Curious about Bonsai? 

This fascinating fusion of art and horticulture has a long history and has been taken up all around the world.  If you would like to learn more about creating and keeping miniature trees, an opportunity to get hands on knowledge is coming up soon.

The Columbus Bonsai Society  will conduct an introductory bonsai class Saturday, April 11,2015.  The one day session will be held in The Gustav and Bertha Reiner Horticultural Education Center at Oakland Nursery, 1156 Oakland Park Ave. Columbus. http://www.oaklandnursery.com/web/columbuscenter.html

The class will take place between 10:00 AM  and 3:00PM and is intended to be a thorough introduction to the art and craft of miniature trees, the Japanese bonsai.  Participants will learn basic  techniques to create, train and maintain bonsai trees in classroom and discussion phases of the session and then will put that knowledge to use in hands on workshops.

Each participant will begin the process of developing a bonsai.  Instructors will discuss many aspects of the art and horticulture of bonsai: including history, design, tools, styling techniques and others.  The main focus will be keeping the trees alive.

The class is intended for participants of all skill levels, no previous experience with bonsai-or plants of any kind is required.

Cost of the class is $45 which includes all necessary materials. A 2016 membership in the Columbus Bonsai Society is also part of the package.

To register or for more information : bonsaibeginners@yahoo.com

You may also leave questions on the interactive event webpage: cbsbonsaibeginners.blogspot.com

PLEASE NOTE: No walk in students can be accommodated-all participants must register.

A book review...

Dave De Groot’s original edition of Principles of Bonsai Design  would be easy to overlook. The small size volume is barely thicker than a pamphlet, is sized smaller than any paper back and has an odd spiral binding. Slick and glossy  it is not.

But that spiral binding is a valuable feature-this is a book with enough useful information to reread and study.  After a while design concepts will soak into a bonsai practioner’s head and hands from constant exposure. Find a way to convey those is often times a struggle.  De Groot has made the best effort I’ve come across to put that process into text and related illustrations.

It may seem like gilding the lily to bring out another edition-until you hold that edition in your hands.   This second edition is an advancement and an improvement on the first.  This is a full sized, hard bound book with an understated, not to say plain cover.  But under that  cover  are more than 250 pages of text, drawings, charts and photographs.

De Groot has been growing bonsai for 40 years, and served as curator of the renowned Pacific Rim collection for a quarter century.  His bonsai experience was gained in this country as well as Japan.  This book is a distillation of all that experience.  What makes the book both a treat to read and so effective at conveying concepts is the combination of the author’s vast specialized experience, and his ability to use other art forms and means of expression to help make his points. For example, when discussing tension as design element he makes some use of musical examples like Mary had a little Lamb and Bach’s Goldberg Variations. You get the impression that De Groot could be an engaging partner in a conversation on most any subject.

The book covers in absorbing detail the usual “traditional” bonsai styles as well as  more modern additions to the bonsai palate, considering influences from Chinese Pen-ching as well as other bonsai growing  areas.  The flat top style for bald Cypress, pioneered by American Vaugh Banting?  It’s here, as well  clear descriptions of some more exotic styles.  Degroot  offers clear, concise foundations of what contributes to each style and why it ‘works’.  Styles are grouped into logical bunches, based on trunk line, branch lines, styles based on landscape feature.

Pot selection is covered in equally thorough detail, bringing some clarity to what can be an intimidating and frankly confusing process. De Groot also covers the principles and conventions of display, a topic that I have not seen covered as extensively or as well in one place. His suggestions are worthwhile not just for formal show-type exhibition but also for the permanent growing area display. One bit of advice may seem obvious but makes sense-he proposes keeping a work area with projects in process in a different, not easily viewed area, away from the more ‘finished’ trees.

For as long as I can remember John Naka’s books have been recommended for the serious student of bonsai. Naka’s books are long out of print and expensive to purchase. It seems like sacrilege to say it, but DeGroot may have produced a worthy successor, not just a substitute but a replacement.

This book is available from http://www.stonelantern.com/ . Images on this post came from that website.

A bonsai reborn

Jeeves, the seemingly omniscient servant featured in so many stories by P. G Wodehouse  said "there is always a way". In Jurassic Park the mathematician Ian Malcolm went further, saying "nature will always find a way".  Nature does amaze in so many ways, and sometime that amazement comes from the resilience of some of Nature's creations.  Plant want to be alive and will often astonish those who think they don't.

Well watered and heavily fertilized,this
seemingly dead ficus roared back.

Here's a case in point. This is a Willow Leaf Ficus (Ficus salicifolia) that has been growing in a commercial type Chinese pot going on ten years. It has an enormous rot spread-it looks like pancake batter that has expanded to fill the entire surface of the pot.

Seen from above, the dean trunk is almost
swallowed up by the root base.

Here's another view. The plant was well taken care of and grew well, but repotting was neglected-basically never done, So while the plant was putting out heavy top growth, it was also fill its pot with roots. Ten years worth of roots meant that it had to be watered by immersion and at some point early last spring either it was likely over watered or a watering forgotten (the latter is most likely) and the tree started to drop leaves. A tree that has built up that amount of root matter in a pot that this one had really has no moisture reserve-the roots are no longer growing into soil but into ever diminishing empty space.

Usually dropping leaves after a missed watering is par for the course with many trees,and that includes ficus. This one seemed to weakened because it was watered heavily after the incident, rather that sparingly.  Until the roots are back to 100% function, don't flood the plant-supply just enough moisture.

The size of the 'discard pile' on the left shows
just how much was taken off.

 The third strike  was allowing the plant to stay outside too soon-it got hit with a bit of frost in springtime an the result was pretty  obvious: the branches and trunk died back to the roots. What saved this plant was what killed it -laziness. The massive root ball the plant had built up made getting it out of the pot difficult (a draw back of inexpensive pots that have a lip). So rather that the plant being yanked out of the pot an consigned to the compost pile, it got set out of the way and ignored.

For less than $3.00 these flush cutters
make a great substitute for mame sized concave
cutters.

The result is what you see. The ficus gathered it's strength and popped out some adventitious buds, lots of them! The number of new shoots would be unsustainable as a bonsai, creating a knobby trunk and causing die back from lack of light and fungus problems. Massive pruning and thin was called for. Most of the new growth was taken off, leaving an unusual feature for a ficus bonsai, and that's deadwood. Most if not all of that welcome off as the plant is allowed to thicken up the few branches that are left and develop a new profile.

Most of the work on the roots was accomplished using a serrated steak knife like a root saw. The branches were scissored off, and the project gave me a chance to try out a new tool, a mame sized concave cutter. It was not labeled as such when I bought it at Harbor Freight Tools, but initial tests indicate that it was well worth the $2.79 price tag. Thats about 1/10 what a made in Japan, specially labeled for bonsai item might cost.

A New Friend

You're not the only one who enjoys your trees. This is a Gray Tree Frog hanging out in a mame pot that sits on the moss of a hawthorn forest. The pot is meant to diffuse some water to the bonsai, but this little guy obviously thought it was a good place to soak.
No surprise this frog showed up in a bonsai, the Wikipedia entry I read for them says they are never far from trees.

The right tool can make all the difference...

If the bonsai pot in the photo looks somehow different, you’re not imagining things. It’s not really a bonsai pot, but lets start the story at the beginning.

Back in the bad old, pre-internet days when buying  bonsai  supplies meant physically being where a vendor was, at a lucky break in finding g a mail-order supplier, bonsai hobbyists were always on the lookout for supplies.  One bit of advice was to keep your eyes open, useful things can pop up just about anywhere. One early publication, obviously written in a much different, less politically correct era, advised vesting curiosity shops, junk stores and “quaint markets” to be found in the  “foreign sections” of big cities.

The ceramic object  pictured is a very inexpensive, mass produced trinket box in the blue and white style many non-Chinese believe to authentic Chinese. It had a lid that is long ago lost, and was purchased at Pier One back at time before that retailer had become an interior decorator show room and still handled, when they still sold cheap and interesting items from around the world. I bought it because the size and shape seemed good for a bonsai, and because back then I was eager to buy any thing bonsai related.

The problem with an item like this, not meant for horticultural use, is that it has no drainage hole.  That is not the drawback it may seem.  While it is important to have drainage in any growing container, it is far easier to create a drain hole than at first it may seem.  It shocks me now that the space of time between buying the item and drilling for growing is so long-about twenty five years.

Why so long? It was really a matter of procrastination. Having  bought the trinket box, I put off buying a specialized drill bit because I figured it would be expensive, or lots of trouble.  Putting a job off for a week and then two, makes it easier to put it off for one year then two, and lots of time can pass. Then one day you find yourself at a really hardware store, and once you’ve got what you came for, and the helpful staff member asks if you need anything else, the odd notion pops into your head to ask which drill bit is best for drilling ceramics.

To make a long story interminable, a carbide tip drill bit isn’t all that expensive (around $10,depending on size and retailer) and  drilling ceramic isn’t all that hard. It just takes patience.

Good quality ceramic can be very hard, and high fired glazes are actually harder than metal. So if your expectation is to just pop a hole in a ceramic item in the same way as drilling wood, the process will be different. Begin by getting proper safety equipment on-eye and ear protection is important. Flying bits or porcelain will do a number on your eyes, and because drilling ceramic can be time consuming, the high level noise will extend out for a while.

Cradling the item in wet sand will create a firm but yielding base, and the moisture will help dissipate heat generated by the drilling process. Having water on hand to cool the drill site is also a good idea. Container with recessed bottom will hold their own water, or have a helper  aim a trickle from a watering can. Use of a hose around a corded drill is probably best avoided.  If the piece you are drilling has a flaw in the glaze that is well placed, that’s a good location to drill, other wise apply an “X” of masking tape at the spot you want your hole. The tape will help assure the drill bit doesn’t go skittering around.

Now you’re ready to drill.   Ceramic is brittle so pushing too hard will result in a ruined item, while not pushing enough will mean the drill goes sailing about. It’s best to start slow and develop the right touch. Be patient, let the drill do most of the work and take your time. Fine china and bakeware type piece will take a long time-they are very hard. Like many things bonsai related, patience will be rewarded.

Now that I have a bonsai-ready pot, I hope it is less than 25 years until  it gets a plant in it.

A favorite tree...and a favorite species

Clearing out the trees that didn't make it through the winter is always disappointing. Even though the toll was not as bad as last year, it is a reminder of how ephemeral a tree can be-but also a reminder of how tough they are as well.

One tree in particular seems especially resilient. It's the bonsai that I personally have had the longest,a collected crab apple of unknown variety an dubious provenance.  I really like crabs, and though not tree is bullet proof, they sure come close.

About the dubious provenance: When I moved to Columbus in 1990, I spent the previous year living in a studio apartment-room to read a bout bonsai,no space to try it. Arriving in central Ohio, and a rented house that taught me what the realtor's term "German Village area" meant (side note:never tour a property in the evening,no matter how great the interior looks,you'll get a surprise when you move in.) I had space for plants. 

As new hobbyists do, I wanted to expand my collection, and the idea of collecting potential bonsai from the wild seemed appealing,free plants for the taking and all.  So In February of 1991 when the weather broke and armed with a shovel and a plastic grocery bag (Big Bear,this happened some time ago) I walked down to Schiller Park.   There were several crab apple trees with luxuriant crops of root suckers, so I found what seemed like a good one and started digging.  Though the air temp was pleasant the ground was of course still frozen, so the removal was neither quick not clean, and as I recall there were some false starts, but eventually I got one out of the ground and into my bag.  

Satisfied that I was a real bonsai practitioner now, I walked home carrying my ill gotten gain. At no time either going, coming or during did anyone stop me,ask why I had a shovel or what I was doing.

This seems the appropriate point to reminder readers that collecting without permission is the wrong way to go about things.

Once I had the fledgling bonsai home and potted into a cost effective training container (a plastic tub that originally held macaroni salad) it sure didn't look like much.  A segment of the donor tree's root,about the size of a cocktail weenie sat at soil level, with a few viable roots going down and one slim branch rising straight up.

Crab apple blossoms about to open.

It took some time, but this ugly duckling somehow became a swan. Despite a rough start in life and the inexperience of it's keeper, it not only grew but thrived. It branched out well and was gradually moved into a proper training pot and then a production grade Chinese pot. Training and styling were accomplished by the hedge clipper method-lots of hacking back of vigorous shoots.  I have accepted the fact that crab apples, like many flowering/fruiting bonsai, wont always have well manicured foliage pads.  The need to let them bank some energy and create new fruiting spurs has to trump the desire for compact form

This seedling spent two years
in a growing bed to develop trunk
thickness,now live in a training pot
for some branch work.

The tree flowers reliably every year, and it's been something of a tradition to bring it to work with me so it can share it's beauty with a wider audience.  Spent blooms are removed and it has never been allowed to set fruit, though I am curious about the size and color of possible fruit so may allow it to do so this year.  It has managed to stay very healthy on its own until recently. Although the very cold winters don't seem to bother it at all, the hot dry summers seem to stress it, and the last few years it has developed black spot and looked absolutely awful by July.  Though it's against my principles to use chemicals, a prepackaged  bottle of  rose spray does the trick, with weekly application through the summer.

The red leaved crab in the round pot and the green leaved on in the
cloud pot are both about three years old,collected from the back
yard.  It will be a few years before they bloom.

I have added many crabapples to my collection since this first one,both by purchase and by digging.  Seedlings are plentiful in my back yard, and since crabapples are over utilized in the suburban landscape, volunteers are everywhere.  Great advice for creating crabapple bonsai can be found on the Evergreen Garden Works website

https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/crabappl.htm

A Book Review

Bountiful Bonsai: Create Instant Indoor Container Gardens with Edible Fruits, Herbs and Flowers by Richard W. Bender

This is author Bender's second book on a bonsai subject. His previous effort, Herbal Bonsai was published in 1996. As the title suggests,he advocates for the increased use for herbal plants as bonsai.  I thought he had an interesting take on the  hobby but rather an limited grasp of the artistic aspects of bonsai.  The example trees were generally over potted,had thin trunks and masses of undefined foliage.  

Bender's new effort is much more of the same.  His topic this time is summed up in the jacket flap copy, stating "(he) expects his plants to look good but also to play a supporting role in the home by supplying  fragrant fresh herbs and fruits for the dinner table". What Bender is advocating is bonsai that are useful as well as good looking.

The way that he accomplishes this is fairly easy to predict and proven positively by examining any of the multiple color photographs in the book: Bender's bonsai don't look very good.  Check that-these are obviously healthy, vigorous specimens that grow well and bear their particular crops with enthusiasm  Bender gets wine,jam,marmalade, tea and cooking herbs from his 'bonsai', so they certainly live up to the "Bountiful" mentioned in the title. They just stray from the usually accepted rules for bonsai.

The author acknowledges that 'bonsai' grown in his method will of necessity have larger that traditional pots, and will have larger foliage areas.  He presents these situations almost as freedom from rigid bonsai rules, but while may assure that his bonsai bear fruit, it also means that his bonsai are to my eye indistinguishable from any houseplant. Well cared for,handsomely potted, but not a bonsai.

Design aspects aside, Bender has a firm grasp of the horticulture involved in this endeavor.  The types of plants he recommends as 'bountiful bonsai' are a wide range of growing things-old friends like natal plum, myrtle, dwarf pomegranate and the myriad of citrus as well as some very nontraditional choices like sage, scented geraniums,papaya and hot peppers! He not only offers care and culture advice, but provides recipes for those interested in making their own bountiful bonsai.

A promotional video can be seen here :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrU6xC5kbV8

Some of the comments and the author's response to them are instructive.