Our October General Meeting was an informative and inspiring program on apricot trees as bonsai specifically but also generally on fall maintenance for fruiting and flowering trees. Jay MacDonald who is a member of our club, Marin Club and several others offered a comprenhensive assesment of what it takes to grow these trees which are highly prized for their beautiful early spring foilage. And in the case of one of Jay’s trees, which he brought for illustration, summer fruit. In a word it is feeding. Jay like many other seasoned bonsai growers has discovered, through experience, the benifits of well fed trees. Because these trees are seasonal, flowers in the spring/early winter, dormant in the late fall and deep winter the choice of food changes with seasonal conditions.
Beginning in the fall Jay recommends feeding with a 0-10-10 fertilizer. Zero nitrogen prevents encouraging leafing out early and the 10 each of phosphorous and potash provide the roots and developing buds with useful minerals. After flowering is over Jay then recomends a vigorous application of a fertilizer with nitrogen component to encourage growth and vigor. This is good general practice and one all of us, trying to develop our trees, should take a look at. As leaves fall it is a good time to ascess and pay notice to our decidous, fruiting and flowering trees.
The tree Jay brought in for his demonstration was an extrodinary example of field grown Ume, or Japanese apricot. Having its trunk developed in the ground gave it a girth and age that were impressive. More impressive was the wonderfully proportioned and distributed root system that gave the tree an aged appearence. Jay pointed out all these features and answered questions about how these trees are developed in the ground then further trained in a pot. All the while Jay continued to wire branches, all of them which he had not removed. Jay declared for all to know that to truly have a well balance framework, important for showing off spring bloom, all the branches need to be wired and placed in an appealing way. We thank Jay for sharing his experiences and ideas on bonsai cultivation and maintenance.
At the end of this informative evening the demo tree was raffled off and won by Lawrence LeClair, congratulations, and please bring this lovely tree back for us all to see in spring.

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