I have had a Kunzea ambigua for many years… say fourteen. It has gone through several dramatic style changes, a few pots and I finally kinda felt I was on the right course but it just wasn’t quite right. Okay, it got second at the Royal Easter Show but there was still something that I […]
Please note that photos are from the exhibition and descriptions are from the show catalogue that are used to illustrate Marcela’s points. For many years Australian native species for bonsai were overlooked in favour of exotics and while some were experimenting with them, overall, most people believed that natives would not make good bonsai. However
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
Mini mondo grass can look nice with a bonsai or in a setting to give the right ambience but it can be deadlier than it looks from its petite size. The roots can form a thick, solid mat in the pot, robbing the bonsai of water and nutrients until the tree dies. Enthusiasts using mondo
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
To do good bonsai wire is a necessity but some people can’t seem to see the reason. Cruel, they say. Can’t you do it another way? Not really. You have little control over the shape of a branch using weights and clip and grow is slow and tedious and doesn’t help styling on a more
Dothistroma needle blight is more commonly known as red tip or red band disease. To the best of my knowledge it first appeared in the radiata pine forests around Cooma NSW and is rumoured to have been introduced to Australia from New Zealand on forestry workers’ equipment used in this area. I first came into
Anatomy of a Shohin Display is reprinted by courtesy of Jonas Dupuich and Bonsai Tonight Anatomy of a shohin display One of the first displays to catch my attention at this year’s Gafu-ten exhibit featured six trees and an accent plant. Unlike the display of larger bonsai, shohin display entails complex relationships among all of
