It seemed as if on June 1st winter commenced with a bang, and the weather has been seriously cold ever since! Usually the days in June have some residual warmth to encourage bonsai enthusiasts outdoors and into working on their trees, but the sudden cold weather certainly doesn’t mean we can neglect our collections altogether […]
May was not a very pleasant month weather-wise, with many wet days to dampen the spirits of bonsai enthusiasts. Hopefully you have enjoyed some autumn colour from the deciduous trees in your collections, especially as we have had a bit of a break from the rain the last week or so. Many of my trees
For the first half of April, we experienced glorious, summer-like weather in Sydney, although that changed for the second part of the month. We’ve had a lot of cloudy and showery weather of late, so watering thirsty trees has probably not been a priority, like it is in summer. Keep your deciduous bonsai in full
March was a real mixed bag of weather conditions, as the start of autumn often is. The first half of the month brought hot weather, with three days of extreme heat in a row, actually killing a couple of my tinier trees in spite of my best efforts to save them. The second half of
This summer has not been particularly hot in Sydney. The humidity and the showery weather of late, has meant that I have had plenty of issues on my trees with such pests as scales of various types (white wax scale being the worst on some natives) and the usual caterpillars and fungal infections on susceptible
This year has started with some very hot and windy days and several milder ones, broken in between by stormy weather. Some of my trees have received a dose of sunburn on the leaves, with the hot sun suddenly emerging from behind morning cloud and catching me unawares! Happily, this has mainly been my Lilly
Summer is one of the busiest times of year for all bonsai artists. One needs to keep vigorous trees, particularly deciduous species, trimmed to encourage shorter internodes. It’s important to keep the balance between pruning and allowing for growth just right, though, as trees that are constantly cut back may lose vigour, which is not
After a dry September, October has had a mix of showery and sunny days, some quite cool as well, but all your trees should be in active growth by now. This will continue in the coming months, and one must be mindful of keeping vigorous trees trimmed to encourage short internodes and an improved design.
September was an unusually dry month, with quite a few windy days, so hopefully you’ve all been able to manage the demands of your trees to keep them healthy and thriving. I repotted several natives and junipers in my collection last month, and it’s been challenging regularly spraying the foliage to increase humidity and prevent
The end of winter has been quite warm weather wise, and I’m sure many of you (like me) have taken the opportunity to continue with developing your bonsai trees. There is certainly plenty to keep one occupied now that spring is upon us! Deciduous trees will be coming in to leaf (if they haven’t already)
