J T s TREE TIPS May 2012

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2 J T s TREE TIPS May 2012 This is a big time for pest and weed control so be prepared to do battle with everything from aphids to snails and dandelions to oxalis. Spray and bait for those critters. Barry Coate suggested something with Merit in it like Bayer s 12 Month Tree and Shrub. While pinching, examine your tree for any signs of stress, disease or insects. Remember to look on the underside of the leaves, as there are many sneaky pests that hide there. Mealy bug, spider mites, moth and beetle a small number of bugs can wreak havoc and ruin the foliage before you know it. Scale, aphids, beetles, etc. are best dealt with now before they burrow and suck your tree dry. When watering, spray from the bottom and all around the tree to wash as many as possible away. Pick off those that are stubborn. If you still see signs of their presence, spray with a solution of Malathion. On bonsai, even a re-emergent weed killer is not a bad bet after weeding. For all but the show ready refined trees, we want to wire the first few inches of the new shoots once they have hardened off. This is the area that we will cut back to in the fall. This is the beginning or continuation of ramification for the branch and will pay big dividends later on. Don t cut back and pinch these shoots now. This will help to thicken and set the movement of the branch. Watch the wire so it doesn t cut in. You may need to remove the wire and rewire with a larger size to keep the shape. If you didn t cut back to where you need the branch to start, do so now and then when a new shoot appears and then hardens, wire it and follow the above procedure. On trees that have the shape you want, let the shoot extend to four or five leaves and then cut back to one or two. Or when there are shoots extended, cut back beyond the beginning of the shoot and into the woody branch and wire any new shoots that pop from there into the new branch tips. Many times we need to do this to get the taper back under control. On developing trees that need thickening of trunk or branches, loosely wire the beginning of the branch and let the tips run wild.

3 This should give you a section of branch that you can cut back later that will have shape and girth. But watch out for the wire digging in. It may only take a matter of a couple of weeks while it sets. Black Pine: Pinch off 1/2 of overly long candles. We will cut the candles from the end of this month through next month depending on when the needles come about half an inch out and pull away from their sheaths. White Pine: Pinch off all but 4 sets of needles on succulent healthy candles and none on weaker ones. We will not be cutting the candles entirely off as in Black Pines. Spruces, cedars, Redwoods and the like: Pinch off 2/3 of the succulent new shoot as it emerges with the fleshy parts of your finger tips (not the nails). Azaleas: if you wish to enjoy the flowers, wait until they have finished about 3/4 of the blooms before stripping all the buds off and cutting back to two shoots and two leaves. I have noticed that sometimes on the same branch, there are shoots with short internodes and some with longer internodes. Sometimes the shorter ones don t extend out. If they don t extend, don t bother to pinch them. But if they are elongating, do pinch them short. Shoots are elastic. The buds contain all of the new leaves when they first push out, but as they grow out into a shoot, the inter-nodal distances between the leaves stretch out like a rubber band. Before the internodes get too long, you can pinch them. This will stop the elongation process and start the hardening process of lignifications (wood formation). After they have elongated they form wood and can no longer be pinched and must be cut with scissors. On healthy trees in pots fertilize continuously with organic fertilizers with an intermittent shot of Dyna- Grow or some other water soluble fertilizer. We have discussed this at various meetings.

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5 DATE TOPIC/PRESENTER FORMAL TREE DISPLAY REFRESHMENTS- SET-UP 3 rd THURS. TOPIC May 3 rd & 17 th Tree Improvement Program -Gerry Seiji Shiba Mehrdad Chavosh & Michael Haley Accent plants June 7 th & 14 th Silent Auction No tree display Jennifer Beck & Ray Stagner General Workshop July 5 th & 19 th Wiring Mehrdad Chavosh Roger Geerts & Seiji Shiba Sifting screens Aug. 2 nd & 16 th Style Discussion- Cascade Jennifer Beck Tim Rostege & Alec MacLean Cascade Workshop Sept. 6 th & 20 th Kathy Shaner-Display Ray Stagner Andy Prophet & Diana Ellis Show Prep Oct. 4 th & 18 th Saikei Larry White Larry White Patrick Smith & Debe Kahn Nov. 1 st & 15 th Tim Rostege Don Lintz & George Shoptaw Dec. 13 th & 27 th Holiday party No tree display Everyone

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7 May 5, 2012 Napa, California 34th Annual Napa Valley Bonsai Club Show, Napa Senior Center, 1500 Jefferson St., Napa. Saturday, May 5, 11:00 am to 4:30 pm. Demonstration by Deer Meadow bonsai artist Jim Gremel at 1:30, followed by benefit drawing. Silent Auction, vendor sales, member sales. Free admission and parking. Visit our website: or contact Curtis Richey for more information. May 5 & 6, 2012 Sacramento, California 66th Annual Sacramento Bonsai Club Show: Sacramento Buddhist Church, 2401 Riverside Blvd., May 5 (12-5pm) & 6 (10-4pm). Demonstrations both days, 2 pm, by Boon Manatikivipart, followed by benefit drawings. Free admission, plant and tree sales. May 6, 2012 Watsonville, California 38th Annual Watsonville Bonsai Show, Watsonville Buddhist Temple 423 Bridge St. Exhibit opens at 10:00 am, with demonstration at 2:00 pm by club sensei Katsumi Kinoshita, recipient of the Agricultural Society of Japanâ s Ryokuhaku-Juyukosho (Green and White Award), and GSBF Circle of Sensei award. A raffle of many bonsai items will be held after the demonstration which will include the demonstration tree. Make it a group or club trip parking available for buses. Over 50 trees will be on exhibit from shohin to ancient, from novices to experts. A small donation is requested. Tea and cookies will be served. For information contact Dave Dierking at / dcdierking@yahoo.com May 12-13, 2012 Modesto, California Modesto Bonsai Club: 31st. Annual Exhibit at the Modesto Centre Plaza, llth and K St., Opens Saturday 11 AM - 5 PM and Sunday 11 AM - 4 PM. Demonstration both days at 2 PM by Sam Adina. FREE ADMISSION - Exhibit, Raffle and Bonsai Material Sale. For further information please visit us at Modestobonsai.com or please call

8 This month: Jack Christiansen 1. Your name/last name and your age? Jack Christiansen/ age How did you get involved with bonsai? Well, actually its a little vague as I think about it. As I recall some 6 yrs ago I was in the beginning of constructing my back yard conifer garden and was looking for ideas in published books and magazines that related to what I wanted my garden to look like and many Japanese related materials showed bonsai trees accompanying many of the gardens. At the same time I came across the Sunset Book published about bonsai trees, their care and development. Well this got me excited about the ability to include bonsai trees in my outside garden. So immediately I began canvasing the nurseries in per suite of plants that could be developed and contained as bonsai. After a few futile attempts with plants that just got overly worked and planted into bonsai pots immediately, they progressively passing on to the dumpsters refuge pile. I guess that was my first real uneducated effort, but not my last. Fortunately I got on the web and located the Plantings, John and Sandy in Menlo Park, they envited me to their home and an opportunity to view their bonsai and purchase plants they had for sale. In addition, they told me about the Midori Bonsai club that was in my area and to contact a man by the name of John Thompson. I did just that, and a couple of weeks later I attended my first meeting with our club, and have been attending ever since. 3. How long have you been doing bonsai? Seriously, about 5 yrs now. 4. How many bonsai do you have? That truly varies from month to month, I'm always in per suite of the next great find, whether it be at shows, nurseries, or trying to extract a plant in someones garden or hillside. Part of this hobby is the search, a never ending game that is very exciting for me especially if you can share the experience with someone in the club. Most of my plants are in long term development programs if they ever get there, but usually i'm holding on to at least 35 plants at a time, really only about 5 could be called true bonsai and possibly show ready. 5. What is your favorite specimen? Wow, thats a tough one, I'm very dear to Cedars, but by far I have many more junipers of various types that turn me on especially Shimpaku, their foliage is nice to work with. But one of these days I aspire to have a wonderful cascading Cedar to admire.

9 6. What is your favorite bonsai style? At this time it seems like I see everything with a cascading form, but each plant to its own calling, and to that we must taylor its shape to the best form it has to offer. Good plants don't come around very often and if your budget is tight, we work with what comes our way and shape it accordingly. 7. Who is your favorite bonsai artist? When I think of artist with bonsai there can't be a better one then Mother Nature. The things that can happen with time and the elements. And those that can bring out the most of what time has beautified, I truly admire. Ryan Neal I have come to appreciate greatly who has this gifted ability to turn a jumbled bunch of branches into a harmonious piece of bonsai art! He and others are changing bonsai in the United States to what our potential will be down the road on a world scene. 8. How much time are you spending on your bonsai in a week? Well, I just received my second Social Security check in the mail, meaning I'm retired from my photography business, but I'm still doing the coaching for a College Golf Team. My mornings are my sacred time, watering, trimming, checking with whats happening with each plant for at least an hour each day with my bonsai. Then I have my conifer garden, many of you have seen, a always changing and evolving piece of work that I take great pride in that requires at least an additional hour that support many potential bonsai in the ground down the road. But that is not work, truly therapy for my soul, and a great way to start each day. 9. What is your special skill in bonsai? Skill denotes a craftsmen, there lies many issues that I am always battling. After watching many of the teachers in bonsai I have had over the years I truly fall short of the regimented procedures required to fully accomplish bonsai at its best. But I'm making inroads, and starting to see good things happening to many of my trees. Patients always prevails, so off the excellorator and on with better bonsai! If their's a single piece of bonsai I'm most proud of its my rock planting I've been working on for the past four years now. Something I plan to do more of. 10. How many yamadori (collected trees) do you have? Many of the collected trees that I took part in personally excavating never made it to a bonsai pot, so lies the percentages that come with collecting. A Ponderosa Pine that I purchased from Randy Knight up in Oregon is my one prized collected tree from the high mountains of Colorado I had Ryan Neal style. 11. Why are you doing bonsai, and what does bonsai mean to you? Bonsai has become a part of who I am as a person. Guys even on my tennis team surprise me with questions regarding bonsai since they know my passions and outside interest. Getting up in the morning and knowing theres things to be done and plants to care for has become a daily routine that I cherish. After raising 5 Kids, dogs, cats, rabbits, pets of all types you understand that there is still a need to nourish and satisfy the needs of other things that never goes away. Its our desire to be wanted and needed, bonsai and my garden fulfills all these needs for me. 12. Any other information? Sorry about being so wordy!

10 Meetings: First and third Thursdays each month at 7:30 pm. For more information, call any club officer. Location: Social Hall, St. Edward s Episcopal Church, Union Avenue and Highway 85, San Jose, CA You can download Golden Statements from the Golden State Bonsai Federation Web Site? Larry White, President , whitel@iname.com Jack Christiansen, Vice President , Jackchristiansen@sbcglobal.net Debe Kahn, Treasurer debekahn@juno.com John Thompson, Pat Gee Fund , jtbonsai@earthlink.net Gerry Fields, Membership/special events , gerflds@hotmail.com Diana Ellis, Library , diana.a.ellis@gmail.com Jennifer Beck, Meet & Greet, Secretary, Webmaster , jenkbeck@aol.com Ray Stagner, Facilities , rstagner@frontierford.com Mehrdad Chavosh, Newsletter Editor/Distribution mehrdadchavosh@yahoo.com

11 Please check the above chart to see if it is your turn to bring refreshments to the General Meeting on the First Thursday of each month. Please show up ½ hour early to help with the set-up of the meeting and stay to help clean up afterward (This includes both the First & Third Thursday meetings). If you can t be at the meeting, please check your club member roster and find a substitute. We are counting on you. Larry white Redwood tree with exposed roots in Yosemite, CA photo by: Mehrdad chavosh

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