News

April 2024 Newsletter

PO Box 2682, Olympia WA 98507-2682

www.olympiabonsai.org *** https://www.facebook.com/OlympiaBonsaiClub/

APRIL MEETING, April 11 – LEE CHEATLE

For our April 11 meeting, we will host Lee Cheatle from the Bonsai Society of Portland (BSOP).  Lee has been passionately doing bonsai since 1994 and will tell you that he was “born to teach.” He was the BSOP President for four years and the VP for Programs for four years. In 2012 he was instrumental in creating the Mentorship 101 program and he continues to chair BSOP’s exceptional Mentorship program. For several years now, he has been a proponent of the new “American” style bonsai, a movement which is taking hold in our country. 


For a teaser, here’s a Youtube video of an interview with Lee done in 2021.  You’ll probably want to skip the preliminaries and go directly to his interview starting at 3:15 minutes and the tour of his garden starting at 6 minutes.


(Reminder, the Lacey Senior Center also requests that club members don’t arrive too early, so that there is time for previous users of the room to leave the premises.  Thank you everyone.)

APRIL WORKSHOP, April 20

Spring is here!  Bring your trees to the North Olympia Fire Station at 5046 Boston Harbor Rd NE and we’ll work on them together.  Last week, Joe and Tom were there to assist.  

Matt C is our new workshop coordinator, so please contact him by email or by phone at 360-480-0420 if you want to help with opening and closing.  Or would like to conduct a skills workshop.

Lacey Cultural Celebration

Thanks to Darrell A, we had a very successful display at the Lacey Cultural Celebration in March. Also thanks to all those who helped out during the day and also those who brought bonsai trees to display.  Volunteers were Matt C, Alex W, Kent R, Rick C, Corey M, Joe K, Dennis B, Jack W, Tom B and Darrell A.

We had lots of interest in bonsai and, hopefully, we’ll pick up some new members. We had club flyers that interested people picked up, giving out over 30 flyers.

Upcoming Events

The Beginners Workshop is a fantastic chance to get introduced to many of the facets of making Bonsai. Two slots are left for the class of 10 participants; email OlympiaBonsaiClub@gmail.com if you are interested. . Participants will enjoy 3 evenings of instruction and hands-on work, and leave the class with a styled, potted juniper bonsai of their own.  Details:

The 5th annual Bonsai Fest at the Puget Sound Bonsai Museum is scheduled for May 11 and 12.  Coinciding with Bonsai Fest, the museum offers a new special exhibition for your kids and grandkids, Small Talk.  The exhibition combines 41 living bonsai trees with anime-inspired illustrations of bonsai, emojis, and text-like exchanges, bridging the gap between textbook STEM education and real-world fun. Small Talk will run through early November.

The mystery of fertilizing and other thoughts, Joe K 

Before getting into the newsletter topic, it’s important to acknowledge the volunteers that keep this club going.  This month I would like to do a shout out to Daryll A and the other members who took the time to put their trees on display for the Cultural Celebration at St Martins.  I would also like to acknowledge Jonathon for donating 10 mature English Boxwoods to the club, which will probably be for a workshop down the road.  

When I first got into this hobby some 30+ years ago it was not difficult to find what we called stock to work on and develop into a Bonsai. At the time, it seemed to take about 5 years from the time one started working on the tree to when you could reasonably say you had a Bonsai and the reason for that was because most of the stock we found was immature and not well structured.  It seemed that everyone had an inspiration tree which was much more developed.  I had a couple and after a few years I made the mistake of parting with them which I now regret, but I did manage to keep several of those trees that I started from 1-gallon containers, or I gathered from my yard and now they are my inspiration and I am sure that when the time comes and I have to part with my trees it's going to be difficult to see them go. So, my message to all of you that are in this hobby treasure what you have and keep them thriving. 

By now most of the repotting should be over for most, if not all, of your deciduous trees, a good percentage of your conifers and all that should remain is your junipers and azaleas.  I read an interesting article written by a professional from the Bay Area who said he actually repots year around but that he does not root prune when repotting out of the normal repotting season.  I thought about that, and it dawned on me that we do the same thing here, but we call it slip potting. I do this at least 3 to 4 times a year and it's the simple process of removing the plant from one container and placing it into another container (usually into a larger container) for the health of the plant.  I usually leave that plant in the new container for several years depending on what is going on with the tree. 

One of the mysteries that we all seem to face year after year is when to fertilize and with what?  There are so many different ways to answer those questions and there is no singular, simple answer.  I can only pass on to you what I do and what the professionals I have asked have told me.  For deciduous trees that are juvenile, and you are trying to build structure, or you are trying to get a flush of growth then you should start fertilizing with a balanced fertilizer (I like organic) from now until late fall.  If the deciduous tree has reached maturity, then you do not want to start until the tree leaves have hardened off (usually this occurs late May early June). then you start the regime of fertilizing till late fall.

If you are working with pines, you can start fertilizing the double flush pines (Black Pine and Red Pine) now and continue until about 30 days to decandling (for me that is 1 May) and refrain from fertilizing them again until late August or early September and continue till the first hard frost.  For single flush pines I do not start fertilizing them until after I pinch the candles and they have hardened off which usually is again late May or early June and then continue until the first hard frost in the fall. 

With that being said if pines are juvenile and you are trying to get rapid growth and promote more branching by all means fertilize from early spring to late fall.  I have found that in most cases it's better to over fertilize than to under fertilize.

For other plants such as junipers, cypress and other varieties I will start fertilizing in mid-April and every 2 weeks thereafter until late fall when we get a good hard freeze. I define a hard freeze as when the temp drops to the low to mid 20s, and the trees start dropping their leaves (not the frosts we get in early October).

On another note, I got a call from a member last week who said that he was already air layering.  I told him that was a big mistake.  The proper time to air layer varies from species to species, but most air layering is done just before or shortly after the tree's foliage hardens off.  So, I discourage anyone who is trying to air layer at this time. 

Have a great spring everyone!

LAVA/SOIL/PUMICE ORDER

Running low on ingredients to repot your trees? The club now offers not only lava rock but pre-sifted pumice and bags of pre-mixed soil. Please contact Kent R. and make arrangements to pick it up directly from him (971-236-3641 or warlordkentax@gmail.com.) 

PLEASE RETURN YOUR EMPTIED LAVA BAGS TO KENT FOR RE-USE

2024 CALENDAR OF EVENTS


April Meeting

4/11 7PM @ Lacey Senior Center 


April  Workshop

4/20 10 AM - 2PM  @  North Olympia Fire Station


May Meeting 

5/9 7PM @ Lacey Senior Center 


May Workshop

5/18 10 AM - 2PM  @  North Olympia Fire Station


June Meeting

6/13 7PM @ Lacey Senior Center 


June Workshop

6/22 10 AM - 2PM  @  North Olympia Fire Station


July Meeting - Club Auction!

7/11 7PM @ Lacey Senior Center


July Workshop

7/20 10 AM - 2PM  @  North Olympia Fire Station


August 2024

No meeting or workshop


September Meeting

9/12 7PM @ Lacey Senior Center 


September Workshop

9/21 10 AM - 2PM  @  North Olympia Fire Station


October Meeting

10/10 7PM @ Lacey Senior Center 


October Workshop

10/19 10 AM - 2PM  @  North Olympia Fire Station


November Meeting

11/14 7PM @ Lacey Senior Center 


November Workshop

11/23 10 AM - 2PM  @  North Olympia Fire Station


December 2024

No meeting or workshop



Officers

President - Sam L.                 

Vice President - Darrell A.

Secretary - Kent R.

Treasurer - Eduardo M.


Workshop Volunteer Coordinator

Gerry O.


Past President 

Gerry O.


Board of Directors

Cole N.

Matt C.


Librarian 

Volunteer Needed


Webmaster

Logan H.


Newsletter

Beth R.