The perfect (heat)wave

Wow, UK summer is well and truly here and it certainly makes growing bonsai easy.

 They are loving the sunlight, loving the warmth, growing like mad, making new buds and generally replacing lost energy from a few poorer than average years we've had recently. It has been interesting observing that the healthy balanced trees are responding just like this and are in such good condition - no scorching, no burning, no withering and this is down to healthy roots, balanced feeding and proper watering - basically saying it like that I realise it is down to horticulture rather than bonsai-culture that sees our trees thrive in weather like this. Likewise if there are trees crisping up, losing branches or even dying in the heat it is down to poor care leading up to weather like this and the biggest culprit for this has to be bad repotting techique followed by lack of understanding leading to over watering. Once you tick all the boxes and get the soil mix and horticultural bit right the trees will be doing well with one single watering per day, early evening is my choice, and even the growing stock of shohin sized trees we have here are treated the same

Placement is equally important - you must know your garden and display area inside out so you can place the right trees in the correct places - not everything needs shade netting over it but some trees certainly do - we shade directly overhead but allow free air movement right through the trees from all sides.
Currently there are 5 seperate areas - 2 are shaded with netting, 1 gets shade from the house from lunchtime onwards and 2 areas get full sun virtually all day.

In full sun I have hinokis, the big chinese elm, black pine, zelkova, pyracantha, a couple of palmatums and junipers that have not been repotted or bent in a major way. Under the netted areas there are taxus, tridents, crenata beech, deshojo, all repotted trees and all newly worked material.

I just walked around some of the deciduous bonsai trees in the garden and took a quick picture of the leaves as they are tonight

Acer Palmatum - Deshojo

Crenata - Japanese white beech

Korean Hornbeam

Trident maple - large tree

Acer Palmatum - Kiyohime

All these bonsai are in various locations in the garden - one is in the greenhouse still, some are on the benches and some sat on the gravel fully exposed in the new sales area but they are all equally happy. 

Bonsai is about planning ahead I guess, and it is usually too late when something looks or goes wrong ! Our trees can get through normal years without dying, even if they are weakened by ongoing poor horticultural practices. While striving for small leaves, small needles, tiny buds and then giving yourself a pat on the back when you get them spare a thought to why the growth is so stunted - is the tree weak and semi starved ? if so it will  probably die sometime in the future during a period of extreme stress - be it  excess winter cold, heat wave or cold wet everlasting springs. In contrast by making a super strong healthy tree with perfect horticultual skills you can easily achieve the small leaves, short internodes and tidy needles with correct bonsai methods.

Native Hornbeam

SOIL

I had a few years trying to reinvent the wheel looking back when it came to soils - adding a load of completely unnecessary components like bark, fired clay balls, shredded moss....all looked good, sounded perfect, but looking back I couldn't say what actual benefit each item was making. While getting too side tracked by soil components I was missing the important part - particle size and stability - and it was with a thankful bump I returned to terra firma following a few days repotting trees with Peter Warren. 

Being really honest I don't think i've sieved so much before in 24 years as I have this spring - and like all good things what you actually need is simple - a slightly larger particle on the bottom for better aeration and then a smaller but even sized particle for the rest - I use akadama, kiryu and pumice with more akadama for water lovers and less for 'dry' trees - that is it - boring, non fancy, but totally effective. Sieve size 2 (from the 3 you get in the set - what sits on top is aeration layer, what goes through ends up in a bucket.....add the finest sieve and what goes through is not needed for bonsai and what sits on top is the main planting soil - bonsai basics chapter 1 ticked

This is a much finer mix than popular currently but it is perfect - it firms down well, drains of course but does not go bone dry in the blink of an eye. The real problem i was having with the black fired clay / bark / etc was its tendency for the surface to shift about while watering - and if the soil moves roots will not grow in that area, so that layer of soil is a total waste for the tree - the bonsai pot is small enough as it is so we need to make ever part of it help the tree in some way. 

Pomegranite

Linked to repotting has to be root pruning - It is only once every few years we get the chance to improve the roots by removing strong woody ones and cutting back long ones - the finer and more compact the roots become the better they will work for the tree - root efficiency will maintain foliage quality while poor roots always lead to weak branches, die off and even total tree death. I think as much care needs taking with the parts of the tree out of sight as is taken with the top bit - this has been the second step in understanding real bonsai better - loads of people can make the top bits look 'wow' but it is a much smaller number that can keep 100% of the trees healthy, thriving and styled 

NUTRITION

There are countless feeds, potions, methods and recommendations available to bonsai growers and I'm not the sort of person to run down or belittle one brand in favour of another - My advice is believe your eyes not hype and again it comes right back to visible plant health. At times we hear of very nice trees dying off in times of hard weather conditions - if they were healthy and properly looked after they would not die - there are trees trusted to naturally gifted growers across the world that have lived decades or even centuries in a pot - then there are trees that change hands or get over shown, over fiddled with etc and they decline rapidly.........

All my trees are fed the same way with the natural pellets that were first made in my factory 4 years ago. Now we are in the fine tuning stages before general release and the trees are certainly responding by giving balanced steady growth, great colour and incredible vitality - most importantly it is healthy growth and not weak sappy shoots that will wilt in the high temperatures - if the fertiliser is unbalanced you can get incorrect growth patterns and these are made even worse by poor watering. Whatever feed you choose replace it (or apply it) when needed and if you are not happy with visible results change!! remember though it may be a good fertiliser you tried that did not suit your way of growing 

Native Beech - 95% ok, this one has been in full sun all day on the exposed gravel area

WATER

Does anything panic a bonsai grower more in hot weather ?? the fear the trees will die by morning if not drenched until water is pouring from the drainage holes...we have all been there I'm sure. With age and experience comes confidence I guess - falling back to observation of our trees individually you can soon see if they need water - roots need air, we all know that - if the soil is always wet or worse still waterlogged there is less oxygen - roots hate this.......a tree in a rest period needs less water than one actively growing - our trees grow in spurts then slow - so water is actually needed more by active trees than resting ones - the only way to know which trees are resting is to look at them daily and understand what you see

Over watering can lead to sappy long extension growth and weak 'soft' foliage rather than properly hardened off leathery leaves  -the soft leaves scorch when the soil dries out and the sappy growth wilts and dies back so once you get into the habit of over watering you have to continue of the tree will show damage. 

Have an experiment with a spare tree - see how long it takes to wilt - only then will you know how long trees can go. Many trees thrive without daily drenching and will be better for it - over watering does nothing more than make a rod for your own back  - creating a catch 22 

Trident maple shohin

If you hear trees are struggling or dying off elseware in this weather it is because the horticultural methods used in previous months or years have been basically wrong - the warmth and sunlight is our trees friend but the basics had to be right long before to enable them to thrive in it.

to keep the trend going;

for the entire Uk

Here comes the sun

for the overwaters

Drowning Pool  - feel like i do!

oh yeah baby ;-)

and for all the ravers

We Plants are happy plants

put your hands in the aaairrrrrrrrr

when Yew see the tree hiding within

just a quick post of this afternoons work.

This chunky European Yew came in to our collection as part of a trade  - two trees out and two trees in. It caught my eye  for the powerfull trunk, really healthy strong foliage and striking dead wood.

When i first saw the picture of the tree I instantly tilted the computer to put the trunk a bit more upright as this design was very bold and striking but lacked the stability and power a tree like this could have, and the foliage had no connection to the soil as the living section of trunk is barely visible. With just a slight turn, a repot and a gentle wiring to re-position the main branches I hoped to create the image that jumped out at me from the start, and after describing the potential of the finished tree to a friend he gave me the go ahead to style the tree on his behalf.

An hour or two later the tree has a new potting angle without removing any roots, a series of guy wires have dropped each main branch and a light scissor pruning of the new foliage has given the first shape to the design. no fine wires have been used as the summer growth is tender  - any fine wiring needed will be left until winter when the growth has hardened off.

the final pic is the picture from above with a little bit of photoshop showing where I would allow the growth to fill in over the next few years - the powerful trunk needs a bit more foliage to balance it, hence the bottom branch remaining unpruned at this stage when the first styling was done

a really pleasing days work on a tree with a great future - a lovely unglazed red brown soft rectangle would finish this off perfectly

a day in the life...............

It was a mild drizzly evening, the trees are all very healthy this year, loving the weather we are getting here and looking great after a day being rained on so i took a few random shots - hope you enjoy some 'real' pics taken as the trees sit in their every day positions, no backdrops, just the way they look every day

big white pine dwarfing my 30" tall hinoki that is looking great after a week in the NEC arena - definitely greener than when it went in.  The pine is one of our fertiliser test trees having come in a bit ignored but it has already gone from pale yelllow green to a happier green now. NFS for a good few years as the energy needs directing to the lower branches and I want to return the tree to tip top strength then style it into a potential stunner. timescale.............7-8 years minimum, probably 10 years until the wires off

Buddlia, pot 26", big tree - base 20", an unusual bonsai subject but they respond well, flower, bud back easily and have great potential - there was a stunner at the Bristol show 2 years ago and this tree is now going to a really talented bonsai artist who will make something very impressive from the material I know. 

5 tree Crenata White Beech group in a Walsall Ceramics large oval pot - unusually the trees are leafing out at different rates this year so we have hardened foliage, brand new paler leaves and new opening buds.

This is an important stage in crenata development - letting it grow out for a while so the tree gains strength before cutting back extension growth to 2 new buds (formed at the base of the leaves). If the canopy is still too dense the outer leaves are cut in half to let more light into the inner tree - this strengthens the weak inner shoots  so they don't die off. (this one is off to a new owner now)

Hinoki Cypress -  this is a lovely tree  that was shown at the Noelanders 2013 show. The tree was delivered back to Willowbog nursery after the show so Ryan Neil gave me a hands on lesson in thinning and styling Hinoki - this was priceless as real proven technique with these is very hard to come by and Ryan had the best teacher there is on the species while he apprenticed with M. Kimura. The tree was shown 'dense and lush' but now we have re-positioned the main branches and thinned the entire tree it looks so much older - the foliage matches the trunk image which completes the tree far better than before.

Juniper communis from the Italian Alps - I repotted to a new angle last winter and have started cutting back the leggy branches - the tree is back budding ok but this will be another 10 year project I think to make the image I want from the material.

fingers crossed it likes me and doesn't die like many common junipers seem to do for others  - patience is going to be the key - and environmental stability - not moving the tree here, there and everywhere

The slanting driftwood juniper looking relaxed and healthy - bottom branch is at the wrong angle but the tree has no shows planned for a few years so it can stay put as it is getting lots of light strengthening the inner growth. The crown is now compressed down probably 8" on what it was originally and the tree is filling out fantastically with new healthy foliage.

juniper Rigida - tosho, or needle juniper.

Looking brilliant, super healthy and no signs of distress from the major wiring and restyling job done last year. Now the tree is at the free growth stage - as the extending shoots slow down they will be scissor cut back - this triggers lots of new buds but the tree has gained strength before pruning - if you pinch these as the buds form the tree weakens and branches die off - feed well, water well, let grow, scissor prune, let new buds grow again, scissor prune again, finally let 3rd flush grow as it will be September....I think this regime makes rigida another simple tree to keep and not one to be worried about, just don't treat them like chinensis and don't follow the old book methods of pinch, pinch, pinch again

Mixed rock planting from my demo last week - sitting under the shade net area to recover but this is another one that sat at the NEC for most of the week and looks perfectly healthy

Scotts Pine in perfect health - needle lengh and candle size is even over the whole tree now - pads are fine wired. I treated the top of the tree like a black pine last year and cut off the whole candle, the inner and lower tree was candle pinched to shorten them. This year the growth was very even so all candles have been pinched to the same length.

Pretty in pink - I keep this one outside all year, let it get cold and let it get rained on - this shortens the time the flowers remain on the tree which is a good thing as the trees are weakened by such heavy flowering displays but every other year I let it show off. 

Pyracantha just coming into flower so all fertiliser is removed at this time of year

Large Trident on its second flush of leaves - defoliated fully this year, this started the back budding we need to rebuild the branch structure. This tree will get better and better now it is repotted and budding well - the trunk has excellent taper.

That's about half the larger trees here, we'll do a similar post with the rest soon

Best of British - set up day

A busy day was in store for everyone involved with the set up of the show today. We were issued car passes that got the cars and vans right to the door that was adjacent to the bonsai event and all I had to do was collect an access all areas pass and the tree id tags - the trolley arrived at my car and bingo the trees are parked right next to the show bench a few moments later.

Walking into the main building the first thing that hits you is the size - it is massive, and yesterday was a hive of activity in every direction. A few familiar faces were tending trees, helping others and on hand to assist where needed which was really good and the general buzz of excitement and pride was easy to pick up - BBC Gardeners World Live, The BBC Good Food show and the Best of British Bonsai 2013 all under one roof - 40,000 people due to attend and Saturday tickets were sold out early last week. I can't think of a UK event that has introduced this number of show quality bonsai to so many people before, and usually there is a knock on of raised interest  following high profile events which is the true reason to do them.

I'm not going to upload individual pictures of every tree as it seems a shame to do a spoiler before the event - others will document all the trees and accents once the show opens I'm sure but here are some over view shots and my trees. I think there are about 60 trees and shohin displays  - 4 long runs, large trees on each end and a 5th run was being built as I left.

The hinoki has been substancially thinned since winter and it looks even more like an convincing old tree and less like young bush foliage on an old trunk now. Special thanks to friends for having a suitable stand very much at the last minute !

The RHS run this event and the entire stand is being judged as one single display. Everyone involved has lent their trees in effect to the Federation to make a collective general entry - just like putting together a show garden. This was also apparent in the way people were all pulling together to get the whole stand looking perfect -on Tuesday the judges are not singling out individual trees in the same way they would if each person was entering their own trees in the RHS bonsai category - that is a totally different thing all together. It was very refreshing to see the collective friendly side of our hobby yesterday - the BOB stands wins or loses as one and we all felt it was certainly GOLD standard.

My accents were all in Gordon Hunt pots - oops only took 2 pictures - iris and something out of the garden with little flowers !

Home now, busy 3 days here then back to the NEC for Friday, Saturday, Sunday............

Best of British 2013

The biggest British bonsai show is on and the date is fast approaching

BEST OF BRITISH

I'm extremely proud to have 3 trees selected for the main show and even more excited to be the demonstrator for the Friday. 

In the main demo area near the bonsai exhibition I'll be working for the full day on hopefully a piece of work that will appeal to the audience of mostly gardeners and general public. I managed to get a fantastic piece of Japanese rock with this years import shipment and this will be used to create a mixed planting 'scene' using some mature Itiogawa Junipers, Dwarf Birch, Satsuki Azalea, plus other fitting plants

Demo will be running from 10am until its finished - between 4pm and 6pm I guess

Hope to see a few friends and familiar faces there - this is the largest, most high profile British Bonsai Show that has ever been held so I'm very proud and happy to be part of it.

Cornwall Bonsai Society & the National Trust

This weekend my local club organised their annual show at the National Trust property Trelissick Gardens near Truro. This was actually the 10th consecutive year of the show and we set up as usual in the stable block (no horses in residence).

A very sunny weekend saw a constant stream of people coming in to see the trees and chat and it was brilliant that the bonsai display was free to see as we were on the car park side of the pay desk. Here are just a few of the many trees and accents - I think there were over 100 in total and something to interest everyone for sure

 Scotts Pine in the archway to greet the public as they came through the door.

A very nice Quince showing the new growth before a prune back later in the season

Variegated Serrisa broom style - about 5" high and beautifully delicate

A stand back view of one of the stable blocks 

                                                                     miniature Berberis in full bloom

Lovely little accent - if the right person reads the blog they can tell me the species via a comment

Large Hawthorn raft - it looks like 2 trees but they are most definitely connected

Zelkova - Japanese grey barked Elm, broom style

Mixed planting that has been together a few years now and has taken on a very natural appearance

Pencil in 2014 as a diary date as we are moving to the main house orangery so a few more of the big guns may come out to make an appearance !

Great weekend and really good to spend some time sharing the hobby with the public.

Masahiko Kimura comes to Cornwall.......or at least a tree from his nursery does

This little stunner was bought from the nursery of Mr Kimura last year and has now cleared QT in the UK and has become one of the high quality trees available from my Bonsai@16 outlet. Today we cleaned the bark with an electric toothbrush and clean water, trimmed back the extension growth in the stronger parts of the tree and moved the tree outside to a sheltered part of the garden to acclimatise it. The change in conditions a newly imported tree has to go through is an important and often ignored part of our bonsai hobby so sometimes a little effort and understanding is needed to help a tree settle in. The tree has lived all its life in the climate and latitude / longitude of Japan, then it spends several weeks in a container on a ship before being unloaded into a wintery United Kingdom. There they are tucked up nice and safe in tunnels until all the paperwork and inspections are complete then this one was moved from one of the coldest parts of our country to one of the mildest - no wonder a tree can be unsettled.

It depends on the species how they cope, and it depends on what work needs doing  - I am very cautious of major styling on newly imported trees and have reserved most of the bigger projects to trees that have been in the country for a few years at least- It is very common that newly arrived trees are in desperate need of repotting but i feel doing this the same year as import is unwise unless the tree is in risk of deteriorating.

I brushed off the moss and watered the tree until the water pooled so I could watch  and was pleased to see the water seep into the pot. Checking underneath there are roots visible in the drain holes so repotting in spring 1014 will be planned. Until then pruning will consist of taking extension growth back to 2 or 3 leaves depending on the direction wanted for the new shoot and if need be a defoliation of the outer tree to let light into the inner tree. This actual variety seems very user friendly - the leaves are very small and are tinged with a deep red colour - I think we will get good Autumn colour from this tree as it often follows on from nice spring colour. It will be interesting to see if the leaves stay small - I think they will as the Zelkovas with much bigger leaves are also a very pale green so are probably a different variety of the same species.

I have 3 smaller Zelkovas from Taisho - en here too - pics to follow, and a whole selection of other species too. Talking of Taisho en we have a very showable tree from there as well - pictures tomorrow though as it's dark now