going to develop it over the years. Don't be in a hurry, with bonsai take your time. This is the time to develop ramification and reduce leaf size. The tree can be moved to a smaller pot at this stage. Phase 4 Show Final pot selection and decorative touches, such as moss or pebbles, are required at this stage Phase 5 Redesign Bonsai are constantly growing and changing and in some cases may require a return to the basic styling stage for a design change. As we all know the only completed bonsai is a dead bonsai This may sound obvious but an artist must recognize at what stage a tree is before starting work, because certain phases require work that is only applicable to that stage and if applied at the wrong time may be detrimental to the trees development. Advanced Scots Pine before its journey page. 2

3 ROBERT KEMPINSKI STYLES SCOTTS PINE continued Elements of Bonsai Design It is important to consider taper because taper is related to perspective, with the trunk and branches both tapering. Imagine standing in front of a tall tree. You get an immediate look at perspective as the tree tapers to a vanishing point high above you. Think of bonsai as a work of art and look for perspective, texture and line. People focus on the line of the trunk but that's not the only feature. Japanese say the tree should bow to you but what that is actually achieving is not a welcome but perspective. Negative space is very important so foliage pads should be defined to leave spaces between the branches. Working on a tree as a piece of art or a sculpture means it needs to look good from all sides. Everyone focuses on the front but a bonsai is 3 dimensional and you need to have the back look good as well. Rules are guidelines. A styling guideline in branch placement is a branch right, left and back with the No 1 branch one third of the way up the trunk. That s the guideline but a lot of my [Rob] trees have the first branch at the back. You can put foliage where you want it to make the branch seem to be coming from a particular spot. Bifurcation Robert s future plan and notes for this tree Bifurcation, from the Latin meaning to fork, is the splitting of the main body dividing into two parts. Pine trees grow in whorls and with multiple branches at one point the trunk will thicken and develop reverse taper. It is important to cut back to two branches. When you are pruning any time there are three branches from one spot you remove one. When you are doing bifurcation start at the trunk and work out. Robert tilts the tree and marks angle and front of tree with a wire pin (plumb bob alternative) Here are some general tips Anytime you cut with a saw you must go back with a sharp knife and trim the cut cambium edges so the cambium cut is clean. Rob doesn't seal any wounds; he lets the tree manage its destiny. Scots pine is the best back budding pine of the pines used for bonsai. Your final cut with the side cutter should be in line with the branch as an oval cut heals better than a round cut. If you want to make a tree look old you need deadwood. Repetition of form is rhythm. Repeating scars adds rhythm to a tree rather than have just one scar. Don't be afraid of scars they add age and character. Just take away the flat sawn look so they are naturalized. With Scots pine when you remove needles do so with a twist to protect the dormant bud at the base of the needle. The perch layer is the soil at the bottom of the pot and it is the wettest part of soil. The black pine Rob worked on was in a deep pot and the roots were growing above the perch layer. If you put a pine in a shallow pot the soil must be coarse soil to ensure good drainage. Critical Observation of a Plumb Bob. When you are changing the angle of your tree attach a plumb line to mark the vertical after you satisfactorily position your wedges. Then use coloured string between two branches creating a clear vertical line, or mark a spot on the soil where the plumb falls, so when you position the tree in the pot you know you have reproduced the exact potting angle again. This way you will always get the angle you want. page 3

4 ROBERT KEMPINSKI STYLES SCOTTS PINE continued from page 3 Apical dominance To compete with other trees many species grow tall to get light. Therefore in these trees the apex has to be controlled so the bottom branches don t lose strength and the tree stays in proportion. Basal dominance Low growing trees and shrubs have stronger growth at the bottom so the lower branches have to be balanced to the apex grows. Branch decisions A natural tree is good design but it's not the only option. Branch selection, remove branches growing up and down and work with branchlets growing right and left. Lime sulphur shouldn't be used on a pine. The deadwood will weather to a dull grey without lime sulphur and dead white jins on pines wouldn't look right. Rather than putting extreme bends in the branchlets to bring the foliage closer to the tree, Robert is shaping the tree so future back budding can be used to develop foliage pads closer to the trunk and the branch lengths can be reduced. If you use a second wire on a branch for additional strength Rob, as an engineer, believes you don't have to position it next to the first twists but wire so the second wire is in the middle of the two previous turns and you get a stronger result. Don't put more than three pieces of wire on any branch. That's too much wire. The tree after major branch removal and new angle to better position the apical and secondary branches Wiring Wood is stronger in compression than tension. If you wrap branches in tape or raffia it compresses the cambium and makes it stronger when you are doing heavy bending. Anchoring is the key to wiring. To anchor properly you need one or two turns around the trunk then hold the wire with one hand and move the wire around the branch with the other. Keep moving your hand out as you wire closer to the end. Robert completes the wiring anchoring the branches into position after completing the pruning of the apex One last observation. Rob s Florida club appreciates that the future of bonsai is with younger enthusiasts and his club has established a Children's Auxiliary Bonsai Club. The younger members have their own meetings but are supported by the parent club, given tools and pots and older members often pass excess trees to the younger group. In this way this club is doing a lot to promote new bonsai enthusiasts. And remember one of Rob s favourite sayings: Bonsai are like potato chips, no one can have just one. page 4

5 MARCH TALKS TREE HEALTH AND MOSS FOR BONSAI Impact of Weeds on Tree Health BY SUE At the March meeting Sue brought in two trees that were not healthy. The Elm had scant foliage with a lot of the leaves yellow, definitely showing a deficit of something. Sue explained that the owner had fertilised the tree when the soil was dry and burned off a lot of the roots. A bonsai must be hydrated before fertilising or using insecticide. Collecting and Propagating Moss for Bonsai BY BRYAN Moss is used to show off the tree, it brings up the tree and also holds the soil in place, particularly if the soil is contoured. You can find moss along the streets, in alleys, especially after rainy weather when all the sun dried moss will be rehydrated. To collect you can lift it easily with a paint scraper or a knife; put it in a flat container with some water in it. You need to be aware that it often grows on clay so you have to get the clay off so that it doesn't block the soil. Elm with scant foliage and yellow leaves and lots of weeds Very yellow Pine needing fertilizer When you are putting moss on your plant be sure the soil and the moss are both moist. Moss will normally grow where there is shade. Trim off any extra soil on the moss; pat the moss down so it is thin; and, push it firmly into the soil in the pot. Put it around the roots and extend over the soil as artistically needed. Not only can moss enhance the tree, it can also hide defects. Be sure you have weeded the soil surface before mossing, otherwise the weeds will grow through the moss and you will tear the moss up when you pull the weeds. It was also necessary to thoroughly weed the pot which was heavily carpeted with weeds, removing all the weed roots as well as the greenery. The weeds were effectively using most of the water as well as limiting air circulation around the roots. The elm will regain its health but it is very important to keep weeds out of bonsai pots. When a pot has little soil it is necessary to ensure that tree roots get the full benefit of room, nutrients and water, not weeds. Once you remove the initial crop of weeds it is necessary to keep weeding to remove the weeds that will sprout from seeds the weeds have distributed. Sue stressed the importance of always making sure your trees are fully hydrated before fertilising or spraying with insecticide. If you fertilise when the soil is dry the feeder roots can easily burn and the tree will suffer. Take the tree out of full sun until it recovers. Two deadly weeds are liverwort and star weed. They both carpet the soil and keep water and air from getting to the tree roots. The second tree was a very yellow pine with some green foliage on the lower branches. The tree wasn t sick it was merely hungry and needed to be fed. When a tree is this deprived of food that the leaves or needles have turned yellow it will take several weeks for the colour to revert to healthy green. Bonsai should be fed with half strength fertiliser and need to be fed regularly during the growing season. Don't let the moss grow up the trunk as that can cause collar rot. Rub it off or remove it with a toothbrush. If you want to slow your tree s growth moss the entire soil surface. This will limit the air getting to the roots and slow the growth. You have to be careful with this approach as the tree roots do need air. It can be an equally good idea to moss part of the soil and use decorative gravel elsewhere so water and air can get to the roots. When you moss a pot try to use different mosses, different colours and textures. It can be boring to have the soil surface covered with one type of moss; quite attractive to have greens and greys and different textures. Keep in mind the location where your tree would grow in nature and moss accordingly. An Olive, for instance, grows in dry country so a bit of moss on the shady side of the tree and fine gravel elsewhere will give a better feel of the natural aspect of an olive. If you are mossing a Juniper or a Pine you don t want lush moss as these trees grow in drier conditions and the moss should be appropriate to the species and the feeling you are trying to impart. Moss is not a long term aspect as it tends to die off in the summer months. This is just part of doing bonsai. You can collect moss, clear off the excess soil and dry the moss. When it is completely dehydrated mix it with a bit of sand and peat and store it in a jar. Six weeks before you need a green carpet sprinkle the dry moss on the soil surface and keep watering. As it does in the streets and alleys, it should rehydrate and green up again. For more detailed discussion on moss see Paul Stoke s on line magazine Ofbbonsai at: page 5

6 REPORT ON AUSBONSAI AUBURN SALE & EVENTS CALENDAR AUSBONSAI SALE AT AUBURN A SUCCESS The day smiled on the stall holders who turned up to fill the covered picnic area at Auburn with a large array of bonsai, stock plants and pots for the first Ausbonsai sale. The venue is terrific with ample room to unload very close to the sale tables which are hexagon picnic benches with continuous seating around them. For vendors with small quantities there were half tables. Steven Hantos, the founder of Ausbonsai and the mover and shaker behind this sale day provided a sausage sizzle with an array of salads for the sellers. The parking was wonderful with ample spaces close by. By the time the gates were open at 10 am the buyers poured in and for an hour you could not look across the sale area due to the amount of people. There were no cash registers ringing but money was changing hands at a great rate and the sale tables were thinning out rapidly. By 1 pm the flow had eased but smiles abounded and cash bags were full. At 2pm everyone was ready to back up the remainder and go. Steven gathered the sellers into a group and discussed the day and how it could be improved. Its success proves there is a good market and there is room for expansion if more sellers join the fun. There was a strong cry for one of those mobile coffee vans to be on site and for some group to work the sausage sizzle all day both for sellers and buyers. The stall rental was very modest and everyone agreed to pay a bit more next year to allow for more advertising. It was agreed that an annual sale would be scheduled with March as the optimal time. Those who were reticent about coming along as a buyer or a seller are advised to give this option a go next year. It is a good place to move on excess trees and pots or other bonsai equipment; the prices charged were realistic because the sellers have 4 hours to move stock. There is no worry about finding a good close parking spot and along with all the advantages of buying and selling - well it s a great social outing as a bonus. Sellers started arriving just after 8 am to get the best spot but all tables were good tables. There was no crush unloading or loading and you can pull up on 4 sides of the selling area so there s no distance carrying involved. The venue is simply terrific. Make a note in your diaries for early March next year to either come as a seller or come as a buyer. It is definitely worth the trip. BONSAI EVENTS CALENDAR Date Event Details April May 2-4 Bonsai at the Sydney Royal Easter Flower and Garden Show Illawarra Bonsai Society Annual Show (Autumn) RAS Showgrounds, Sydney Olympic Park Sutherland District Trade Union Club (Tradies), Kingsway, Gymea May 17 Bonsai Study Group show West Pymble Community Hall, Lofberg Road. June 7-8 Bonsai by the Harbour S.C.E.G.S Rowing Facility, Wharf Road, Gladesville August September th National Bonsai Convention, Sunrise on Australian Bonsai Illawarra Bonsai Society The 15 th Annual Weekend Workshops at the Tops Gold Coast, Queensland Tops Conference Centre, Stanwell Tops 2006 Sydney City Bonsai Club info@sydneycitybonsai.org.au 6