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 January 2008

WELCOME
What great rain we have had! I think I only watered twice during the Christmas break which was a real bonus. I suppose it wasn’t so good for those on holidays though.

SUMMER
We are entering into perhaps the hottest part of the year. You may need to find some more protection from the sun for the next couple of months. Under a tree is not such a good idea as all trees excrete what is called lye. And will damage your bonsai. As well as this you are more likely to have more problems with insects. The best way to go is to erect some sort of shadecloth which is removable in winter. If you are choosing shadecloth go for the lowest % you can find, ie 50%. I use 30% but I think this may only be available commercially. This will help maintain moisture as well as keep the sun from burning foliage. (Really its no so much burning of foliage as it is the tree being unable to supply enough moisture to the leaves that is being lost through evaporation)
Now is probably not a good time to be repotting! There are some species that will tolerate all year round repotting such as figs, elms and junipers, but it is vital that the after care is at least 2 weeks of shade and misting. Obviously if you are doing these trees don’t take as many roots of as you would normally.

GRAFTING
In the latest issue of Bonsai Focus, (still some in stock) there is a fantastic article on grafting. The tee that is used in the article is a shohin (miniature) maple. The method that is used is fascinating. It uses the elongated branches of the tree to whip back and be grafted into places where you would like a branch. This is a very successful method of grafting. This method can be used on other varieties but trees such as maples really lend themselves to this. I have used other methods such as using the whip, and drilling a hole through the trunk and feeding the whip through and leaving it until it has grafted. Then the original branch behind the graft is removed. The time a graft takes to become attached varies from species to species. What is also important is the time of year that the graft is done. Obviously the best time is when the sap is flowing so as to ensure a quick healing at the wound site.

Another way to graft is to use a smaller tree of the same variety, only leave it in its original pot whilst the graft takes.

WIRING
After all this growth from the recent rains, be sure to check your trees which have been wired, to make sure the wire hasn’t begin to cut in. What is happening is that the branches are thickening up with the new growth, but the wire doesn’t expand. The end result can be nasty spiral scarring on your branches. On some trees this can be worse because they are softer. Trees such as azaleas, camellias, maples etc, mark very easy, and in the case of maples, very quickly (within 3 – 4 weeks!)

Obviously this is a problem if you are trying to grow the branch, but have to remove the wire every month or so, yet the branch has not set.

One of the ways around this is to use raphia. Raphia is a natural reed type product that is available in places like spotlight. It comes in strands and looks like flattened grass. What you do is soak the raphia for 30 minutes or so in cold water, then wrap the branch you intend wiring. You will need about 3 strands to make it thick enough to cover your branch. It is then wrapped around the branch quite tightly.

After doing this, wire the branch as normal. This should give you a bit more protection.
Another use for raphia is when you have a large branch you want to bend past a position that it would normally be capable of. By wrapping the branch with raphia, it is a lot less likely to break. Even if it does, it will probably hold the branch in position until it has healed. Sometimes you can bend the branch until you hear the crack and stop. This takes a bit of learning but it can be done.
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.

I hope you are able to understand what I mean! By the way, I take no responsibility for broken branches!! Take the time to learn and practice on branches that it doesn’t matter if you do break them.