NEXT CLUB MEETINGS

Green Square Community Hall

3 Joynton Avenue Zetland 7pm Tuesday 9 September 2014

Special guest presentation, Steve Falcioni from ECO products talks on plant pests, diseases, root stimulants and plant food. 7pm Tuesday 14 October 2014

Bring along your trees to work on and if weather warms there may be a workshop on Figs.

CONTACT DETAILS

� 0432 461 025

�info@sydneycitybonsai.org.au

� sydneycitybonsai.org.au

�� PO Box 486

Summerhill NSW 2130

COMMITTEE Patron Dorothy Koreshoff

President Bryan

Vice President Sue

Secretary tba

Treasurer Chris

Newsletter Editor Roslyn

Librarian Naome & Les

Catering Philip

Committee Lee, Naome & Tony

MEMBERSHIP Full Membership $40.00 Concession $25.00 Family $55.00 Pensioner $25.00

SCBC wishes to thank Sydney City

Council for their continued support

for our club by providing the hall at a

reduced rate.

Welcome to the

In this issue:

ECO special

Expect to be fascinated, entertained and informed this month by ECO products disease control. He will go through the range of ECO products available to encourage good insects, control plant pests and diseases, stimulate roots, feeother products that improve the health of your trees.

This is a talk not to be missed as it will hwill be available for sale at the end of Steve’s presentation for less than you would pay at n

Member styling hotspot reintroduced

One of the best ways to find the potential of your tree is to share your ideas and have others constructively offer some possible alternatives. Most people informally discuss styling options for the treesand learning because they are attending to something else.

The be re

One or two treesfor an open discussion of the tree's possibilities, styling difficulties and ways to overcome problems to bring out the best in the tree. styling suggestions and/or ask lots of questions whether you are a new to bonsai or have had years of experience.

The HOT SPOT session is designed to be no more than 10 minutes per meetingHowever, the sharing everyone gains.

Welcome to the September Newsletter

September Meeting

• Special guest presentation, Steve Falcioni from ECO products

talks on plant pests, diseases, root stimulants and plant food.

• NO WORKSHOP this month. Bring plants for display

short advice session. See below for details.

In this issue:

• Sue root prunes and repots a Japanese Black Pine

• Report on AABC/BCI Convention – Gold Coast August 2014

• Penjing master Zhao QingQuan styles melaleucas at AABC

• Ross Miller workshop on training two flush pines

• Natives styled Native by Lee and Bonsai Events Calendar

ECO special guest at the this month’sExpect to be fascinated, entertained and informed this month by ECO products who will explain the how and whys of sustainable feeding and pest and disease control. He will go through the range of ECO products available to encourage good insects, control plant pests and diseases, stimulate roots, feeother products that improve the health of your trees.

This is a talk not to be missed as it will help improve your bonsai care. will be available for sale at the end of Steve’s presentation for less than you would pay at nurseries.

Member styling hotspot reintroducedOne of the best ways to find the potential of your tree is to share your ideas and have others constructively offer some possible alternatives. Most people informally discuss styling options for the trees that they bring in but other members miss out on new ideas and learning because they are attending to something else.

The MEMBER STYLING HOT SPOT was first introduced be re-introduced by our President Bryan immediately following his club update.

ne or two trees (with the owner’s permission) at each meeting will be brought to the front for an open discussion of the tree's possibilities, styling difficulties and ways to overcome problems to bring out the best in the tree. We encourage everyone to participate. Make styling suggestions and/or ask lots of questions whether you are a new to bonsai or have had years of experience.

The HOT SPOT session is designed to be no more than 10 minutes per meetingHowever, the sharing of bonsai information is at the heart of our club’s ideals and everyone gains.

Newsletter

Special guest presentation, Steve Falcioni from ECO products

talks on plant pests, diseases, root stimulants and plant food.

NO WORKSHOP this month. Bring plants for display and/or for

short advice session. See below for details.

a Japanese Black Pine – page 2

Gold Coast August 2014 – page 3

Penjing master Zhao QingQuan styles melaleucas at AABC - page 4- 5

Ross Miller workshop on training two flush pines – page 5

Bonsai Events Calendar – page 6

this month’s meeting: Expect to be fascinated, entertained and informed this month by Steve Falcioni from

who will explain the how and whys of sustainable feeding and pest and disease control. He will go through the range of ECO products available to encourage good insects, control plant pests and diseases, stimulate roots, feed plants and a few

elp improve your bonsai care. ECO products will be available for sale at the end of Steve’s presentation for less than you would pay

Member styling hotspot reintroduced: One of the best ways to find the potential of your tree is to share your ideas and have others constructively offer some possible alternatives. Most people informally discuss

that they bring in but other members miss out on new ideas and learning because they are attending to something else.

introduced in September last year and will lowing his club update.

at each meeting will be brought to the front for an open discussion of the tree's possibilities, styling difficulties and ways to overcome

We encourage everyone to participate. Make styling suggestions and/or ask lots of questions whether you are a new to bonsai or have

The HOT SPOT session is designed to be no more than 10 minutes per meeting. of bonsai information is at the heart of our club’s ideals and

SUE ROOT PRUNES AND REPOTS A JAPANESE BLACK PINE

Sue’s workshop notes on root pruning and repotting a Japanese black pine This Japanese black pine was purchased as a stock plant from the Koreshoff Bonsai Nursery (since closed) in 1987 marked as 1981 stock. At this stage I was very new to bonsai taking lessons from those who 'have heard' certain things. One of those things was to remove any unwanted needles from a black pine branches and trunk. As a consequence the tree kept growing taller with long straggly branches carrying foliage only on the ends. Over the years as I learned more I began cutting the branches back to remaining needles on those branches and forced back budding on the tree. Lucky I eventually started cutting the tree otherwise I hate to think how tall and thin it would be now.

Repotted Japanese Black Pine grown from 1981 stock plant. Note small grass strategically placed where there is a lacking root.

With this demonstration on root pruning a Japanese black pine one must remember that this tree has been root pruned many times and has a very healthy root system. The tree was root pruned 4 years ago and although the hexagonal pot appears to have straight sides it is slightly concave in the inside. As the tree has been in the pot for a long time it is at first difficult to remove. The tree has developed a lovely short dense fine root system all over the underside of the root system with a concave hollow under the base of the trunk. You will also note that within the soil is what appears to be fine cobwebbing. This is mycorrhizae and it has a healthy relationship with a Japanese black pine. The purpose of mycorrhizae is to help the feeder roots get air out of the soil. As I use a very open mix with lots of air there is very little mycorrhizae within the soil. Where I do see it the most is on the outside of the root system on my cascade pine when I remove them from the pots.

Short dense fine root system all over the underside of the root

system with a concave hollow under the base of the trunk.

Note the fine cobwebbing –

mycorrhizae – which aid the pine’s feeder roots get air out of the soil.

Once the soil has been scraped away to the beginning of the fringe of the root system it is trimmed to about 2 cms. As the tree was once growing on an angle and has since been stood up more there is a problem with one side of the root system that sticks up too far at the rear of the tree. The tree had a false root on the front which came from a dead Japanese black pine but over the past 3 or so years it has rotted out and now has to be discarded so I will need something else small to detract from the lacking root at the front of the tree. I could place a rock in that area but any of the rock that is buried in the soil will stop any roots growing in that area, so I chose a small grass type plant instead which will not interfere with any root growth of the pine. As this tree has a lovely concave underside I first pile up the soil in the pot to account for the need to fill this underside space, more soil is added and it is poked in with a potting stick to fill any gaps around the roots and is then finished off with a light rubber mallet to compress the soil. (Do not use this mallet with a fine soil as it will be compressed too hard and will not allow water and air flow). This tree was root pruned at bud-swell. With a Japanese black pine to 'read' bud swell look very closely at the candles in late winter and early spring, when these tightly formed buds at the growing tips start to change colour and elongate slightly you have bud swell. No branch cutting is done at this time as I want the strong spring growth to form my next layer of branching, which will be cut about November to encourage the summer growth that has a shorter needle. After soaking the tree will only be watered when required, it will depend on the weather and the growth of the tree. The aftercare of ANY root pruned tree is the most important aspect of bonsai care. Remember that the roots are not all the way through the soil and to over water can cause waterlogging at this time. Just say that we have no rain this tree may only be watered every 4 days until it starts growing. When the top starts growing it means that the roots are also growing. At this time the watering will only be very light just enough to maintain a nice 'dampness' in the soil not sopping wet. Light watering which equals “a one-second run over the soil area with a very light shower spray, enough just to drip from the bottom of the pot not pour out as normal summer requirements.” Don't be frightened of Japanese black pines if you are new to bonsai, get one or two and take instructions from the experienced members of the club. They don't bite and the worst that can happen is a dead tree, it’s a learning curve.

page 2

AABC/BCI CONVENTION –GOLD COAST 21-24 August 2014

“Sunrise on Australian Bonsai” – Gold Coast 2014 Roz and Lee attended the largest AABC convention yet and the first with an international slant being co-run by the AABC and the BCI (Association of Australian Bonsai Clubs and Bonsai Clubs International). This was the largest convention in Australia to date. Bonsai enthusiasts attending: Australia 272, Canada 2, China 41, HK 1, India 8, Indonesia 2, Japan 22, Rep Korea 2, NZ. 21, Sultanate of Oman 1, Philippines 10, Russia. 2. South Africa 2, Taiwan 4, UK 2, USA 8. The international demonstrators were Jyoti and Nikunj Paraekh from Mumbia which is India's bonsai Mecca; Budi Sulistyo from Indonesia, Shinichi Nakajima from Japan, Chen Wenjuan and Zhao Qingquan from China. Local demonstrators were Chris di Nola, Joe Morgan Payler and Tony Bebb. The idea that bonsai is for ‘old people’ has to go. It is also for young people and more need to come into the hobby. This is a view shared by bonsai enthusiasts around the world.

Roz, SCBC editor and photographer and Lee, mad keyer of notes on every demonstration at the AABC/BCI exhibition.

This and upcoming newsletters will be replete with new and interesting information and ideas plus offshoot articles on ideas the convention sparked. It would be great if more enthusiasts would attend these events. It doesn’t matter what stage of bonsai you are at, the input of ideas and reiteration of things you already know is simply fantastic, inspiring and gets the bonsai bug even further entrenched and revitalised.

View of AABC/BCI 2014 Exhibition

Selection of trees from AABC/BCI Exhibition

All but 3 trees in the impressive exhibition were from southeast Qld. The trees are largely nursery grown since it is difficult to collect trees in Australia and hard to import trees. There were no imported trees in the exhibition.

2014 BCI Awards:

Left: Qld Small Leaf Fig Above: Canary Island Palm

Bougainvillea gabra

Dwarf Prostrate Juniper Japanese Juniper

One of three Swamp Cypress’ at the AABC/BCI

Exhibition

page 3

ZHAO QINGQUAN STYLES MELALEUCAS AT AABC GOLD COAST 2014

Zhao Qingquan and WA Melaleucas at AABC

Zhao Qingquan is an international bonsai instructor from China and has devoted

himself to bonsai for 40 years. His style is to combine

Chinese traditional culture with modern aesthetics.

Chinese landscapes have two major principles: to follow nature and to imitate old

Chinese paintings. Zhao’s demonstration trees were two magnificent collected Western Australian melaleucas. Zhao worked with 3 assistants and a translator and he was a brave master working with an Australian native species that was completely unfamiliar to him.

When you are working with advanced stock first select the front of the trees and how best to match the two trees. You need one higher, one lower and one must be a good main tree, the other a good side tree. Once the positioning has been determined do some preliminary trimming to start to prepare the shape of the trees.

Right: Zhao shows how to choose the front and back of tree.

Above: Matching and positioning trees.

He could not shape the trees in the lingnan1 style because these trees need more green to continue to grow. It is most important to have a main tree. The trees must be offset, never in a straight line; the main tree in front, the subsidiary tree butted against the main tree and much lower. He positioned the triple trunk clump to offset the trunks to create depth.

The trees had to be securely fastened to the marble slab and Builder’s Blog was used in this instance to secure the fasteners as Knead-It Aqua would not set fast enough. Shelley's Plastibond could also be used. This way of fixing wire can be used to attach trees to rocks as well.

1 Lingnan penjing artists prune trees with the “Grow and Clip” method. Instead of bending by wires, the branches are kept being clipped as they grow. Every clipping creates a new turn and a new session on the branch, and in every session, there grows new branches. Eventually, as the tree keeps growing and being pruned by this particular method, it will taper from the base to the apex, the proportions between the trunk and branches will be greatly developed, with branches full of turns and twists.

Fast setting Builders Blog was used to fix the wires to tray A shallow layer of soil was put on the bottom of the tray and then Zhao positioned the trees. He used an upright wedge to maintain the position of the leaning tree and he used the maximum width of the pot to increase the third dimension. When he was happy with the positioning the pre-established wires were wrapped around the roots. Once the trees were secured Zhao started to expose more surface root to increase the naturalness of the setting.

Upright wedge holds maintains leaning tree in position during final positioning of group

A number of smaller branches need to be removed but he left them for this stage to allow the tree enough foliage to recover and grow. In the next major styling work when the trees have settled in and are growing well some of the branches can be removed to improve the design.

Continued on page 5

ADHESIVES SUITABLE for BONSAI WORK

If you are using a slab or a rock you need to attach wires to the surface to be able to tie the trees on. If you are doing a setting with rocks it is often necessary or advisable to glue the rocks together or glue them to the pot. Depending on your design and the rocks you can also glue a number of rocks together to make one rock. Often if you are utilising a major rock that stands up in a flat pot it needs a base so it won’t fall over.

Three substances that are acceptable and won’t damage your tree are: Gorilla Glue, Knead-It Aqua and Builder’s Blog.

Gorilla Glue and Builder’s Blog are applied to the areas where affixing is needed and the wire embedded or a loop made to attach the wire to. It is better to use copper wire as that is stronger than aluminium wire but aluminium will work. Give the adhesive about an hour to dry and it is ready to go.

page 4

ZHAO QINGQUAN STYLES WA MELALEUCAS cont

In order to do a landscape bonsai first you do the tree and then you add the stones.

The stones he used are from his Chinese province. In order to set the stones the bottoms have to be cut a bit. To do the stones setup properly is very important as the tree is the main feature and the stones must compliment it. The positioning of the stones is not a fixed rule. It all depends on the person's feeling, on the creation, the character one wants to achieve.

Working towards creating the natural landscape by carefully positioning the stones

Stones are not set in a straight line. The front stones should be lower, the rear higher so you can see the natural landscape. In landscapes the positioning of the stones is as important as the tree.

Zhao is creating land, a stony shore and water, 3 separate elements. The cement used to affix the stones is coloured to blend. The rocks were cemented to the tray to provide a firm barrier.

He added two small trees of a different species because this was what was available at the venue. Usually you would use trees of the same species but the saotome azaleas will do. The small trees must be positioned so they look natural. There were grumblings around me about combining a saotome with the melaleuca since it is not a natural relationship in nature but the object is to create a landscape of varying proportions and the saotome could be replaced at the next repotting. The small trees have been place so one is partially hidden and one fully exposed. He filled in the soil around the roots and the rocks and then started placing stones on the surface for continuity. The land part is not flat but undulates. The stones are not laid on the surface but partly buried. The stones have been placed so there is a stone shore with some stones scattered (artfully and thoughtfully) over the soil surface to give continuity to the landscape. Then moss is added to finish the landscape and then a final trimming of the foliage.

Major points of Chinese landscape

Landscape must have main tree and secondary tree. This combination must be very clear. As a whole the tree is the main subject and the stones and earth are secondary. The biggest, tallest, strongest is the main tree and the biggest stone must be in the front. Must have some space, negative space. In the setting the negative space is between the tree and the water and between the two trees. It is very important to have major and secondary space. All the small branches must have some variation in direction. The 3 trunk and single tree are separate entities but must be matching each other. There is no fixed formula to achieve this. There are four main trees in this arrangement. While this is a no-no in Japanese bonsai it works here because the setting comes across as 3 trees and a single tree yet maintaining a connection at the nebari level. The white tray represents water. It is not necessary to put actual water in it. As far as adding ornaments it depends on the artist and how the artist feels about the landscape. This demonstration tree is still rough because of time limitations and the need to preserve the health of the tree. Once the tree establishes itself more refinement will be done.

With no familiarity with the growth habits of the melaleuca Zhao created a very Australian setting and showed

his mastery of bonsai with this creation.

page 5

© 2006 Sydney City Bonsai Club | www.sydneycitybonsai.org.au | info@sydneycitybonsai.org.au 6

NATIVES STYLED NATIVE BY LEE AND EVENTS CALENDAR

Natives styled Native

BY LEE WRIGHT

There will always be two schools of thought on when Japanese inspired styling stops and enthusiasts shape Australian natives to suit the way our natives grow naturally. Any bonsai needs to be stylized but Aussie natives can [I hesitate to say ‘should’] be styled towards their natural growth habit. In most cases you get a more representative tree because of their more upward growth habits.

At the 2014 AABC Bonsai Convention in August this magnificent melaleuca is testament to Japanese styling on a native tree. Does it work??

To me the styling is stunning but it makes me feel uncomfortable. The styling itself is excellent in shape, form, harmony and balance… but on the wrong tree. No melaleuca ever comes close to looking like this and I feel it is doing a disservice to the tree but serves as an example of how styling must bring out the tree’s qualities and not be something that is imposed on it.

Melaleuca featuring Japanese bonsai styling principles

By contrast, this is a Melaleuca styphelioides. It is meticulously wired and styled and looks like a Melaleuca styphelioides. The integrity of the tree has been maintained.

Melaleuca styphelioides where the natural integrity of the tree form is maintained

Take note of our previous article where master stylist Zhao Qingquan emphasized that the demonstration trees he styled need refinement. This was as much as he was prepared to do in the first phrase to ensure the trees survived. They look like melaleucas.

Our trees are glorious and unique. We don’t need to try to replicate a Japanese

Black Pine with our native stock.

BONSAI EVENTS CALENDAR

Date Event Details

September 13-14

Bonsai Society of Australia “Nature to Miniature”

Don Moore Community Centre, North Rocks

September 20 Shoalhaven Bonsai Club – Visiting Demonstrator Brenda Parker

Gerringong Bowling Club

October 5-6 Sydney Bonsai Spectacular Merrylands RSL Club

November 7-9 Newcastle Bonsai Society Annual Show Charlestown Bowling Club, Lincoln Street, Charlestown