Bonsai Get Together (First of the Year)

Today was the first time this year that Gerry and I were able to get together to work on our trees.

The garden is still very cold and white from the snowfall we had at the weekend, so all work today was carried out in my kitchen.

Gerry brought this larch, which was styled for the first time in March of last year

This is how it looks after a second wiring today. I’m particularly pleased with the way this tree is shaping up considering it was started less than a year ago from the most unpromising material.

This is a reminder of how it looked in March last year

He also brought along this new acquisition to show it off. It’s a shohin Amelanchier , which is a species I know nothing about. It has a fantastic trunk and it will be interesting to observe how it develops in the coming years.

A New Year Begins

 

 

As I sit here at my laptop, reflecting on what was for us here in Scotland, one of the most challenging growing seasons in my experience. A season, which began with a bitterly cold Spring, followed by a Summer with very little sunshine; saved only by some good weather in the autumn, I thought I would share again some of the photographs which are my personal favourites and mark the highlights in my bonsai year.

Without a doubt my favourite tree this year is my Lions Head Maple which just goes from strength to strength with each passing season. It looked particularly good in Autumn this year.

This cotoneaster has been another favourite of mine, more so because it was collected from my garden for free. It was planted in this red glazed pot by Eimei in the Summer to show off the berries and had its first outing to Bonsai Europa in October.

This hobby is as much about the people you do it with as it is about the trees and my life would be a lot duller without my good friend Gerry and the members of The Lanarkshire Bonsai Club who feature regularly on these pages.

The next photograph was taken in late May and it was the first occasion that all my trees were outside at the same time.

My highlight of the Summer was our winning club display at the Scottish Bonsai Show. It’s always a joy to see trees that you have cared for displayed at their best.

My 2 favourite junipers were both re-potted this year.

The first is a Blauws Juniper, which is almost complete. It will need a fine wiring and a good display table this year

The second is an Itoigawa Juniper. It is coming along well but the foliage needs more refinement and it will have to be re-planted into a slightly smaller show pot.

A few more that are beginning to come into their own, that may venture out to the show bench this year.

Zelcova

Potentilla

Japanese Larch

Cork Barked Elm

Finally, I would like to thank all of the people who take the time to look and comment on my posts, It’s you guys that make the effort worthwhile.

HAVE A HAPPY NEW BONSAI YEAR

Lanarkshire Bonsai Club Xmas Get Together

What do you do at the club when the weather is foul and the trees are all safely housed in their winter quarters. Well this being Scotland we bring out the Malt and have it with curry.

I am sure all the club members would like to join me in thanking Dougie  Smith and his wife Lil for their hospitality throughout the year. Dougie has an international reputation for the quality of his trees but not many people know that he is also a terrific guitar player. Check out this performance of Focus’ Sylvia by Dougie and his band at a recent charity event on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkzz8MdRkIc

Lanarkshire Bonsai Club Meeting 08/11/2015

It’s that time of year, when the trees have stopped growing and the weather is throwing its worst at us that the club comes into its own. Yesterday about 20 members and visitors braved the elements on a stormy day to attend the monthly meeting of the Lanarkshire bonsai club at Wattston Bonsai. Some were working on trees while others were happy to drink tea and talk bonsai with those who share their passion. Here are a few pics from the day.

Ian McMaster tackling an initial styling of a collected cotoneaster

Robert Porch advising Stuart on the fine pruning of a Chinese juniper with Mike Box, who travelled up from south of the border hiding in the background (nice to see you there Mike).

New member Artur Powszek, who was one of the interpreters for the demonstrators at Bonsai Europa, contemplating a white pine with our Gordon. Cheer up Gordon it will soon be Spring again.

Lanarkshire Bonsai Club at Barnsley Show

Here is an early preview of the Lanarkshire Bonsai Club’s display at this years Bonsai Traders Association Show in Barnsley, which is being held today between 10.00 am and 04.00 pm.I think it looks great.Unfortunately I am unable to attend the event this year.  The contributors to this years display are Jim McMaster, Fiona Wallace, Maurice Maidment and Robert Porch. Photo credit to Fiona Wallace.

Lanarkshire Bonsai Club Meeting 6/9/2015

Yesterday in glorious late season sunshine, I attended the monthly meeting of the Lanarkshire Bonsai CLub at Wattston Bonsai. It was very well attended  as always, and the members were taking care of seasonal work on a variety of species or catching up on the latest news in the bonsai world. Here are some pictures from the day.

Our host, Dougie, advising the ladies on the future possibilities for their tree.

Gerry selecting a new pot for his sekka hinoki.

Stuart brought along these excellent display stands that he fabricated from steel. Excellent work Stuart, I am sure there will be a lot of interest in these.

Here are a few small trees that Maurice was working on.

Cork barked elm started this year from an air layer.

Clump style cork barked elm.

Mame cotoneaster.

Callicarpa Japonica.

Trident maple.

Mame elm.

 

Lanarkshire Bonsai Club Meeting 02/08/2015

Yesterday I attended the monthly meeting of the Lanarkshire Bonsai Club at Wattston Bonsai. For the second month in a row we have had new members joining our number, which is good news for the future of the club, but it does mean that meetings can get a little crowded at peak times and space to work on a tree can be very limited. The trees selected for study this month were azaleas and yews and the theme was led and developed by our host Dougie Smith. Dougie has recently returned from a buying trip to Japan and he was eager to pass on new techniques he had learned on his journey. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Dougie in full flow.

Maurice and Jim working on some shohin tridents

This is a nice medium sized yew that was used for demonstration purposes

I was very impressed with this common juniper which is a recent addition to Dougie’s sales benches

Lanarkshire Bonsai Club Meeting 05/07/2015

Today was the monthly meeting of our club at Wattston Bonsai. Robert Porch gave an excellent informative talk and demonstration on the general care and development of pine bonsai. Many members brought along their pines for advice. Here are a few pictures from the day.

While this was going on Dougie Smith was helping new member Chris style 2 of his junipers

Here are some of the trees that members brought along

A lovely white pine belonging to Ian McMaster

I was particularly interested in the next three which are being developed by Robert from seed

Scots Pine

Malus

Larch

Lanarkshire Bonsai Club Meeting 7/6/2015

I paid a short visit today to Wattston Bonsai for the monthly meeting of the Lanarkshire Bonsai Club. There was quite a large attendance today which included 3 new members. Many were working on, or getting help with their trees from experienced members. Chinese Juniper was the species of the day. Here are a few pics from the day.

New member Chris gets some help with his juniper from Maurice and Gavin

Robert Porch conducting a class with a member’s tree

Enjoying the fun

Some views of the sales benches out in the yard. The trees are responding well to the warmer weather

Lanarkshire Bonsai Club Meeting 3/5/2015

I thought I would share a few pictures of today’s club meeting. Our main task for the day was to select the best of our members trees for our club’s display at The Scottish Bonsai Exhibition, which takes place in the coastal town of Troon in 2 weeks time. This is the most competitive show Scotland, where the nine Scottish clubs gather for one day in the year to compete as a club.  So it is important that the best available trees are selected to represent each club.

Our display will be arranged in 2 runs of tables 18 feet in length divided by white boards. On one side we will have the larger trees and on the other side our shohin trees. Our shohin display will be an extended version of the one that took first place at the Barnsley Show, last year.

The next picture was taken at last years event and gives an indication how part of our display stand might look.

This is our winning display from Barnsley, last year.