Just a reminder to all, of our club meeting this Thursday, I have taken a pic of the club raffle tree a Ligustrum which is developing into a cracking shohin.
I have done minimal pruning just to keep it in shape as it will be left to the lucky winner to put their style on it.
I will be bringing it in on Thursday so do take a closer look at the trunk movement.
We had a couple of pots donated to the club when we did the Cacti and Succulent show at Melksham I will bring them in as well,cheap price as monies go to the club.
Sunday 31st July was the second year for the Staverton Group to organise this Bonsai boot sale and thanks to Tony suggesting that it would be a good opportunity to have a pitch to advertise our club.
We had not planned to have a pitch as individually we did not have enough trees to sale to warrant one, however when it was decided that between us it made sense and surprisingly or not we managed to have brought along a good selection of trees, wooden stands both formal and decorative sections for sale, so on Sunday we set up our emporium.
For those of you who have not attended either years do not be put off by the Boot Sale bit it is much more than this, it attracts dealer stands, potters as well as individuals selling and offers trees from starter material to high quality both styled and Yamadori.
We had quite a bit of interested on our stand from people who live local to the club many asking for advice so you never know we might attract some new members, if we dont it is always good to talk Bonsai.
Many thanks to Tony and his group for organising this event and keep your eyes out for next years date, if you have not attended I recommend it there is nothing in this area to compare to it.
Just a few pics of the day does not cover all who had pitches to give you an idea of the event.
We took a trip to the RHS Wisley today for the Ferns and Carnivorous show and while we were in the gardens we got to walk past the Herons Bonsai display. For those who have not seen it recently, here are a few images of the bonsai on display and the current display includes a Horse Chestnut tree as a bonsai, a range of Maples, Pines, White Beech, Larch, Elm, Common Beech, Junipers, Cedars plus a Fig, Mulberry and Maidenhair tree.
A busy evening with quite a fews trees being worked on.
Few pics of a Larch approx 40cm high from top of pot and 30cm wide.
When obtained it had a natural shari running down the trunk which has been enlarged to give more character, the long extensions now trimmed back to preserve outline.
It will require wiring out now to better define the pads.
Warminster Bonsai will be displaying at the Staverton Group Bonsai Boot Sale next weekend so come along and have a chat. There will be lots to see and loads to buy and it should be a great day out.
These are the photos of our club display at the Market Lavington show, we tried to show a wide selection of trees that are used for Bonsai including several that would be found as shrubs in the garden the aim being to show people that you don’t have to have exotic material to get good Bonsai.
We also showed trees at varying stages of development from the Larch which is now at a stage of further refinement to the little Cotoneaster which demonstrated that a piece of very young material when wired starts to create an older image and one which will develop into a a creditable image in jus a few short years.
Nice to meet so many people who we could explain what Bonsai are and how we create them, many did not know that we existed in Warminster so good publicity.
And as a bonus there was the Lancaster bomber which flew over the site at low level three times brilliant.
The club will have a display stand at this event on Sunday 17th July any members visiting this event hopefully you will find us.
For any non members of Warminster Bonsai club you are more than welcome to come and have a chat about Bonsai in general or if you have a problem tree we may be able to help you, even if you have only one tree.
We are always happy to help anyone who visits our stand.
Sunday 26th June Blackmore Vale Bonsai Club held its first show post covid and we along with Staverton Bonsai Club and Taunton Bonsai club were invited to put on a club display.
The event was well attended considering the past two years and along with the club displays there were dealer stands as well as outside tree styling demonstrations.
The club displays were also judged by Chris Thomas who in his own words found it very difficult to pick a winner such was the quality and standards of the displays.
We were pleased to find out at the prize giving that Warminster Bonsai Club had won the trophy, I would like to thank all members who brought their trees in at the club meeting to be considered/selected for our display and to those who helped on the day.
It was a fun day putting on a Warminster bonsai club display at the Wiltshire Branch of the British Cacti and Succulent Society Show in Melksham today with our club members. This was a well-attended event with lots of engagement from the public with the cacti and succulent show as well as our bonsai display.
This is a contribution from one of our members who has a passion for Ficus with his commentary.
All these figs are still a long way off being Bonsai, unfortunately the growing season in the UK is not long enough to get the growth needed to Bonsai the figs.
The light levels are not high enough to achieve shorter internodes and smaller leaves. I am just happy to grow all different species/cultivars of figs.
Air layer
This is an Acer obtained recently grown more as a patio plant, but when seen it had the potential to be a twin trunk if it could be air layered so taking a gamble that there is just enough time to establish it before Autumn sets in it was air layered this month.
As you will see 1st pic is how it was before starting, 2nd pic the top cut on the trunk has been cut just below where the two trunks split and hopefully the new roots will generate from for its new base making sure that the cuts are clean and the trunk scraped to ensure no tissue can form a bridge across the cleaned area.
Pic 3 is the clear plastic packed with moss tight as possible to make good contact with the cut area.
4th pic is the black plastic now wrapped round to keep out the light from any roots forming and to keep a warm environment for them
Will see how this progresses.
This is the thinning out of a Deshojo Acer which was featured in the May posting it has put on tremendous growth with many new shoots but it is time to set the branches for its future so it has been cut back drastically taking out all surplus shoots and any large leaves.
The tree can now put its energy into only the structure that has been left.
