Meetings: Posts
BSSF General meetings are on the second Thursday of the month at 7:30pm. The members’ workshop is the following Thursday, 3rd Thursday of the month at 7pm. BSSF Board meetings are held on the Fourth Monday at 7pm. All of the meetings occur in the Hall of Flowers (Strybing Arboretum) at the corner of Ninth Ave and Lincoln Way. Enter through the parking lot at Tenth Ave and Lincoln and walk along the south side of the building to the club room.
by Eric SchraderThe Secret to Great Bonsai - Repotting.
Feb 8th: For our February 2007 meeting the club came together for a night of repotting and root work. Special thanks to John Edwards for taking charge of our newer members. Repotting can be a mystifying process for people who have no knowledge of the proper way to do it. John provided help and instruction to more than a half dozen people, all of whom I'm sure were very grateful.
As I mentioned in the article about this program, repotting is a fine art in many ways... read more »
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Tags: Beginner, Repotting, soil | No Comments »
by Eric SchraderThe Art of Carving
Jan 11th: Tim Kong demonstrated some carving techniques and tools during our January general meeting. Using olives as a subject Tim covered the basics of carving with power tools and the culture of olive trees both collected and from cuttings of various types.
Olives as Bonsai
Olives make great bonsai because they are fast-growing, have hard wood and have small, beautifully colored leaves. The trunks become gnarled with age showing all sorts of interesting texture and character... read more »
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by Eric SchraderCaring for your ‘Plucked Chickens’
Nov 9th: November 2006 General Meeting - John Boyce on Pines
For our November General Meeting our own John Boyce gave a presentation on pine care and culture. John has been growing trees for more than 35 years and finds that among his favorites are Japanese Black Pine. Although the culture of JBP can seem complicated to the beginner, the tree is actually quite forgiving and, given the right conditions, easy to grow... read more »
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by Eric SchraderUsing oaks for bonsai
Aug 10th: August 2006 General Meeting notes.
For our August meeting John Thompson spoke about how to use oaks for bonsai. Oaks are a common species for bonsai which can be quite rewarding; many types of them are well adapted to our climate. John brought examples of different styles and species which he has in his collection. Cork oaks are native to Europe, evergreen with gray green leaves and wonderfully deeply fissured bark, which is actually the source of wine corks... read more »
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Tags: acorn, john thompson, oak | No Comments »
by Eric SchraderPot Quality and Pinch Pots
Jul 13th: July 2006 general meeting.I was pleased to be able to facilitate an evening of creativity and fun through the use of a few pounds of clay at our July General Meeting. Making pinch pots, just like making bonsai, is an outlet for creative energy which allows the artist to both express their inner thoughts and accomplish something tangible. The club owes a great thanks to Ron Weaver for making this program possible through the use of his kiln... read more »
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by Eric SchraderDeciduous dreams of Dennis Vojtilla
Jun 8th: June 2006 Meeting Notes:
Dennis Vojtilla gave a short talk on care and cultivation of deciduous trees. Dennis mentioned that he is somewhat unusual in the bonsai world in that he concentrates almost exclusively on growing deciduous material. June is a time when the bonsai artist should be thinking about refinement in deciduous bonsai, including maple, elm, and similar trees. Dennis emphasized that the branches on a tree should be curvy and twisty and that they wont get that way by themselves... read more »
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Tags: Defoliation, Demonstrations, Dennis Vojtilla, Maples, Tree Care | No Comments »
by Eric SchraderGary Tom on Juniper and Bonsai over the years
May 11th: May 2006 General Meeting
For the third leg in our trinity of Juniper programs Gary Tom treated attending members of the May general meeting to a discussion of his thirty years of experience in growing junipers in San Francisco. Gary is a long-time club member and has dedicated much of his yard to the developement of Juniper bonsai from nursery stock.
Gary's talk centered on his experiences through the years: At age thirteen he started by reading the venerable and ever-useful Sunset garden books "Bonsai... read more »
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Tags: Fertilizer, Junipers, Tree Care | No Comments »
by Eric SchraderThe Iron Bonsai Challenge
Apr 13th: April General Meeting Notes
Tim Kong was the chairman for an evening of Juniper styling at our April General Meeting, the Iron Bonsai Challenge. Five teams of trained-professional bonsai artist transformed some old gnarled bushes into some old gnarled bonsai. This un-biased reporter happened to be in on the action and can say with authority that the results of my team's efforts were by far the superior bonsai... read more »
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Tags: Demonstrations, Junipers | 1 Comment »
by Eric SchraderJim Gremel Whips Some Junipers Into Shape
Mar 9th: March 2006 Program Notes
For our March general meeting Jim Gremel was on hand to conduct a workshop on small Juniper stock. Jim, who is well known for taking pliable young material and bending it all around into interesting shapes, brought along examples, large and small, of what he has done in ten years of training in the "yamadori style". Jim's technique involves putting copper wire of an appropriate size onto the long whips of shimpaku (juniper) and bending it into coils or snakes or any other twisted shape that comes to mind... read more »
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by Eric SchraderTim Kong Demonstrates Alternatives to Pots
Feb 9th: February 2006 Meeting Notes
It was with his usual flare that Tim Kong started off our February program by introducing us to a little-known but fantastic bonsai potter named Sue R. Pipe. He explained that this potter worked over a hundred years ago and made some fantastic pots that are just waiting to be dug up from under all our houses, (and that they have a fantastic 'patina.') After this introduction Tim went on to say that the title of his program was 'Getting off the pot... read more »
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Tags: muck, Repotting, stone plantings | No Comments »
