Jan 5 2016

Esprit Bonsai – My 15 minutes of Fame

Good coverage of Bonsai Europa, and great trees from across the ditch.

bonsai eejit's avatarBonsai Eejit

I love this magazine and not just because they published a photo of my Escallonia in issue #79  It’s a great addition to what’s available in the current market.

Anyway, did I mention that they published a photo of my tree 🙂 In case you missed it, see below. Not just my tree, but also another tree from here in Northern Ireland, my good friend Stephen’s Raft Japanese Maple. These where both exhibited at Bonsai Europa back in October (was it that long ago!) What I liked about the article was that they highlighted what Europa had that was different that other European Exhibitions, namely more deciduous bonsai. I’ll be honest, that’s probably the only reason my tree was featured in the article when so many other top quality trees were available. However it was a very pleasant surprise to turn the page and see my own tree, a first for…

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Jan 4 2016

Improving the success rate of Yamadori

I have been using this technique now for over ten years and I have finally decided to share what I have learned. The technique is known as ‘sweating’ and is used extensively in arboretorial circles. I use for the following species: Cratageus, Prunus, and most of the Rosaceae family, do not use on evergreen species.

I collect trees with as much root as possible, but I have put roots on trees that have not had any.

Follow this procedure and your success rate in establishing your freshly collected yamadori will improve immeasurably.

  1. Collect as much root as possible
  2. Clear as much mountain soil but do not wash the roots
  3. Use the soil mix as shown below
  4. Clean cut the major roots as close to the trunk without spoiling the nebari
  5. Place the tree in the smallest container possible
  6. Ensure that the tree is well packed in the container
  7. Wire the tree securely in the pot
  8. Make sure that the cut branches are clean and NOT SEALED
  9. Saturate the soil
  10. Pile fresh sphagnum moss on the surface of the container
  11. Wrap the whole tree in a VERY large black plastic bag
  12. Place in a sunny position as the tree MUST GET HOT
  13. Humidity in the bag must be high at all times, mist spray daily
  14. After two or three weeks new buds will appear particularly around the cuts
  15. Ensure that they do not touch the sides of the bag.
  16. When the new shoots reach 5cm or 2” remove from the bag and protect from cold and wind, mist spray daily and keep out of direct sunlight.
  17. Keep watch for the new shoots hardening off, then you can feed with a very diluted solution; do not work the tree for the first 12 months.

Good luck, please do not copy these photos or the text, and share the link freely.

Jan 4 2016

5th US National Bonsai Exhibition

I will be demoing at this amazing event in September, I hope to meet all you guys over the pond.

William N. Valavanis's avatarValavanis Bonsai Blog

2016 NATIONAL LOGO 2

Plans have now been completed for our exciting 2016 5th US National Bonsai Exhibition which will be in the same spacious and well lighted venue on September 10-11, 2016. The Exhibition was composed of 175 displays including 48 shohin bonsai compositions of 120 individual trees. The total number of bonsai displayed was 320 representing 107 artists from 27 states and two provinces of Canada.

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All information is now available in our new beautiful web site which was created by Vicki Chamberlain at:   www.usnationalbonsai.com   The web site will be upgraded when necessary and the date of the latest edition is on the bottom of the home page.

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In addition to the web site a large flyer, which folds out to a poster, is now at the printer and will be available in a couple of weeks. Let me know if you would like one. Additional copies are available for…

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Nov 17 2015

First Styling of the BIG Yew including Time Lapse Video

This is the first styling of the BIG Yew Bonsai, I have waited three years since the tree was potted into this pot, it was VERY healthy so now perfect for the work involved. There are no short cuts when it comes to creating a Yew Bonsai from raw yamadori stock, its a long process of structure, branch creation fine branches and foliage. I guess from mountain to Exhibition this will take 20 years, its already been 8 years since this tree came from the mountain, you can read earlier blog posts where I cut the tree in half, and Potting the tree for the first time