Redwood Empire Bonsai Society – 27th Annual Show
Redwood Empire Bonsai Society – 27th Annual Show
The Redwood Empire Bonsai Society held their 27th annual show this past weekend in Santa Rosa, California. As always, the large show drew large crowds. Kathy Shaner’s demonstrations highlighted each day’s events, and the club’s large vendor area kept visitors engaged.
A number of new trees made it into the exhibit this year, and particular attention was paid to the display of accent plants – more on that in an upcoming post.
Here is a sampling of the trees that were on display.
Coast redwood
White pine
Japanese maple
Ginkgo
Shimpaku
Pomegranate
Trident maple
Trident maple
Pyracantha
Cork oak
Hawthorne
Pine
White pine
Sonare
Crape myrtle
Japanese black pine
Trident maple
Crape myrtle
Shimpaku
Japanese maple
Trident maple
Coast redwood
Summer Soji
Summer is not the most interesting time of year in the bonsai calendar. The trees rarely look their best, and it’s too hot for them to grow much. They do, however, require a lot of water this time of year.
We essentially had our entire summer last week – 4 days over 90° F – and now it’s back to the more typically mild Bay Area weather. The hottest day reached almost 100° F – enough to stress any tree that’s not properly watered. When looking around my garden, I took note of a handful of trees that weren’t getting the water they needed. The solution – soji.
Bonsai apprentices in Japan hear a lot of this term. It refers to cleaning, commonly either the workshop or the surface of the soil. As organic fertilizer and akadama break down, the top layer of bonsai soil can become hard and prevent good drainage. By removing this layer of soil, we can greatly improve the drainage. And good drainage means we can keep trees happy when it gets hot.
Weeds are especially bad for bonsai. In addition to clogging the soil, they take up available water and leave less for the tree. They can also harbor insects. And if they are left to go to seed, you can look forward to never-ending weeding.
Too many weeds – time for soji!
One nice thing about working with such a thick carpet of weeds – they come up in tidy clumps.
Removing a clump of weeds
Beneath the weeds, I found some moss growing on the trunk.
Moss growing on the trunk
There are a number of different kinds of moss. I think of them as falling into two categories when it comes to bonsai – good moss and bad moss. Bad moss grows up the trunk and can ruin bark over time.
Bad moss
Good moss creeps along the surface of the soil but doesn’t typically travel up the trunk. It’s the kind of moss we use for bonsai exhibits.
Good moss
I found some bad moss on these pines – I removed it with bent-nose tweezers.
Removing bad moss
Bad moss removed
The most important part of soji is removing the top layer of bonsai soil. I use bent-nose tweezers and work away from the trunk. After removing the soil, a number of roots are left exposed. These can be removed with root scissors.
Roots exposed after removing soil
After trimming the exposed roots
Knowing that these trees hadn’t been repotted in a while and that the drainage was poor, I created a few holes in the rootball with a chopstick. This will help water get to the center of the rootball and help keep the tree healthy until repotting time.
Using a chopstick to improve drainage
The final step before watering is replacing the old soil with fresh soil. Even if the soil below is hard, dry, and compact, the fresh, top layer allows water to pass through to where it can slowly work its way into the old soil below.
Adding fresh bonsai soil
Tidying up the new soil with a small broom
Of course, I also took some time to consider the trees themselves after finishing the soji. These trees had a number of old needles. I removed these to expose the interior buds to more light and air.
Tree with old needles
After removing old needles
Happy trees
And after a week’s worth of clean up, I now only have a few more to go.
6 year-old Japanese black pines
Once I’m done, it’s back to watering and fertilizing until fall – when the real pine work begins.
Hinoki workshop
Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a Bay Island Bonsai workshop run by Daisaku Nomoto. I selected a tree I’ve been working on for the past 15 years – a hinoki. The tree improves every year, but slowly, as hinokis are notoriously slow growing. A year and a half ago, Boon and I performed some heavy bending to get the main branches closer to where we wanted them. This year the work really paid off. Here are some before and after pictures:
Front – before |
Front – after |
Right – before |
Right – after |
Left side – before |
Left side – after |
Back – before |
Back – after |
The biggest change came when Nomoto removed the first cluster of branches on the left. We discussed this ahead of the workshop and I assented to the cutting. Here’s the branch as it appeared before the workshop with guy wires holding it in place.
Before – guy-wires are doing most of the work
There were two good reasons for removing these branches. First, they blocked the view of the trunk. Second, by replacing branches that grew low on the trunk with branches that emerged higher up, we could bend these branches at a steeper angle. The idea is that older branches tend to hang lower than younger branches.
Removing the branches – stubs will be used for jins
Nomoto removed enough foliage to make a hinoki fan.
Minor cutback and wiring filled the rest of the day. Nomoto moved between workshop participants, cutting, wiring, and offering advice as appropriate. When he got back to me, he typically set a few branches and told me to continue wiring.
Nomoto setting a branch – note use of pliers
Nomoto applying wire
I occasionally looked up from my work to see what else was going on in the workshop. At one point, Nomoto was performing heavy bending with rebar. With a branch in one hand and pliers in another, he kept the rebar in place with his knee.
Heavy bending – prostrata juniper
Fortunately for me, the hinoki needed far less dramatic work, like the plucking of unnecessary foliage.
After setting a branch, Nomoto took care to remove any downward growing foliage. This creates well-defined pads and reveals the age of the tree by exposing the branches that comprise the pads.
Hinoki branch pad
As is often the case in re-stylings, the trick is getting the apex right. While the current silhouette is close to where I want it, some shoots weren’t long enough to fill in where I need them. It’s easy to see this from above.
Seen from above – after re-styling
I’m really happy with the way the tree turned out. For one, it finally approximates the design I had in mind for it 15 years ago. Even better, I now have a tree I can show in Bay Island Bonsai’s upcoming exhibit next January.
Happy with the results – excess foliage cover the turntable
Now 15 years in, I feel like I’m half-way there, and it’s a great feeling.
Daisaku Nomoto – bonsai work
Daisaku Nomoto has been busy during his brief summer visit to the Bay Area. Here are some of the trees he’s been working on, beginning with an old prostrata juniper.
Prostrata juniper – before
Prostrata juniper – after
Although I’m familiar with his work, Nomoto continues to surprise me. One of the greatest talents bonsai artists develop is their ability to see what a tree can become. Keeping trees healthy is rarely straightforward, and bonsai techniques can range from non-intuitive to incomprehensible. It’s the artistic vision, however, that I most appreciate.
Shimpaku – before
Shimpaku – after
The work always begins with an evaluation, and often an adjustment, of the front of the tree. From there cutback, wiring and styling follow. One would think that getting the tree in the pot at a satisfactory angle is easy until one notices how much Nomoto’s adjustments improve the line of the trunk and the balance of the tree.
Sometimes the trees get entirely new fronts. The photo of the juniper below is shown from the tree’s original front. To make better use of the shari along the trunk, Nomoto suggested using the other side as the front.
The tree’s orignal front after styling – now the back of the tree
Nomoto describing the benefits of the new front
Turning the tree around and tilting it forward made a striking improvement – I’m hoping to see it displayed at an upcoming exhibit. Here it is from the new front.
Shimpaku – new front after styling
The Sierra juniper below is quickly developing into a great tree. As Nomoto noted at last week’s Bay Island Bonsai meeting, planting the pot an inch or two deeper in the pot will reduce the reverse taper and make the tree appear more powerful.
Sierra juniper – before
Sierra juniper – after
Before letting me take any of these photos, Nomoto was adamant about getting the angle right. After snapping a shot of the shimpaku below, I showed the photo to Nomoto. Wasn’t good enough. Several adjustments and several photos later and he was finally happy.
Finding the front
Shimpaku juniper – after styling
Nomoto suggested shortening the jin on the right side of the tree. We’ll see if the tree’s owner agrees. You can see a shot of the tree before the styling at the end of last week’s post, Daisaku Nomoto bonsai critique. This post, as it happens, was featured last week by WordPress.com – the service I use to host Bonsai Tonight. It sent approximately 4,000 new visitors to the site, giving Nomoto a bit more exposure than he’s used to. He replied to this news with a grin: “Maybe 4,000 new customer?”
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