December 2008 'Literati Style'

Bonsai, like any hobby or art form, needs to grow with us if it is to retain that “feeling” you got when you bought your first tree. Remember that? If you just continue to do the same old thing you will get bored, stale and become tired with bonsai.

The older we get the safer we tend to become. Risk is vital to remain energized. You don’t grow if you stand still.

I have included some pictures of a simple literati that I completed recently to show you what can be done with a pretty normal tree. I have about 50 of these trees in stock and purchased them because of there amazing trunk shapes. Trees such as this are really difficult to find as the work involved in getting them to this shape is quite arduous. They are a type of juniper and at first glance appear to be procumbens, but some of the foliage is developing scale foliage so may end up being a sergeant juniper.

Anyway:
Firstly these trees present excellently for literati. Now “literati” means “men of the books” (hence the word literature) and only the higher gentry were permitted to grow and shape this type of tree. Whilst it retains some facets of the guidelines of bonsai, it also breaks them. It is a little like jazz music, it follows set principles, but it breaks boundaries. This is the type of thing that will get you thinking outside the box, and stretch you to develop your artistic approach. Now the specimen shown is by no means a perfect one but is merely used as a demonstration as to what can be achieved. This tree will go on to develop into a nice tree all the same.

Your tree should tell a story, in this case it is showing signs of a fight to survive and reach light, in years gone by older branches have given up the ghost but in its incredible struggle it has managed to survive. Most literati’s are very sparse in their foliage, showing the extreme duress they have endured. Literati usually have only 3, 5, or 7 branches, and these are also kept sparse. The branches are always close to the apex (unless the apex is jinned) and are kept in the traditional positions at the extemes of the bends. You need a trunk that has lots of twists and turns in it to make it interesting. Litetarti can be slanting or cascade or even windswept.

Trees such as junipers, pines, cedars and elms can be used as literati. The older and gnarlier the better. I have recently done a beautiful black pine into this style because it sat there with scars all over it, poorly distributed branches, yet it made a great literati! Now everybody wants to buy it, and no its not for sale!!

If you want to have a go at one ask next time you are at the nursery if you would like assistance picking one out.

The other thing I would like people to think about is creating that beautiful tree you have seen in a book. Usually it is something like an old elm or maple with an amazingingly thick trunk with great taper and awesome branch structure.

You don’t get this by buying $12 twigs (sorry but you don’t!) I encourage people instead of buying lots of little trees, save your money and buy 1 big one. What you need to be bold enough to do is get yourself something with a great looking trunk. The bigger the better. Don’t worry about branching that will come later. All the early years in the growth of the tree goes into growing the trunk, branches can be grown in a few seasons.

You can cut an old elm or maple back to nothing, and then start growing your branches. Yes this will take a few years but so many people put it of and lose precious time.

You can have a tree like you see in the books, it’s a matter of starting with the right stock, and then being patient.

Usually patience is the biggest problem, people want it now, but this isn’t going to happen!

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!! (That’s another story for another newsletter)

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.

October 2008

Welcome! Once again welcome to all the new readers of the newsletter, I hope you find it informative, inspiring and encouraging. Remember I am trying to cover a broad spectrum of experience amongst the readers. So there may be things that you have read before, but for others it comes as some really helpful information.

It always helps to remember where we have come from in our journey of bonsai, helping others with things that we may now consider fundamental, but to them a revelation!

SHOW
The annual “Gold Coast Tweed Bonsai Club” will be holding its annual show on 8th and 9th of November, at the Robina Town Centre, Robina drive. This is situated near the library, it is on the outside of the shopping centre at the western end of the centre. It is held in the large community hall.

There will be some great bonsai on display, also there will be demonstrations each day, Saturday 11.00, and 2.00, Sunday 11.00. Admission is $5.00

I am sure you will find this very inspiring, and if not already a member you may wish to join.
I will be there only on Sunday at this stage with a sales table, so make sure you say g’day!

TREE SELECTION
Its important to understand when you are selecting a tree to shape as a bonsai, that often you are not looking at the entire tree. More often than not the tree has been grown to its current size just to increase the trunk thickness. Don’t try and work out how you could shape the whole tree as it is. Start at the base of the trunk and imagine a tree with good taper using maybe only one third of the tree! You may throw the rest away. I have some beautiful pomegranates that are a good example of this. They are probably 50 cm’s high but would be cut back to around 25 cm’s! This looks stunning, a tiny little tree with beautiful flowers, and then the fruit. These take a bit of time to develop, but really pay dividends. Try and resist the instant bonsai pressure and begin to plan for the future, you will be surprised how fast time goes. I have recently cut of the whole top of a juniper and kept only the bottom branch, and turned it into a lovely cascade. By doing this you have a nice strong looking tree, with heaps of wow factor. If you are keen to do something like this, let me know next time you are at the nursery, and I will show you some trees that I keep my eyes on! This is a great way to expand your artistic ability and talents!

INCREASES
The global economy is going to effect our world of Bonsai!
I have been ready to re-order another container into Australia but with the drop of the $AU, (and still no end in sight of its bottom) it has become sobering to estimate the price of new stock coming in from overseas. I just did some quick figures and what my $AU15000 bought earlier this year buys a lot less now. To buy $15000 worth of stock now costs $25000! I guess the point is this, stock that is here already is a lot cheaper than that which will come from now on. Things such as wire, tools and pots will radically increase over the next 6 months. Someone commented the other day that the Japanese tools were dear, well wait till the next delivery, you will wish you got them now!

In saying this, I still think bonsai is a relatively cheap hobby. If anything prices have come down. I remember buying pots 15-18 years ago and paying more than they are now!

Trees are being effected for different reasons, water costs have risen, fertiliser costs have gone through the roof (40% in one hit!) and wages combined with land values, petrol for transport have all impacted on costs dramatically.

Yet in saying all this, bonsai is still one of the most enjoyable things to do, particularly in a climate of uncertainty!

PESTS
Don’t forget to keep your eyes out for pests! Apart from overwatering, pests would be the main reason people struggle with their bonsai’s.

I find it much easier to act preventatively rather than curatively with my trees. In other words, don’t wait until you have a problem before you act as this may be to late!!

A monthly spray with a low toxicity all round spray such as pyrethrum will often do the trick. If you need to get on top of things you may need to go to products such as Folimat, or Confidor both available from Bunnings. The biggest problems are usually from red spider mite and are very damaging!(which is not really visible to the naked eye) white louse scale particularly on junipers.

Sometimes the best way to discover if the red spider mite is present is to hold a white piece of paper under a branch an gently tap it. Watch carefully to see if you have minute dots scurrying around the paper, these will be red spider mites.

There are things you can do to minimize the problems of pest and disease. By keeping your trees well aired, in other words let them be exposed to the elements. This will allow nature to do its thing as many birds etc will be predators to the bugs that bug you!
Keep your trees of the ground and the benches where you keep them clean. Don’t use old soil! All you may be doing is transplanting pests bugs and viruses!! Don’t try and penny pinch with soil, it is poor economy, and will deliver poor results as soil becomes denuded of its goodness over the year.

Keep your tools clean, get yourself a cleaning block (we have these available here) as cutting one tree and moving to the next can and will transmit disease and viruses.
Keep your trees turned, in other words rotate your trees so as they are getting equal amounts of sun to the whole tree. This is really important as the tree will produce healthy foliage when facing the sun, but at the other side of the tree it may be limited, and also provide a haven for the little bugs we have been talking about.

Keep your trees thinned out. Make sure your removing dead foliage that has formed inside the tree, again this will provide building material and hiding places for bugs. Keep the foliage pads short as this will allow more light inside the tree, producing smaller foliage as well as keeping the tree healthy.

Happy bonsai, and remember…. It’s a journey, not a destination!!

September 2008

Once again welcome to all the new readers of the newsletter. The growth of the popularity of bonsai never ceases to amaze me!

After months of no movement, no growth, everything is springing into new colour and growth. Some trees are a little late this year, a few of my liquid ambers have still not burst bud as of yet, whilst others are growing as you watch them.

SHAPING
All this new growth presents us with lots of opportunities. If allowed to grow feely your tree will probably lose its shape very quickly. The answer to this is obviously trimming and pruning.
Before I go any further, I will explain a method of creating thicker trunks on your trees during this increase in growth.

By allowing a branch which is either low to the ground, or even in the apex, to grow unhindered for a year or so without trimming, will create a much thicker trunk. This really is common sense, obviously the bigger a tree grows, the thicker the trunk required to support it. You can even take it out of its pot, put it in a nursery pot, or box, and whilst keeping aspects of the tree in shape, allow this new branch to extend.

The usual name for this branch is a “sacrifice branch”. The reason for this is that the branch is never intended to be a pert of the tree, but is grown to create thickness, and is later ”sacrificed”. Wherever the branch is left on, all below it will thicken. So if you just want to thicken the base choose a branch low down, if you want to thicken the whole trunk, choose a branch in the apex.
Now to shaping.
Different types of trees require different techniques when trimming.

Leafy varieties differ to junipers in the way we cut them. With trees like elms, figs privets etc, we can fairly freely snip away with our scissors, even cutting through the leaves in places with no ill effect. Many trees once they become thick, are cut just like a hedge. Once the clouds are created, just a trimming to keep the cloud shape is all that is needed.

Junipers on the other hand, are treated differently. If you were to just cut away with the scissors, within a week you will have a half brown, half green tree.
The reason for this is that most junipers grow in what is known as “whorls” This is where all the buds grow out at a single point, whereas most “leaf” trees grow either opposing or alternate buds.

So with the junipers, it is important to “pinch out the new growth to continue to encourage new growth which will produce your cloud like foliage pads.

Now if you look closely at a small part of your juniper that has been pinched out, you will see that the stem is made up of little scale like sheaves. This is where the dormant buds. Between 2-6 new buds will shoot from this point. After allowing them to grow say 20mm they are then pinched back and each of these will produce 2-6 more buds and so on.

If these are allowed to grow to long, die back will occur underneath where the sun or light is not getting to. If this has happened you will need to cut through these stems with scissors, or cutters. The whole pad should not be much thicker than 25mm or so.

The important thing to be doing at this time is pushing growth by fortnightly fertilizing. More growth, more trimming, more fertilizing, will develop your tree. I should mention that at this time your tree needs maximum sun, but don’t forget to keep up the moisture. Junipers don’t like to be wet all the time, so let them become nearly dry.

Now your leafy varieties need trimming in different ways. You need to trim your branches to produce more branches. By trimming a tree, the hormone that is in the growing tip is gone therefore the tree will produce new buds further back down the branch. This is what we are after. Always cut 5-10 mm in front of the last bud. The reason for this is so as the last bud is not damaged. You can always go back later and cut of any little stubs. If you cut to closely you may get die back and lose the bud you wanted for growth in that direction. Always cut to the direction that you want the branch to grow in. Allow the, new shoot to lignify (harden) before you cut it back.

Keeping clean!!
Cleanliness is vital for the well being and health of your trees. This means keeping your growing area free from weeds (in pots as well as under your benches) and also your tools.
We would never use a instrument used on somebody and then use it on ourselves because of the danger of cross infection.

This means cleaning your tools clean (as well as keeping them sharp, as blunt tools will tear leaving damaged ends which are more likely to become infected) and free from rust and sap.
There is a product called “Crean mate” (yes I know bit of a giggle, a slight oversight in the Japanese translation) this block is a rubberized abrasive piece used for cleaning the blades of all your tools. The one I use is probably 5 years old so they do last quite a long time.

We are selling more and more of these now as people are becoming more aware of the need for clean tools. Often this comes about after seemingly “unexplainable” die back on a tree.

Well hope some of this information helps you, but remember to let me know some suggestions on what you would like to read.