April 2023 Newsletter

PO Box 2682, Olympia WA 98507-2682

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

April Meeting

On Thursday April 13th, we can look forward to another visit from Dave DeGroot who will be working with a Mugo pine.  Also known as a Swiss Mountain Pine, this pine is native to the mountains of Central Europe. It is a hardy tree that can tolerate temperatures to twenty degrees in the Northwest. It is a two needle pine with dark green firm upright needles that has several dwarf forms and can be used for all but broom style.  For anyone needing a reminder of how lucky we are to have Dave come to our meetings, a retrospective of Dave’s work can be seen here.

April Workshop

Coincidentally, this month's Saturday April 22nd workshop will also feature a Dwarf Mugo Pine.  Dan Bateson will be taking a Dwarf Mugo Pine and showing how to style it as well as showing some of his plants that are in the progress of becoming Bonsai.

Olympia Bonsai Club Website

The new website is up and running at olympiabonsai.org with a live calendar for the events/activities of our club and other events going on from clubs in the region.  We will soon have the Library back up and running on the website as well. 

Would you like to join a study group?

Ingred Hansen is interested in starting a Study Group with other club members.  This is a tremendous idea, so if you're interested you can contact her at (360) 556-3235.

OBC at Sukura-Con Seattle

Thanks to Kent R and Iris T, Olympia trees graced the Seattle skyline this weekend.

What to do in April, complements of Joe K

Cold weather and plenty of rain continues into our repotting season, but as they say, the show must go on.  By now you should have completed repotting most of your deciduous trees and most of your pines.  You still have some time left to repot junipers, cypress and azaleas. 

If you are thinking of rewiring plants, you are putting your plant in danger.  Right now all the auxins are flowing in your trees and the bark and cambium layer is the weakest and most susceptible to breaking or peeling.  Instead, it is a good time to be stripping bark off of trunks and branches to create jins and sharis.

As the spring season progresses the time will come when your maples, beeches and several other varieties of deciduous trees will begin to throw rapid growth to the ends and tips of the branches. This is when you must go out (sometimes daily) to pinch the center leaf out of the emerging cluster of leaves, to promote back budding as well as help prevent long internodes.  Everybody loves a compact leafy maple.  Maples with gangly branches and long internodes are not what you want. 

I spent some time the last couple of weeks talking to professionals as well as long time Bonsai enthusiasts about fertilization and types of fertilizer they used. Since I really didn't get approval to use their names directly I will simply call them Michael, Tom, Bill, David, Eric and Dan.  

All of them agree that Black Pines are in need of fertilization now. Then the disagreement starts. Several say that we should be fertilizing all pines and junipers lightly now to give the plants a boost (with that said if you fertilized diligently last fall your plants shouldn't need that boost). Deciduous trees that are just beginning their journey as a bonsai can be fed BUT if the tree is in a refinement stage you should hold off fertilizing the plant until the leaves harden off, usually in late May. Ponderosa, Lodge Pole, Mugo, White Pines and other pines are fed as their candles begin to elongate and have been pinched back (notice I said pinched back and not removed).  Japanese Black Pine and Red Pine are the only two double flushing pines that I know of.  Removing all the candles from the other pines will greatly hamper their looks and growth.

So what fertilizer do they use? Tom uses Fox Farm Liquid Grow Big (6-4-4) and Apex (17-17-17).  He hand waters with the Grow Big and places the Apex on the soil surface.  The Apex lasts for 6 to 9 months.  Bill uses Bio Gold (4-5-4), Liquid Grow Big (6-4-4) as well as several other Organics. Dan says it’s Miracle Grow all the way for him. David uses several organics all in the balanced range as well as Bio Gold.  Michael likes to use Osmocote Plus; it lasts from 3 to 6 months and is spread on the surface.  Eric likes to use a combination that changes throughout the growing season He likes Dr Earth Organic (5-5-5), Bio Gold original (4-5-4), Gro Power (12-10-10), as well as liquid seaweed, 

So you can see there are a lot of choices. If you have 75+ Bonsai to water and fertilize then Apex, Bio Gold or Osmocote may be the way to go.  Eric fills teabags with his organic fertilizer and toothpicks them onto the surface of his plants. Now I must say that some of these products can be expensive but worth the results. Hopefully as the growing year progresses I will offer more tidbits of information I have garnered from them.

Have you thought about the teaser from last month. When does a plant and pot combination become a Bonsai?  The answer:  It depends on who you ask, the owner or the viewer.  And I'll leave it at that.

This month’s question to ponder.  When is a plant in a pot too large to be considered a Bonsai?

BONSAIFEST! 

On Mother’s Day weekend, Saturday, May 13 and Sunday, May 14, don’t miss BonsaiFEST! at the Pacific Bonsai Museum. See hundreds of beautiful bonsai in an enchanting, woodsy setting. Visit the Museum at the height of spring bloom.  For more info:  BonsaiFEST! | Pacific Bonsai Museum

Also at the Museum:  the Avant Garden exhibit will run from May until Nov 2023.  The exhibit will include works by contemporary bonsai artists, visual artists and ceramists who want to push the boundaries of bonsai art and evoke strong responses beyond peace and tranquility. With underlying themes of impermanence, upcycling and subjective nature of beauty, you will love it or leave it, but this exhibit will certainly not leave you unmoved.

DUES

Those of you who have mailed in your dues, thank you!  There are still a few who have not paid, so please remember to bring cash or your checkbook to the April meeting.

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

2023 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

April Meeting

4/13 7PM / Lacey Community Center 

April  Workshop

4/22 10 AM - 2PM  /  North Olympia Fire Station

May Meeting

5/11 7PM / Lacey Community Center 

May  Workshop

5/20 10 AM - 2PM  /  North Olympia Fire Station

June Meeting

6/8 7PM / Lacey Community Center 

June  Workshop

6/17 10 AM - 2PM  /  North Olympia Fire Station

July Meeting

7/13 7PM / Lacey Community Center 

July  Workshop

7/22 10 AM - 2PM  /  North Olympia Fire Station

August

No meeting or workshop

September Meeting

9/14 7PM / Lacey Community Center 

September  Workshop

9/23 10 AM - 2PM  /  North Olympia Fire Station

October Meeting

10/12 7PM / Lacey Community Center 

October  Workshop

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

November Meeting

11/9 7PM / Lacey Community Center 

November Workshop

11/18 10 AM - 2PM  /  North Olympia Fire Station

December 

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.

Librarian 

Scott F.

Webmaster

Logan H.

Newsletter

Beth R.