A regular update on the life and times of John Hanby’s Newstead Bonsai Centre……..
Topical Times – Academy Class – Catch up and more!
Yesterday was the second session this year for my academy level seven students. The morning was taken up primarily with a review and work on some recent projects.
First it was the turn of the tanuki bonsai created and detailed in a first post on the 30th January 2013 and subsequently on the 22nd April 2013.
Cable ties were removed or changed if they were biting into the trunk and the trees were generally overhauled/tidied. They were all showing signs of positive growth and vigour which hopefully should improve this year as they become more settled in the pots.
Next we brought in the two yamadorii Pinus Sylvestris which were originally dealt with in a post on the 8th October 2013. First we checked the pine with the grafted branch. Everything was progressing well and we replaced the grafting tape which was now too tight due to the expanding nature of the branch.
We also removed some foliage at the apex of the tree to balance the sap flow and encourage more vigour in the grafted branch. The weaker shoots hanging down were the ones we removed.
With regard to the styled Pine we decided to repot this tree into a bonsai pot. When the tree was last repotted in the training pot only the central core of soil was replaced. This time we removed just enough soil around the edge and below the rootball to fit the tree into the pot. Disturbance was kept to a minimum. Positioning of the branches was fine-tuned. Please check out the original pictures to appreciate how much this tree has changed.
The final catch up tree was the forest of Juniper Loderii originally detailed in a post on the 1st February 2014. Weak and old foliage had to be removed and any hanging down branches were also removed. Some general refinement pruning was also carried out and the soil surface was cleaned. Once again you really need to look at the original post to see what we started with and how well this group came together.
What did we do in the afternoon?…..I will share this with you next time!……….