Prepping for the fall show

Tags

Bonsai, juniper, Meadowlark, NVBS, san jose, show, styling, wire, wiring

The fall show for my bonsai club is coming up in a couple of weeks. Our fall show is open to any member who would like to bring trees to show, and it is not judged. It’s just a great opportunity to share bonsai with the public. 

I know several of our most experienced members will have trees unavailable for the show because of another exhibition, so I really would like to show at least two bonsai. Looking over my trees though, I felt like there was only one in “showable” condition. Maybe I could get this San Jose Juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘San Jose’) cleaned up and ready to show. 

It’s a bit sloppy at the moment. Let’s see what I can do. First, I need to get the moss off the trunk. I want to get as much moss off the bark as possible without damaging the bark texture, so it’s careful tweezers work. 

I’ve had a couple of branches held with guy wires for several months. New wire will go on today, so I am going to remove these first. If they are still needed, I can put them back on later. 

Then it’s really all about wiring the branches so I can position them and clean up the shape of the tree. I’d like to do this while removing as little foliage as possible. The tree is doing well, but I don’t want it to lose any strength for this. 

I wire the lowest branch first. 

And gradually work my way up developing horizontal pads of foliage. 

I find wiring and positioning the branches of the apex particularly difficult, but I was happy with the compact form I was able to achieve. 

Since my goal is to show this, I also want to moss the surface of the soil. Not all in my club think this is important, but I like the way it looks. 

For this Juniper, I went with a pale, bluish lichen and moss mix.  I think it looks nice. 

Ready for the money shot? First, here’s before…

…and after:

If you’d like to see it in person, come out to the Northern Virginia Bonsai Society (NVBS) fall show at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, September 16-17. 

A Benjamina

Tags

benjamina, Bonsai, ficus, pruning, styling, wire, wiring

Ficus Benjamina. Not always considered outstanding material for bonsai, but it is readily available and will survive indoors, so I suspect it is used as bonsai more than many species — even if by the inexperienced and curious. 

Mine is not dissimilar as this is a tree I have had since my early years in the art. By my records, I’ve had this plant for a solid 20 years. 

I’m going to skip any root pruning this year and see if I can get a fairly refined canopy before it has to go back inside for the cold months. So first, today, is defoliating. 

I’ve been warned that F. Benjamina can die back if you don’t leave a leaf at each growing tip, but that creates an odd challenge. You see, I like to see the tree structure when I prune, and I don’t know which leaf will be at the tip until all of the decisions are made. So, here’s hoping for a strong growth response. 

After removing the leaves I do some initial pruning. 

And then wire to get the branches back into position. 

I will have to watch the wire carefully. If I get the strong growth response I want, it will bite in quickly. 

A Young Redbud

Tags

Bonsai, branching, redbud, wire

I was struck when I took an initial look at this redbud today. As it is shown below, there is a tip toward the front at the apex and there are branches at textbook locations on the larger trunk: left, back, right, left, back, right. It was almost too good to be true, so I moved it to the bench and grabbed some wire to start this young tree on the path. 

Closer examination told a different story. This next picture shows the base (with some poorly applied wire) from the same front as above. Can you see how it curves under and back as it meets the soil?

On the other side, the base flares out toward the viewer giving a greater sense of age. For now, this will be my front. 

Branches were wired down and new growth pruned a bit to encourage some branching. Unfortunately, the tip at the apex, which now goes in the wrong direction, had to be removed leaving what’s left of the apex rather skimpy. 

This is a very young tree though. It has a long way to go, but this is a fair start. 

Kicking the Habit

Tags

Bonsai, ficus, repot, tropical, wire

I’m trying to quit tropicals. They were for me, and are for many, a great way into bonsai, but I just don’t have appropriate indoor space for very many tropicals to overwinter. 

Trying to quit really means I am just trying not to get any more. I have seven ficus (of a few different varieties) and don’t want more than that. This also means resisting the urge to root any large cuttings. Because ficus are so easy to propagate, this is sometimes challenging to resist. 

Ok, I’ve said my piece, now let me get onto today’s tree. 

I started this tree from a cutting all the way back in the beginning of my bonsai journey, over 20 years ago. It’s been on that rock for years, and I just put into this new pot which fits it much better than the oversized blue pot it has been in. 

Now for some wire. 

I look forward to when the weather is warmer and I can put this outside to enjoy our summer humidity.