Marcela Ferreira is a Melbournian passionate in her interest in Australian native trees as bonsai. Marcela has dedicated her bonsai interest in working with hundreds of natives from tube stock to yamadori and has achieved a reputation as an authority on these plants. Her attitude is- grow lots, kill lots, learn lots. Marcela gets a […]
If you have never tried your hand at a group planting of deciduous bonsai before, this month is your chance to be guided in developing one of your own to add to your collection. This is one of our planned focus workshops for the year, creating a group planting of a deciduous species of your
Spraying with diluted lime sulphur in winter can help kill pests and fungal spores on benches and trees. In my garden, the first month of winter means it’s time for the first of three ‘bench sprays’ of lime sulphur over the next three months. I like to do any spraying on the first weekend of
It was good! Really good! Well organised, lots to learn, great demos and a good sale area. Friday was an optional bus tour of a major bonsai nursery and Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens. The nursery was chock-a-block with VERY interesting stock plants and it was hard to say no, but plants could not be taken
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
As always, the Nepean Bonsai Society’s exhibition was a captivating showcase of members’ exquisite trees. The engaging display highlighted the artistry and dedication of bonsai enthusiasts, drawing admiration from visitors. It was a pleasure to witness so many people appreciating and enjoying the beauty and craftsmanship of the bonsai on display. The event not only celebrated the skill of the society’s members but also fostered a sense of community among bonsai lovers.
In bonsai, a raft is one trunk along the ground supporting a number of ‘branches’ that have become trunks in their own right. Rafts come in straight and sinuous and are usually developed when a stock plant has branches on one side only. Plants that are good for rafts are privets, figs, crabapples and junipers,
All members are reminded that in December there is no workshop meeting on the 3rd Tuesday, but our normal monthly meeting for December (1st Tuesday) is a workshop meeting, with a focus on figs. Our workshop meetings for 2024 will resume in January next year, the third Tuesday of the month, as normal. Our January
This is a great time to bring tropical species such as figs and bougainvillea to work on. Root pruning and styling are both possible, so make sure you bring everything you’ll need if you want to spend your evening developing these species. Pruning the foliage and styling of your deciduous trees and conifers is also
Or any other species for that matter. I bought this trunk from a grower who had plaited a number of trident whips together. His words of wisdom- you have to let some grow out of the body, otherwise you end up with a trunk with no taper. Gradually reducing the number of whips gives the
