The August General Meeting of the BSSF was our 2nd Annual Iron Bonsai Challenge. Master of Ceremonies Tim Kong called the action as our own Eric Schrader, Lawrence LeClaire, Robert Smith, John Edwards, and Steve Jang worked furiously to create bonsai from nursery-grown junipers in record time. Work was limited to 2 hours, so our artists had to clip quickly to complete their creations.

At the beginning of the meeting, our artists selected assistants from the audience to help with the work. Each team had 2 minutes to study their material, which was distributed randomly by Tim. After a brief review of each team’s plans with the audience, shears were drawn, and the foliage removed. All of the junipers were relatively young, perhaps 3-5 years old in three gallon nursery containers. Each of our team leaders recognized that the material was mostly suited for shohin-sized bonsai so all of the final designs were less than eight inches or less tall. The plans for each team’s material covered a range of bonsai styles from full cascades and informal upright to bunjin. After the designs were finalized, team leaders and assistants started the cleaning process by removing all unnecessary and dead foliage. Trunk lines were identified and large branches removed. Jins were created from the stubs and main trunks were wired into position. While the young trees did not offer much trunk girth, they were still quite flexible to introduce dramatic movement into their forms.

With five teams participating in the Challenge, we were able to demonstrate several different techniques for creating bonsai from juniper nursery stock.

Team 1 consisted of Eric Schrader and Randall de Rijk. Together they created a small informal upright with a full canopy and large cascading branch. Because Eric saved much of the foliage, he was able to begin forming foliage pads to fill the shape of the tree. This tree will fit nicely in a small oval pot and be ready for display in 2-3 years.

Lawrence LeClaire and June Graham tried to design and create a high mountain juniper in the bunjin style. Much of the tree’s foliage was removed to expose the trunk. The long slender trunk was wrapped in raffia to prevent the cambium from separating from the tree. The raffia also protected the trunk, which was ratcheted into a tall upright position. Lawrence envisioned the tree in a small round pot that complements the rugged nature of the new tree.

Team 3 included Robert Smith and Bob Carlson. Robert and Bob created a very classical style bonsai with a cascading front branch. The branches of the original plant were cut to generate rapid and sharp movement in the new trunk line. Branches were wired down and set to their new positions. This tree can support a variety of pots, but those that show off its semi-cascade branch will be ideal.

Team 4 with John Edwards and Debra Bleemer created a classical informal upright tree. A large jin on the bottom left of the tree was great addition to the design that added instant age to the tree. Once the foliage fills in along the branches and fresh wire used to arrange the new pads, this tree will fit nicely into a small oval. If the owner keeps the tree looking rugged, a small unglazed rectangle would compliment this tree.

Steve Jang and Minh Nguyen completed Team 5. Steve saw a small cascading tree in his material. Steve selected a low, long branch to cascade over the edge of his pot. The apex of this tree was positioned over the trunk and secondary branches arrange around the primary cascading branch. This tree, after several years of reducing the root ball, will fit into a tall thin cascade pot or round bowl.

All of the material styled during the program was left in the original containers. Styling trees and repotting them in the same session can be too stressful on the plants. In fact, most experts recommend not repotting them for over one year after the initial styling. While this prevents the tree from being stressed, it also helps to develop the tree. With a strong mass of roots, foliage will return quickly to the tree and the final design will be realized much quicker than if the trees are placed in small shallow containers.

At the end of the program, the trees were raffled to members of the audience. We hope these trees survive to be examples in the coming years’ Iron Bonsai Challenges. See the September newsletter for pictures from this meeting.

No Tags