Albury Wodonga Bonsai Newsletter

Transcription

1 Contacts: Albury Wodonga Bonsai Newsletter February 2017 President: Ian Bransden, Ph: , Mobile: Treasurer (and newsletter editor) Neil, Ph: Secretary Theo, Ph Club website Les: Web address: Fees: Fees for 2017 have been set at $25 per member or $35 per couple. You can pay Neil at a meeting or post subs to Neil at P.O. Box 135, Yackandandah, Next Meeting: Tuesday, February 28, 2016 at Harry s Hut, Olive St. South Albury at 7:30 pm. For those who have not been before, Harry s Hut is the meeting room at the Gardens beside Brown s Lagoon. Entry off Olive St., opposite the end of Nurigong St., South Albury. Members and visitors are always welcome to bring a tree (or 2 or even more) to our meetings if you want to show off your successes (or failures!), to work on a tree, or to ask about a problem. Topic for Next Meeting: Where should I keep my bonsai? We ll be having a discussion about how and where to put bonsai at home. How much shade? Morning sun or afternoon sun? What about wind and watering? It would be great if members could take some photos of where they have their trees or trees in training. How have you made 1 P a g e

2 your display benches? You can photos to Neil or Theo and we ll put them together so everyone can see your ideas. Last Month: January is fig month at the Albury Wodonga bonsai society. Ian and Steven showed a variety of ficus species that can be used as bonsai. We saw F. rubiginosa (Port Jackson Fig), Ficus macrophylla (Moreton Bay fig), F. nerifolia (Willow leaf fig), F. retusa (Pot belly Fig), F. pumila (Creeping fig). Neil root pruned and repotted some ficus seedlings and defoliated a large F. rubiginosa. Most figs are not frost hardy so we need to keep them sheltered in winter. Figs love to be fed so most growers feed quite heavily to promote good growth. Regular pruning will encourage new buds and ramification of your ficus bonsai. Bonsai Events: Bonsai Week 2017: National Bonsai and Penjing Collection in Canberra. Various activities including workshops with visiting UK bonsai expert Tony Tickle. Monday 20 March Sunday 26 March. Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 February 2017: Australian Plants as Bonsai Exhibition, Canberra botanic gardens Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 March 2017: 6 th Symposium on Australian Plants as Bonsai to be held in Melbourne. Includes a native bonsai show open both days. The6thSymposiumonAustralianPlantsasBonsaiwilbeheldinMelbourne+4thand5th Sunday 5 March 2017: Ausbonsai Sale Day see the flier at the end of this newsletter BFA calendar of events: - Business: Wodonga Show society have approached us to put a display of bonsai at the show, Saturday March 18. Theo to discuss logistics with the show society. We also brainstormed topics for the club program for this year. See below. Neil to try to organize the deferred olive dig. Maybe March? - I have talked with my friends at Allan s Flat. They are happy for us to go there again and remove some olives. Max has been spraying some but Liz is confident there will still be enough to keep us happy. I m suggesting either of the first 2 weekends in March. Saturday 18 th is Wodonga show exhibition and I ll be away for a couple of weekends after that. Let Neil or Theo know if you have a preference for either Saturday 4 or 11 or Sunday 5 or 12 and we ll try to suit the majority. See some photos of a collected juniper later in this newsletter. Someone will need to manage March 28 meeting as Neil will be away. 2 P a g e

3 Proposed 2016 program: I ve taken the ideas that were put forward and tried to allocate them to appropriate monthly meetings. Please note that there will probably be some changes to this tentative schedule as we would love to see Annalea back at some time to share more of her expertise on a subject of her choosing. January: Figs and natives. February28: Where and how to keep bonsai, display benches, etc. March 28: Pines, cedars and other evergreen bonsai species. April 25: Wiring. May 23: Pruning. June 27: Deadwood and carving. July 25: Club workshop night. Grafting? August 22: Bonsai pots and potting. September 26: Flowering bonsai. October 24: Air layering and other propagation methods. November 28: Natives as bonsai. December: No meeting die to proximity to Christmas January 2018: Figs (and other natives) Seasonal Notes from Shibui Bonsai January and February are usually hot and dry in our area but so far this year it has been relatively mild with only one day over 40C so far so watering has been fairly easy. To water effectively we need to get the water to penetrate right into the centre of the pot. Dry mix tends to shed water rather than absorb it so it is often hard to water a pot effectively in summer. My watering system sprays the pots gently for 15 minutes each evening and each morning and that seems to do the trick. When watering by hand I use the shower function on a hose nozzle and water each pot for about 30 seconds. During summer I water each evening and each morning to make sure the pot is properly wet before the heat of the day. Last week I found some training trees that had been wired last winter. The branches have thickened and the wires had made quite deep marks in the bark. Fingers crossed that it will disappear as the trees grow. Check any trees that may have been wired to make sure the wire is not strangling the branches or marking the bark. Most of my trees are still growing so pinching and pruning growing tips has been on going. 3 P a g e

4 I have partially defoliated several trees where I wanted to slow growth on some branches but still allow other parts of the tree to grow. For this I cut all the leaves off the parts I would like to grow slowly but leave all the leaves and shoots on the parts that I would like to grow larger or thicker. This month I ve also germinated some more Banksia serrata seed. It may seem a long way from tiny seedlings to big, fat trunked Banksia bonsai but they all have to start somewhere and I have also found that Banksias grow and thicken quite quickly. Neil The Escapades of our President - Ian Ian sent through these photos of a juniper he collected in Myrtleford in January. (Please note, not all collected material has to be this big. You can dig smaller bonsai if you like.) Also please note, Ian you won t be able to take the fork lift to our olive collecting spot. It is definitely 4wd country. 4 P a g e

5 Ian has also been busy growing figs. Some of these were from his workshop with Henty and Culcairn garden clubs. These ones are for sale at upcoming events around the district and for a new bonsai business. Picture taken after these had been defoliated to promote more shoots. Well done Ian, and thanks for the photos. 5 P a g e

6 If you can t get to a meeting (or even if you can) why not Neil neil@shibuibonsai.com.au with a question or a comment or even a few photos to go in the newsletter? Does anyone have anything for next month s Members and visitors are always welcome to bring a tree (or 2 or even more) to our meetings if you want to show off your successes (or failures!), to work on a tree, or to ask about a problem.. Fees for 2017 will be due in March. Please forward your payment to Neil ASAP. We also need to confirm members contact details to keep club records up to date. Please complete this membership details form and lodge it with your payment. Name: Postal address: Telephone: address: Membership type: Family Individual Concession 6 P a g e

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