This month you can start bringing dormant deciduous species for repotting and styling. If you are planning to put your tree into a bonsai pot for the first time, be sure to bring at least a couple of pots you think might work well with the tree. Sometimes it’s hard to tell, when a tree […]
This month we are having two workshop meetings, with our special one in the main hall on the first Tuesday and the normal workshop on the third Tuesday night in the activities room. May continues to be a good time for tidying up the foliage of evergreens such as conifers and other non-flowering bonsai, although
Water Gum (Tristaniopsis laurina) is a great choice for bonsai, particularly in the Sydney area where it is commonly used as a street tree and thrives with little or no attention. Shiny, attractive foliage with bronze tips in spring, easily reducible leaf size, clusters of small yellow flowers and beautiful bark which flakes off in
Bought at the Illawarra show last May, the basic plan for this old trident maple (1991) was to deal with the congestion at the apex, remove the highest root on the right-hand side and change the angle when repotting. The original sandy soil mix, which was drying out too quickly, was to be replaced, so
Being the first month of winter means it’s the first of three ‘bench sprays’ with diluted lime sulphur over the next three months. I like to do any spraying on the first weekend of the month. That way I remember to do the task and it just becomes part of the winter monthly routine. Mix
It was a real treat for me to attend Bonsai by the Harbour this June, not only because it was the first time I’d ever been able to attend this event, but also because our previously wet and cold winter managed to turn on a perfect, sunny day for the Saturday I was there. The
October is still a good time to repot many evergreens, such as olives, pyracantha and buxus. Chinese elms can be repotted almost any time of the year, so now is also a good time for working on them. The other main activity most suitable during spring is pruning and styling, as many trees will be
I went to Bunnings to get some Seamungus to give my bonsai a shot in the arm but the only size they had was more than I could use, more than I could carry. Forget that. So I turned to Neutrog’s GoGo Juice which is a pro-biotic liquid for soil and plants, teeming with beneficial
Working on a neglected maple forest last week reminded me of Lee Wright’s warning about mondo grass in a previous newsletter. The under-plantings in this setting were totally overgrown and needed radical thinning or removal. Military grass, violets, miniature ivy and even Lonicera willingly vacated the pot, but not mini mondo grass which stayed firm
If you haven’t already, now is the time to prepare your pine trees for their spring growth. Maintenance now sets the tree up more even candle development in spring through balancing the energy of the tree by directing the energy away from the stronger parts of the tree to the weaker. Pines are apically dominant
