March 2023 Newsletter

PO Box 2682, Olympia WA 98507-2682

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

CLUB DUES

If you haven’t paid your dues yet for 2023, now’s the time, it’s almost spring!  Dues are $30 for a single person and $40 for a couple.  Eduardo M will be accepting dues payments at the March 9th meeting.  If you can’t make it, you can send them by mail:

Olympia Bonsai Club

PO Box 2682

Olympia WA 98507-2682

MARCH MEETING PRESENTER

Speaking of the next meeting, on this coming Thursday March 9th, Victrinia and Eric Ridgeway will be styling a hemlock from nursery stock.  The tree will return to club meetings over the next three years.  This series will give members an opportunity to observe development over an extended period.  

MARCH WORKSHOP

Repotting continues.  On Saturday March 18th, we will have a demo of a root over rock planting, selecting the proper rock and plant combination and planting it into its initial container.  For repotting your own trees, remember to bring your own supplies:  soil, container for refuse, and wire, etc.

EVENTS

The Lacey Cultural Celebration Bonsai display on Saturday was a great success.  Darrell reports that the club table had so many visitors he lost count but they gave away 40-50 club brochures.  Members displayed 17 trees with Stan G, Robert T, Jeff H, Dave F, Joe K, Matt C, Iris T, Dolores, Jack W, Sally M, and Corey M volunteering.

If you’d like to show your trees, Sakura Con is coming up on April 7th to 9th at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. Contact Kent if you want to show off your tree or help out.  

Kent is also throwing the club soil mixing party on the morning of Saturday March 11th. We could use help in the form of extra hands and or extra screening supplies. Send Kent an email, text, or call if you'd like to participate for either of these events that Kent is leading. Email olympiabonsaiclub (at) gmail (dot) com to get ahold of Kent.

POTTING WORKSHOPS

In February the cold snap prevented us from repotting our trees, but Tom led us through some repotting principles and Victrinia and Erik provided great expert demos.

REPOTTING and WHAT TO DO THIS TIME OF YEAR, Courtesy of Joe K

Amazing, simply amazing: This year marks 31 years that I have been murdering plants and this is the latest I have ever gone without repotting not a single tree, and as it stands now, I won't repot until the first week of March. If you did repot, I hope you did the proper aftercare to ensure the repotting is successful. 

Spring is just around the corner, so in addition to repotting, we should be thinking of fertilizing those plants we are not repotting.  Pines and Junipers should be getting a drink of water and fertilizer. I like using an organic in the spring at about 50 percent strength to get them going. Do this every two weeks until May or June for pines and then knock off for the summer and restart in August. For Junipers, fertilize from March until late October and only stop for the winter. 

This may concern a few people, but I don't fertilize deciduous trees until they have leafed out and hardened up, usually in late May.  Why? If you fertilized the way you were supposed to last fall, the plant has plenty of food stored up to get it going.  If you fertilize when it is first popping it will cause the plant to have long internodes and very large leaves and uncontrollable growth.  All other species of Bonsai can be fertilized with the same regime as the pines. It is so so so important that you fertilize in the fall as it will pay you big dividends in the spring.

What else do we always do in the spring?  This is a great time to start a new planting or a new creation.  Pre-Bonsai stock can be found at various nurseries and many big box stores.  Just be careful and take the time to check out your plant before you purchase it.  You can always grow a top, but you can't grow a new root system.  If you are shopping for maples try to avoid buying one that is grafted (in fact any grafted plant) as it is almost impossible to hide the graft as it grows older.  Sometimes you have no option other than to buy a tree with a graft.  In that case look at two things: find one with a very low graft and think about the best way to develop this tree so that graft is minimal.  By and large most trees have flaws, so think about how to hide that flaw when you will display it. 

This month’s question to ponder in hopes it will stimulate conversation: When does a plant become a bonsai?

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, email olympiabonsaiclub (at) gmail (dot) com to get ahold of Kent.

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

2023 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

March Meeting

3/9 7PM / Lacey Community Center 

March  Workshop

3/18 10 AM - 2PM  /  North Olympia Fire Station

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.