May General Meeting – Iron Bonsai Challenge: BSSF vs Marin

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For our May general meeting BSSF and Marin members alike were treated to a battle royale where six teams of bonsai artists took to Garden Stadium (the library at the Hall of Flowers) for an Iron Bonsai challenge.     Maestro Tim Kong was on hand to narrate the action for the audience as the team members did some deadwood work and styling on a batch of small collected landscape-variety junipers.

Tim, in his vociferous style, cajoled all available information from the stylists as they attempted to better their competitors.     Members used various deadwood techniques including fiber pulling, a Dremel rotary tool, branch cutters and everything else that was on hand.

The junipers generally lacked any backbudding and had only larger primary branches so the contestants used larger aluminum wire for bending and reduced the branching to simultaneously give the trees some style and create more deadwood.

Tim advised raffle winners to leave the trees to grow for a full season to recover from the round of work.

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Branch reduction by a member of team BSSF

 

 

When working with junipers dug from a landscape or collected that do not have desirable foliage characteristics it is common to graft a more easily-worked and aesthetically-pleasing variety onto the larger trunk of the collected material.      After a year of good growth on these plants, using either approach or scion grafting on the lower trunks would give an opportunity to style the tree using the small branching that is needed to create a good bonsai canopy.

Grafting can both rescue a plant from mediocrity and highlight the wonderful deadwood aspects of the lower trunks that our competitors worked so hard to create.

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The eventual winning team from Marin applies some wire to the branches of their tree.
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Pliers are used to squeeze the branches to separate the cambium and bark from the wood beneath.
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Electric carving tools make quick work of reducing jin to complement the scale of the tree.

 

Congratulations to Marin for their win (which was determined by who had the most raffle tickets of course!)

Hagedorn Dances with a California Juniper

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Mike discusses Juniper health and how the growing tips of the plant are the most important part.

For our April program BSSF was graced by internationally known bonsai artist Michael Hagedorn who presented a styling demonstration utilizing a California Juniper.

Mike talked about juniper care and how it differs from care of other trees.     While many trees draw energy from the root or stem system, Mike emphasized that with Junipers the most important thing is the individual growing tips.     Each growing tip contributes to the overall health of the tree thus the bonsai stylist should take care to leave the tips intact whenever possible.

People who have been doing bonsai for a long time have been told many times that they should pinch all the tips off a juniper to slow down the growth but Mike indicated that this is very detrimental to the health of the plant.     Instead, he advocates that the tips should be left to grow; only runners – tips that stick out from a refined pad more than an inch – should be removed using scissors.        The long term maintenance of a Juniper is accomplished by allowing the branches to grow and then removing larger clumps of foliage by cutting back to a shorter branch.     This combined with regular wiring will refine the branch structure further while simultaneously maintaining the size of the branches.     Care should be taken when thinning the tree to not remove key backbudding that could eventually be used to replace longer branches.

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Members look on as Mike applies wire to the branhces.

California Juniper in particular are heat lovers – they thrive where both the roots and the needles of the plant are exposed to intense sun and heat and dry conditions are the norm.    For the Bay Area California Junipers (J. Californica) are slow growing, they will tolerate coastal conditions but will not respond as well as being inland.     Mike recommended Shimpaku (J. chinensis) as a good alternative to California as the species is widely adapted to various growing conditions and easy to grow.      Sierra and Western juniper (J. occidentalis) are also more suitable to Bay Area weather although not as forgiving of moist conditions as the Chinese variety.

Mike spoke briefly of Juniper tip blight – a fungal infection that will kill juniper tips that thrives in moist conditions around 65-75 degrees.    He recommended a fungicide called “Zero Tol” to battle the blight.    The tips will blacked, similar to sun scorch and then die back which can weaken the tree significantly.

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Mike continues to discuss the health of the plant while wiring.

Mike used about three pounds of copper wire over the course of a couple hours during his talk to style the juniper, removing approximately 50% of the mass of the tree before finishing his demonstration with the task of bending and positioning.    As BSSF members have seen in this and previous demonstrations, wiring is the key to a dramatic change in a tree.       Mike spoke of four ways to effectively shorten the lengthy branches that are often found on unrefined bonsai stock by simply positioning them differently:

  • Move the branch downward – this is the single most common way to move foliage closer to the trunk and can dramatically reduce the crown size.    It also allows more light and air to reach the interior of the branch which can induce back buds which can be used to further reduce the length.
  • Bring the branch toward the viewer and the front of the tree – this has the effect of slightly shortening the visual length.
  • Bring the branch upward – in some styles, like a broom style,
  • Adding dramatic movement to the branch will shorten the visual length.
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Mike discusses how branches can be moved to shorten their appearence
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Mike shows BSSF members how branches can be bent once the wire is applied to make a dramatic change in the shape of the plant.

Many thank to Mike for an inspiring demonstration and talk.

 
Michael Hagedorn studied bonsai in Japan with Shinji Suzuki and teaches bonsai in Portland, Oregon. He also has extensive experience in ceramics and bonsai pottery. Mr Hagedorn is author of the book, “Post-Dated, the Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk” and publishes the popular bonsai blog Crataegus. In addition, he is a founding member of Portland Bonsai Village and is a co-organizer of the upcoming Artisans’ Cup Bonsai Show to be held in October in Portland.

 

Watsonville Bonsai Club 40th annual show

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The Watsonville Bonsai Club cordially invites your members to our 40th Annual Exhibition on Sunday, May 5, 2013 at the Watsonville Buddhist Temple, 423 Bridge St., Watsonville, CA.  Hours are 10 am to 4:30 pm.  1:30 pm demonstration by sensei Katsumi Kinoshita.  For more information, call Don White at (831)724-9283.

Renewing a Utah Juniper’s styling

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“Wiring” it has been said “is bonsai, and bonsai is wiring.”    I find the process of styling  a tree to bring out the best qualities to be highly satisfying.     For this small Utah Juniper this was the second time that I wired every branch to bring the shape from a bunch of unruly looking branches to a pleasing looking silhouette and branch pads.

The foliage of Utah Junipers is quite coarse, more coarse than typical California juniper and each needle is typically about ten-times the size of a Kishu Chinese juniper needle.   The foliage grows with a central stem and needles growing out of it in all directions, somewhat like a pine but with a much more random branching pattern.     In order to make them look clean I wire the small branches using annealed wire, usually gauge 16, 18 and 20 copper.   After an entire branch is wired I position the foliage and remove individual needles that are growing down or otherwise not in a useful position.

Like any tree, if you want the tree to respond well to the work, you need to make sure that it’s healthy and growing well.     For juniper I do not shear the tips of the foliage, or remove all of the new growth at once.    Instead, if the tree has grown out, remove the longer branches in favor of shorter side branches and then use wiring to reposition the remaining foliage into a good pattern.

I collected the tree in the fall of 2005 from the mountains of Eastern California at about 8000 feet elevation during a hiking and (legal!) collecting trip.    In spring of 2007 I did a little wiring and began to think about the styling of the tree.

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In 2008 The tree was growing well and I wired it again, but the foliage wasn’t long enough for a full crown.

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I showed the tree for the first time in 2010 after styling it fully.

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Since 2010 I had trimmed the tree a couple times, but I let it grow out all last year.    The new branches were crisscrossing and the foliage was about 5 inches past the last wires.    The tree makes wood very slowly, which means that the wire can stay on for a long time without cutting in.    There is still wire on the tree that I put on in 2009.    But that also means that the foliage is a bit floppy, like a weeping tree.     The key branch on the lower right was almost touching the soil in the pot.

 

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It took about 8 hours of wiring and trimming to complete the tree.    The front of the tree:

 

 

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The left side:

 

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Right Side:

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The back of the tree, slightly rotated to show what could be an alternate front sometime in the future.

 

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One of my favorite features of this tree is the reverse taper about halfway up the trunk.    In this case it appears to be where there was a tight turn and the juniper tendancy is to fill in tight turns with a fan-shaped bit of wood which is one of the most desirable characteristics in juniper deadwood.

 

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Upcoming BSSF February events with Gordon Deeg, Director of the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt.

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BSSF is happy to announce two special events this February 14th and 16th with
Gordon Deeg. Gordon has been doing bonsai for nearly 50 years and is an excellent
teacher. He has studied with Yasuo Mitsuya in the US and in Japan, and with Kathy
Shaner, Curator of the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt. Gordon is a GSBF Certified
Bonsai Basics Instructor and is the Director of the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merrit.
These events promise to be a highlight of the year.

Gordon Deeg Bonsai Styling Demonstration: Coast Redwood

February 14, 2013

7:30 P.M. – 9:00 P.M. Hall of Flowers (County Fair Building)

Gordon Deeg will present a bonsai styling demonstration on Coast redwood
(Sequoia sempervirens), otherwise known as the tallest trees on earth. The
demonstration redwood tree has been container grown for over 25 years. Gordon
will demonstrate and discuss fundamental elements of styling and caring for this
native species. The demonstration tree will be raffled at the end of the presentation.

Gordon Deeg Repotting Workshop

February 16, 2013

11:00 A. M. – 3:00 P. M. in the Rec Room at the County Fair Building)

Repotting is a core skill for bonsai care and doing it correctly means healthier, more
beautiful trees. Gordon will be helping members get the most out of their trees with
this workshop. February is the perfect time to repot most species – and it’s just in
time to prepare trees for presentation in the BSSF Spring Show.

What to bring: Trees, pots, tools, wire, pot screens, and table covers. Also bring a
container or tray that can be used for the old soil and roots that will be removed
from the plants. Tim Kong will provide his bonsai potting mix for this event if you do
not have your own soil. We ask that participants make a donation to cover the cost
of the soil mix. Robert will bring tarps for the floor, but if you have one bring it along
just in case. We all must carefully clean the room at the end of the workshop.

The workshop is free for BSSF members. Please let us know if you plan to
participate in this workshop and provide an email address and phone number.
Enrollment in the workshop will be limited, so RSVP to rwsmithtbn@earthlink.net

Ted Matson returns to BSSF June 14, 2012

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Ted Matson returns once again to BSSF to direct the restyling of a sergeant juniper
acquired  by BSSF at the BGLM fundraiser in February. The tree was small in stature and long on age and secondary branching. It was also healthy and green which gives it vigor for the procedures which followed.
Ted spoke to the idea of horticulture and care and feeding of good bonsai. In terms of styling he offered 5 Elements:
1. Movement     in the trunk branches and the disposition of the whole tree
2. Taper    an important continuum from the base of the tree to the top
3. Segmentation    the break up of larger branches into smaller ones
4. Compression    in styling these are the foliage pads and their proximity to one another
5. Ramification    the outer edges of the segmented foliage, the fine fringe
That said Ted went on to say that the most important part of a single trunk tree is from the base to the first branch or the tachiagari. In the case of our demo tree there was a strong nebari with radiating exposed roots. Ted asked that these be buried deeper to promote more root development closer to the trunk. Other wise he noted that the tree conformed to the moyogi or informal upright style. He also noted that while the tree seemed to be container grown for a long time it had a young appearance and could be
transformed into a older and more dramatic and engaging tree. To do this Ted proposed to remove the foliage from and jin several branches on either side of the tree.
The removal of large masses of foliage opened up the view to the trunk movement and taper as well as the scaffold of branches moving up the trunk. When you cut a branch for a jin it is best to remove the bark at that time. Ted went beyond this to show how using a jin plier one can pull threads of wood from the newly cut branch while they are moist and easily separated. This gives the jin a more nature caused look. Ted made it look easy. Once he felt the jins were looking natural enough he moved on to cleaning out by pinching out and scissoring out dead and brown foliage, unproductive branches and buds. Crotch grown at the base of branches usually tufts, sometimes more, should be removed unless they are at the base of weaker twig then remove the twig and grow the new foliage. Then Ted began to examine the apparently random lush foliage that we know on sergeant juniper or shimpaku. Green juniper foliage of all the varieties is segmented and can be separated by pinching rather than cutting. This Ted recommends for the soft green shoots that crowd the available space above the woody twigs and branches, or ramification. These need to be thinned either by pinching soft tissue or scissor green and brown twigs. By thinning he will create space in the design. He recommends this be done annually in June and in the fall. In order to facilitate branch development light needs to be let into the tree. By reducing the mass of foliage Ted says you can increase the ramification. Thin out the new branchlets and the remaining ones will divide and grow woody over time.
The next step for Ted was to direct the major branches with wire. Wire is one sure way to have control over the movement and compression in the style of the tree. Once the branches were wired Ted placed them so that the tree took on a look of greater age. Also the line of trunk movement is now clear.
As the tree opened up Ted talked about the possibility of styling this tree as bun-jin style. He said it would involve reducing the number of branches quite a bit and that the large nebari would have to be mostly buried so that it did not distract from the line of the trunk and the empty spaces that the remaining branches would create.
In the end it was decided to keep those branches which supported a moyogi style and enjoy the advancement to a more middle age for this tree. It should be repotted next year in a smaller container to further enhance the restyling of this shipaku.