October 2010

WELCOME


Hi to all the new recipients of the newsletter, hope you enjoy its contents. The purpose of the newsletter is to keep you updated on any events, sales and hopefully to inspire you to go further with your beloved art of Bonsai!

DEFOLIATING

Defoliating is the term used to describe the removal of all foliage. This is only done on broadleaf varieties. Trees such as figs, maples etc are ideal for this.

This is practiced in bonsai for a few reasons. By removing the foliage, the tree goes to work developing new leaves to keep the process of work happening in the plant. The tree cant survive without leaves.

One of the reasons for doing this is that it will increase branch ramification, (more branching and sub-branching) as there is more light allowed inside the tree. This stimulates growth on dormant buds back along the existing branches.

The second reason is leaf size. By cutting all the leaves of, the tree will prematurely produce new leaves which will be reduced in size. This is one of the other aspects we are trying to create in bonsai, small leaves.

Now a word of warning, (or 2) don’t do this to sick trees, it will put them under to much stress, and they may die. Also do this only in December as this is the optimum time for the tree to produce new leaves, left to late and the tree may not be able to produce new leaves if the temperatures drop. Again you may lose your tree. When you cut the leaf stem cut it just above the joint between branch and stem, and always use sharp scissors!!

Its worth mentioning here about the use of clean sharp tools.

Have a go this December, and watch the results. Remember to back of on the watering as they will not be transpiring as before, feel the soil before watering each time.

SHARP TOOLS

The reason it is so important to have sharp cutting tools is that when you cut a branch/branchlet, that the cut is clean, with no ragged edges. If you were to look at a cut nade with a blunt pair of scissors, or side cutters etc, you would notice that although it has caused separation, the cut would be jagged and the stem crushed back up from the cut. This creates a couple of problems, 1 it will cause die back along the branch and 2 it will make the branch more susceptible to disease.

This is the reason that better quality steel tools are used. The better the quality the steel, the better the cutting edge will remain sharp, and will actually be sharper because of the hardness of the steel.

I encourage people to plan the purchase of tools, they don’t all have to be bought at once but as the budget allows. If looked after, these quality will last a lifetime.

They old adage is true “you get what you pay for”

We have some Chinese scissors in stock at the moment that I have been using for the past 5 months. The are of very good quality and I am really happy with their performance. They are slightly cheaper than the Japanese scissors and I think they are slightly better quality.

These are not to be confused with the cheaper quality Chinese tools.

FERTILISING

The need for fertilizing at the moment is twofold.

1. With all the heavy rain, your soil will “leach” out all the nutrients. In other woprds the fertilizer you have (read should) been using will be washed out of the mix by the constant flow of rain. It will need to be replaced, whether it is slow realease or liquid.

2. The other reason is to keep up the nutrients that your tree requires under such ideal growing conditions. To have rain in the evening then sun during the day creates a very moist atmosphere which enhances growth.

I have been mowing every 2 days! There is a relatively short window for this type of rapid growth, don’t miss it.

It is important to understand the working of your fertilizers.

I have gone away from chemical fertilizers as I believe they can kill good organisms in the soil, and produce rank growth because of their high nitrogen content. This may look good initially but if you are just getting new leaf growth and not root growth, you will be stressing your tree. Also as I said by introducing chemicals constantly to your soil, you are creating an unhealthy environment for your tree. Unhealthy soil, unhealthy tree, and you invite all the bugs as this is what they will attack first, a weak tree.

As some of you may know, I use and sell healthy earth fertilizer. I am extremely happy with it, my trees have never been so healthy.

This is a completely organic based fertilizer feeding the whole tree, and doesn’t sterilize the soil. Also with this heat it is good to mix a bit of concentrated liquid seaweed with it. I have really watched some stock really struggle with heat stress. We really didn’t get a spring this year, just bang, straight into summer.

ANNUAL SHOW

The annual Gold Coast Tweed Bonsai Club will be happening on the weekend of the 13th and 14th of November. This show is always fantastic! Chris Dinola will be doing demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday at 11.00 am.

This is a great way to be inspired and enthused, talk with other bonsai fanatics, and get new ideas for your trees. There is always some great stuff to buy.

I find shows like this really re-energize me, as I always go home with fresh ideas and insights. There is always plenty of people on hand to offer advice and suggestions

You are also able to join the club, or get details regarding its operation and meetings.

The price for admission is only $5, kids free.

It is held at the Robina Community Centre, Robina drive, next to the library.

Hours are 9.00 to 4.00 Saturday and Sunday.

Happy bonsai-ing

Chris and Sam

January 2010

Maintenance.

I cannot stress enough the importance of vigilance with looking after your trees.
Now is a good time to take a different type of approach to your trees and their setting. We are probably in the midst of our summer dormancy at the moment.

In summer without the rain we just have hot days, and this leads to dormancy in many of your trees. They just stop growing! The reason for this is that the tree stops producing new soft growth

As it would just get burnt of with the heat. This means whilst we have steady hot periods without extended it is not worth fertilizing most trees. (Trees such as junipers and pines are an exception). You are just wasting fertilizer as it just sits in the pot. What can be dangerous is by keeping up the fertilizing, you push your trees to produce new growth, (as most fertilizer is high in nitrogen which produces leaf growth) and this new growth will badly burn, making the tree look ordinary or worse killing it all together. You are making your tree work hard to produce new growth without the necessary corresponding root growth. Therefore the new leaves have nothing to sustain them! You should keep up the liquid fertilizer especially if you are using organic types such as healthy earth, which we stock here.

Take the time to inspect your trees carefully. Things like weeds in the pots, bugs or other problems such as disease, are more easily spotted when you are looking for them! Don’t let a withering branch be the first indication of problems!

Cleanliness is next to Godliness, so keep your pots and surrounding areas clean and free from old leaves and needles and any other rubbish that may affect your trees.

I see so many trees with problems that could have been avoided with a little maintenance. Bugs and disease will always attack weak and unkempt trees. Nature has its way of dealing with things that are weak, destroy them!

Patience
One of the hardest aspects with bonsai is waiting for the development of trees. One of the ways around this is not to start with very immature trees. This can actually work against you so that you eventually are no longer interested in bonsai.

I have included a picture of an old maple of mine. This is about 38 years old but the branching has only been growing for 2 seasons. Using mature material will get you much quicker results. Now you don’t have to go out and spend $5-6000 on a trunk! Smaller material material will develop just as quickly but it’s a matter of spending $50-$100 and cutting the trunk right back. Give it a couple of growing seasons and hey presto something that looks really nice.

I always tell people if they want to take this approach I am more than willing to choose stock that will produce good trees. Its about looking down lower in the trees.

I have also included a picture of an old Chinese elm that I have spent 2 years on. This was about 1 meter tall, and I just cut it back to nothing, a bit of carving and look at the result. It measures about 60cm tall with a 28cm trunk! This is great fun and gives a real sense of achievement.

Bending
With bending, don’t think it all has to be done at the one go. You can bend a branch over an entire season. The best way to do this is, once having rapia’d the branch and wired it, connect a loop of wire past the point that you want bent, and fix it to a opposite side of the tree, something to gain leverage from. You are then able to twist the wire slowly, maybe a turn every second day, until you have the desired bend. Leave this for a full growing season. For older trees, you may need to leave them for 2 – 3 years.

Whilst talking about bending, I saw an interesting article the other day on it. Instead of just bending the branch with both hands, twist the branch first with both hands until you crack the cambium. Often a crack can be heard. (This is before applying raphia) What this does is instead of putting the pressure across the cambium, it puts it along the branch instead. It is like hundreds of strands slightly separating, but not actually breaking as a branch does straight across.

Pots, Pots Pots!
We are just unloading 15 tonnes of new pots! We really do pride ourselves in some of the stock we are getting. We are doing this by actually visiting the factories and carefully choosing pots that we think are unique and affordable. Also by doing this we are able to keep the prices to minimum by dealing directly with the various potters. We have been importing for 4 years now and I think we are getting the hang of it!
I have included a few pics to wet your appetite!

Anyway hope some of this helps!!
See you all soon,
Happy bonsai-ing!
Chris

Newsletter February 2008

WELCOME
Again welcome to all the new readers of the newsletter! Great to have you with us.
Well the rain keeps coming, we are in our normal monsoon pattern and probably will stay this way for a few more weeks at least. Just remember after heavy rain your trees have gotten to use to a higher uptake of water. When it stops raining your trees will stay in this mode for a few days so you may have to water more than usual for a few days, as they will dry out quicker.

FERTILISING.
Where do I start?
The idea of fertilizing is even more important when we are growing container trees. They are completely dependant on the immediate surrounds of the pot for their nutrients.
One of the key aspects of fertilizing is that it obviously keeps your trees healthy! One of the forgotten up sides to this is the fact that healthy trees will attract less insects and pests! Healthy clean areas are must for healthy trees.

Many of the commercially produced fertilizers are usually high in nitrogen. This is the chemical that will produce great growth to your foliage. The problem with this is that it is “artificially” feeding the leaves. It is the roots that should be feeding the leaves! So what you need is what is called a ‘balanced” fertilizer, one that will feed all aspects of the tree. We forget that the leaves are feeding the roots and vice-versa.

Around this time of the year, the reason for fertilizing, (particularly slow release) is to allow the tree to begin to store nutrients for the coming spring. This is vital if we are to have healthy happy trees come springtime. These nutrients are stored in the trunks and larger roots until called on when the weather begins to warm.

One of the dangers of using a fertiliser high in nitrogen late in the season is that you are liable to produce late growth which may not last the colder winter months. If this happens, you may lose your tree. Trees need to go into dormancy, we all need a rest sometime. If we make it produce during this period we will threaten the trees health.

I would encourage you to do some further reading regarding fertilizing if your are serious about your bonsai. There really isn’t the space here to discuss all the issues involved, chemical verse natural etc.

You may have seen the bottled liquid fertilizer I sell at the nursery. This is an all natural “Healthy Earth” fertilizer, a balanced liquid concentrate that will keep your trees topped up with constant nutrients. This is ideal for transplanting, balancing PH, revives sick plants, and the 600 mls makes up just over 100 ltrs. This is used every 3 weeks or so.

The other new range I am now selling is “Healthy Earth” slow release. This will feed up to 3 months, doesn’t “wash out”, and doesn’t dump in hot weather.

Both of these fertilizers are safe on newly potted trees, herbs, indoor, all flowering plants, and even natives. This saves the hassle of buying different fertilizer for all your different types of trees.

I only use these fertilisers in the nursery. I have found them to be safe, environmentally friendly and extremely beneficial to my stock.

WIRE
Whilst we are talking about fertilizing and growth, it is worth mentioning that as the temperatures start to drop.

We enter a period that is similar in temperature to spring, so guess what? Yep that’s right, new growth, again this is why fertilising is important at this time of the year, we want to make sure we are getting every chance of growth into our trees as we can.

BUT! Keep an eye on your wire as the branches begin to grow and expand, wire, if not checked, will begin to cut in. This can leave nasty obvious scars on the tree, which is to be avoided at all costs. Some trees will never recover from this and can spoil a great tree. If needed remove the wire and rewire if necessary, just wire it slightly adjacent to were it previously was.
It is often best to use slightly heavier wire as this will have a twofold effect, it will last longer (ie avoid what we are talking about above) and hold your tree in position more securely. Believe it or not, your tree can often produce enough pressure over a growing season to move the branch upwards, which is its natural inclination.

GROWING GOOD PADS
A common problem I often see is with the thickening of foliage, and the die back of undergrowth.
People find it difficult to understand the need for constant trimming on some trees. The varieties that are effected most are the likes of junipers. As the foliage elongates, the lower leaves or needles (now covered by shade) are no longer able to do the work they were to designed to do, ie to turn starches into sugars with the help of the sun. (UV) So once growth elongates, the bottom or inner needles die. By constantly thinning your needles/leaves during the growing season, you will create a nice thick pad, which is able to let plenty of light in to these branches. This is the secret to creating “cloud like” pads on your branches.
On varieties such as junipers, this is done by constant pinching back. Never cut the needles, otherwise you will end up with lots of brown tips. These will eventually grow out but will be unsightly for a time.

You need to keep the pads down to about 25cm in thickness. Much more than this and you will encounter the problem we are talking about.

A lot of people think that if they cut of these small branches their tree will become smaller. The opposite is true. When you prune a tree, you remove the hormone in the growing tip, thus the tree responds by making more growth. So where you had one small sub branch, you will now have 3-5. This is how pads are created. (in a fairly simplistic way)

“T” Shirts. After a large demand for our T shirts, they are now available in sizes s,m,l,xl. They are as you see me wearing them on the webpage, and at the nursery. They are $25 and great quality! (mine are 2 years old!)
I’ll leave you with a bit of inspiration from the recent Bonsai show in China.

Newsletter April 2007

Welcome all the newcomers to the newsletter, things have been very busy lately with 10 attending all the recent classes. Hope all your trees are doing well!!
Bonsai is really growing at a rapid rate in Australia, but it still hasn’t caught up with the enthusiasm of Europe and the U.S.. I think we are developing our own unique style which is exciting to see. As I always say in my classes, the rules of bonsai are there for guidelines, not something that must be adhered to at all costs. You will never fully enjoy your bonsai until you break out of the mould and start to create pieces that YOU find pleasing. They may not all turn out spectacular but it will lead you to a more enjoyable pastime.
Its good to let pictures and other trees you see inspire you, but let that be the motivation, don’t try and copy things, this will always lead to disappointment!

FERTILISING
Don’t forget to keep up the fertilizing at the moment. Even though the trees may seem to have stopped growing, they are still hard at work storing all their nutrients for spring. If you fail to keep this up at the moment, you will pay the price at spring time with less than efficient growth, and dieback of much of the small branchlets that take so long to develop. Remember that growth must come from somewhere, and that somewhere is nutrients stored in the trunk and large roots. This is especially important if you are trying to increase branch ramification on trees as well as fruit and flowers.

DECIDUOUS TREES
This is a good time for exploring your trees as they defoliate, it’s a great time to consider if the tree needs restyling. Often over the growing months, the tree will send shoots out all over the place. Whilst the tree might look good in full foliage, its not until you see it with out its leaves you realize that the tree is really messy. Now don’t be lazy and just leave it as it is thinking it will look good again when its got all its leaves in spring! Take the time to go through all the branches and cut of all the branches that have grown to long, have grown to far upwards, shot downward under the branch, and grown outside the overall shape of the tree. Now wire any branches into their correct position. Remember that refinement is an ongoing work on your trees. Being deciduous it just makes it easier to get to.

This will pay dividends over the years with great ramification, which is just as important as your summer look.

There is nothing more stunning than a elm or maple that has hundreds or even thousands of tiny little branchlets in winter. Believe me this wont happen naturally, it takes time, pruning, fertilizing and vision. By vision I mean seeing the future shape of the tree, by starting at each individual branch.

Most people are a little timid when it comes to pruning their deciduous trees. It is really important to be quite hard in cutting them back. Especially with trees such as elms, you need to be fairly savage. Remember to cut to the bud that you want the branch/branchlets to grow in.
By doing this you will create shorter internodes (the distance between the buds) which will give you better ramification. If this is not trimmed or pruned each year, you will gain a mass/mess of little twiglets that will not produce the fine even growth you are trying to achieve.

Pines also can be pruned quite hard now also. Remember to take out the larger candles at the top, and the smaller candles lower down as they are dominant in their apex. If this is not done then the tops will grow at the expense of the lower and inner branches.

By cutting back this way smaller buds will form at the base of the cut which will produce next seasons branchlets, which in turn will need to be thinned. This will help produce those elusive smaller needles and compact growth.

CLEANING CONIFERS
As your conifers begin to slow down in growth, you will notice that as the weather cools that you will get “die back” inside your tree. The reason for this is that sun is no longer penetrating this area so the tree stops producing new growth underneath. This leads to lots of small brown needles which if allowed to stay, will produce the ideal living place for lots of bugs (if it already hasn’t.) Much of insect infestation can be avoided by keeping your trees well groomed and clean.
The best way to remove these old needles is to use something like a chopstick to loosen all the old matter. After you have done this is then worth going over the tree and shortening all the smaller branchlets that have grown over 25mm in height above the branch. By doing this you will allow light to penetrate inside the tree which is imperative for health, good growth, and short compact ramification. This is how these lovely compact clouds are developed.

BONSAI EUROPE
The latest edition of bonsai Europe is also now available for sale at the nursery. Again the quality is magnificent. Bonsai Europe has now combined with Bonsai today to produce and even bigger magazine. This is a real plus for bonsai nuts. These magazines really inspire, help you understand what is happening around the world and give great insight and tips to help you grow in bonsai.