Canberra Bonsai Society Show 2023

It’s always fun to attend the Canberra Bonsai Society’s annual show. As usual, there was a good mix of native and exotic trees in various stages of development representing the range of its members which were well displayed, interesting demonstrations […]

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Workshop Notes

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 […]

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November’s Demonstration: Michael Hood

Michael has been practising bonsai since 1995 after working a few days at a bonsai nursery. He was then lucky enough to study with Lee Wilson for several years. For the past fifteen, he has been working alongside his brother […]

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What to Do In November

This spring, so far, has been a crazy mix of hot days and ‘return to winter’ colder ones, but nonetheless, all your trees should be in active growth. As spring growth continues, one must be mindful of keeping vigorous trees […]

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Workshop Notes

Last month participants mainly worked on deciduous species, including maples and wisteria. This month it isn’t too late to repot deciduous trees, so long as they aren’t yet in leaf. You might also want to start working on conifers, as […]

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July 2023 Meeting: Deciduous Workshop

Last month’s deciduous workshop was successful with many members bringing trees of varying styles and sizes to work on, either styling or repotting as necessary. Maples seemed the dominant species with some terrific, big maple forests. Everybody seemed to enjoy […]

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What To Do In August 2023: Michele T

I always love this time of year, because a lot of my trees have been repotted and/or restyled. I feel great satisfaction visualising the next step in development for each tree as I work on it. Some have been transferred […]

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Repotting an Old Trident Maple

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 […]

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Repotting Deciduous Trees: Brenda Parker

Remove any weeds, moss, fallen leaves and debris from the soil surface. Study the structure of the branches and then cut out any crossing branches and shorten the long branches to instigate more branching (ramification) in spring. Remove the tree […]

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June Demonstration: Sean Hood

As always, Sean gave a terrific demonstration full of interesting and useful information on pines. He brought several examples, both field-grown and developed from young stock, and discussed the merits of both for the bonsai grower suggesting that growing a […]

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