June 2021 Meeting this Sunday 20th at West End Hall, View St Castlemaine from 11am
Founded 2001 Incorporated 2002
Trevor Wheeler President. 54 762286 Kristy Dodder Secretary Stuart CochraneTreasurer Newsletter– GoldfieldsBonsaiSociety
Presidents Notes
GBS Facebook page
Good news, covid restrictions have now eased and we can meet subject to social distancing. May meeting. Joe’s guidance was great. He moved efficiently around the hall giving everyone assistance and advice on their trees. His demonstration showed two approaches/ methods. Making your tree look like a bonsai. The large tree, a gift that he initially didn’t like ( blogNichigo (日豪). Making a bonsai look like a tree. Extreme wiring from tube stock size. He said this tree took approximately 15 years to develop. Thanks to Paul for organising this workshop. We all had an enjoyable learning experience. This month’s workshop repotting with Shura, he suggests to also bring a small tree to try your hand at extreme wiring. See images below and right Discussion on photographing our bonsai. Looking forward to seeing you at the meeting. Trevor
May meeting. Joe Morgan-Paylor workshop President, Trevor talked about newsletter photos, asked for volunteer members to catalogue our club library. Nicky volunteered with Paul agreeable to pass on information to Nicky. Thanks to Nicky as “many hands make light work”. Workshop Pines Talk Joe started by helping members with their trees, mostly pines, and then completed his Workshop Talk. Joe brought in 3 pines: Scot’s pine, a great species. A dug up, grafted White pine. And a Black pine, great to grow from seed, growing fast in 5 + years. Joe explained the growth of pines, single flush (Scot’s, White and most other pines). In Autumn/Winter - prune, fertilise and needle work to be done. Dual flush pines (black & red pines) feed in spring, hard and non stop. December - cut all candles back to base of candle’s across the whole tree. Reduce length of branches, cutting branches with buds so new shoots form.
Repot pines in late winter, early spring with an open gravel mix, watering needs to be kept up. After the workshop, Joe talked about the work achieved on our members trees which was much appreciated! Kristy Kristy’s Before. Single flush Scot's Pine.
Left - Catherine wiring her Pine.
Left Stuart’s Before and After below
After. New leader chosen. 2 upper branches made into jin’s to be painted with Lime Sulphur
Some advice from Joe in regards to wiring and branch placement.
Kristy’s pine at home after workshop. Below and Right - Before and after photos of Catherine’s Pinus strobus ‘Merrimack’ I have had the tree for about 3 or 4 years and didn’t really have any plan for it. Joe also suggested to change the angle of the tree in the future which has improved the balance of the branches after being wired and introduced some extra drama. The final product thus far. My question is: Should the tree slant towards the longer or the shorter branches??
Yvonne’s Bonsai care notes Early winter I hope everyone survived the storms and rain last week. Tips for protecting your bonsai from wind gusts and falling branches: -move your bonsai to the ground. Where possible on grass or a mulched area. This will prevent them from blowing off your benches and breaking pots or branches from your bonsai. -move your bonsai under your benches where possible. This will minimise falling branches from around your property falling directly onto your bonsai. -if unable to do this, move to a sheltered spot such as behind a bush that can serve as a wind breaker. After storms: -remove any fallen debris from your bonsai and pots and your bonsai area -check the roots to ensure they are not waterlogged and put under cover to dry out if needed. Other tips for early winter - protect your tropical’s such as figs, lilly pilly, jade etc from frost -winter pruning of deciduous trees can commence. Cut back shoots to 2 buds. Ensure you have no more than 2 branches per branch junction. -directional pruning. Prune back to the bud going in the direction you want it to. -wiring can be done throughout winter. -clean any old leaves from your deciduous trees. -don’t prune your native bonsai until they take off next spring. This will ensure a response in growth in trees.
Last Week’s Storm – Yamadori potential - Pam Last week’s storm was massive, but in my typical obliviousness, when checking for damage in the backyard I only looked at my bonsai benches. Surprise Surprise – not a single bonsai had even moved! Then on the weekend I was doing my dutiful “dog owner duties” and actually turned around to the opposite side of the backyard. That is when I saw that one of my trees had fallen over. I can’t quite remember the specific name, but it was a angophora and stood approximately 4m tall. When it fell, it landed on a small lilly pilly and snapped the lilly pilly off at the base. So I lost two trees at once. When I had a look at the angophora I was hoping to replant it, however when it snapped, it seems to have lost the majority of it’s rootball. I should have taken photos at the time, but didn’t even think of it! So I decided that even though it will probably die, there would be no harm in shoving it in a pot and crossing my fingers to see if I can get a bonsai out of it. So here is what I am left with:
Cut off at an angle at approx 350mm. Very minimal rootball.
Diameter at the base approx 120mm. Already had bottom shoots prior to being blown over. Evidence of hubby being over-eager with the whipper snipper
Vanessa and Paul went to the Bonsai Northwest exhibition in late May. Here is Paul’s favourite tree and some inspiration for Pam. Vanessa must have a good eye as she voted for the crowd favourite winner a beautiful Hinoki Cyprus which people may also have seen in Bendigo on occasion.
Paul and Vanessa also ventured North to visit Simon in Strathallan on the 5th of June. We took this photo of the silo art in Rochester on the way home. Simon was looking well and in good spirits even though he can’t travel much at the moment. His garden has certainly grown since my last visit several years ago and the bonsai collection has also increased. Simon is keen to downsize his collection if anyone is looking for a tree or ten. Maybe we could organise an outing to visit him again some time?
https://www.facebook.com/Moongate-bonsai-specialising-in-Yama-dori-992620610873220/
Goldfields Bonsai Society Program 2021 June 20th– Repotting with Shrua July 18th– David and Shrua designing trees? August 15th– Painting with Flo September 19th– Pottery with Trevor October 17th– Prepare trees for exhibition October 30-31– Exhibition Melb Cup weekend
Meeting this Sunday 20th from 11am - 3:30pm BYO Lunch and a snack for afternoon tea
See you Sunday for a Repotting workshop being hosted by Shrua. Will possibly have some soil for sale? Bring along your trees for advice and to work on.