Another great demo from Ian and Sean on root over rock last month and if you’ll excuse the pun, between them they covered all facets. Root over rock can be broken down into three basic parts: selecting the material, putting the plant material onto the rock and developing the bonsai on the rock. Each stage
Allan is well known for his involvement in the Penjing Institute of Australia with Kingston Wang and his role previously in maintaining the bonsai and penjing at the Chinese Gardens of Friendship at Darling Harbour. Allan studied bonsai for fifteen years but penjing is where his heart is. Trained in China, Allan is the creator
Neil Ryan’s theme for the AABC Conference this year was how to move a tree that had been aesthetically pleasing and well styled in the past into its next iteration. Tony Bebb’s demonstration last month was a lesson in how to achieve this. Tony chose an old Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora) that while still
Ian joined the BSA in 2000 after leaving both South Africa and his bonsai collection to come to Australia. Since then Ian has rebuilt a significant collection of both native and exotic trees. Ian is a skillful communicator whose deep knowledge of bonsai and artistic flair makes every demonstration he conducts interesting and informative. This
Ashley chose swamp cypress, five big swamp cypress, for last month’s demonstration and with quite a bit of elbow grease styled them into a large forest setting. Swamp cypress is a species that he enjoys working with due to its fast growth habit and hardiness as a bonsai specimen. Native to the southern states of
Tony started bonsai in 1985 as a teenager working in his family’s bonsai nursery in Brisbane under the keen eye of his father Lindsay. Here, Tony developed his skills through growing and working with bonsai for the next sixteen years. He is now a well known and respected demonstrator throughout Australia and New Zealand. Known
Hugh’s choice of tree for last month’s demonstration was Casuarina or more precisely, Allocasuarina which are a favourite his. Commonly known as she-oak, Casuarina and Allocasuarina are in the same family but Allocasuarina are only found in Australia while Casuarina are found all over SE Asia, the Indian subcontinent and islands in the West Pacific
Well known bonsai nurseryman, Ashley Brown has been surrounded by plants all his life. He started his horticultural career in 1985 working for one of Australia’s largest propagation nurseries, has owned his own nurseries from 1993 and as a result there are not many species with which he is not familiar. In 2005, he moved
Enjoyed by members and visitors alike, Joe Morgan-Payler’s visit was a great success with an excellent demonstration and a full day and evening of workshops. For a change, members were invited to bring trees they would like Joe to work on and he would decide which tree he would develop. There was plenty to choose
Hugh Grant is an Australian bonsai artist from the Central Coast of NSW whose work explores bonsai from the perspective of natural sculptural form and ecological references. For Hugh, bonsai is used as a medium to initiate a collaboration and a direct immersion of the landscape, creating an understanding of trees and plants. Hugh has
