Not sure about you, but we’ve been pretty busy here at Orlando Bonsai so far this spring.  Filling orders, doing paperwork and tax reports, preparing soil.  Re-doing the pond, weeding, trimming trees. Fertilizing, insect maintenance, acquiring new trees, selling trees. Attending bonsai meetings, demonstrations and garden shows, visiting suppliers, and volunteering at Epcot’s International Flower & Garden Show.  Help, I need a time out! Of course, there was National Grilled Cheese Day, and a mini time out for a grilled cheese lunch. Yummy! And we did go see a movie – another mini time out. That was fun!

Have you been busy? Need a time out too?  Come join Orlando Bonsai from May 24 – 27 at the 2013 Bonsai Societies of Florida (BSF) Annual Convention to be held in sunny Lake Mary, FL at the Mariott. It will feature bonsai artist, Suthin Sukosolvisit with Sean Smith and Michael Feduccia teaching workshops and demonstrations. Orlando Bonsai will be selling bonsai tools and supplies in the vendor area.  And also check out the Exhibit area for a beautiful display of bonsai by many Florida artists. For more info, go to the BSF web site, www.bonsai-bsf.com.

…Back to working in the bonsai garden. The fastest ways to a great bonsai:  start with good stock, take a good look at the roots, pick a front, pick the apex (top of tree), cut the correct branches, trim hard – trim early, proper maintenance, trim new growth, and pay attention! Nutshell version:  do the right things at the right time! How do you know what the right things are?  1. Education. Read a book, join a club, go online, ask questions, find a mentor, take a class. 2. Experiment scientifically.  For example, cut a secondary branch, take a picture, journal it (date, tree name, photo, notes, etc.) wait for new growth, see where the new growth occurs, look back at your picture to see the difference.  Soon you will learn the growth habits of that tree. By the way, the fastest way to a great bonsai takes time. Is that an oxymoron? Or just buy a good-looking tree in a pot and then maintain it. That’s pretty fast! Either way, it is worth it.

Aspiring bonsai enthusiasts often ask “How do I know which branch to cut”? Well, it takes a little time and sometimes a mistake or two, but there are some general guidelines to help.  If a branch is growing straight down, typically you would cut it off. If a branch is growing on the inside curve, it should come off.  Look at the picture of the branch I took off with standard concave cutters from an inside curve. It’s a little fuzzy but you can get the idea. Another guideline is to avoid bar branches – branches directly across from each other. Notice the branch I was about to cut off was also a bar branch and there is another branch directly above it that has secondary bar branches so I cut one of them off too. There are other guidelines to learn as you go.

The right tool is needed for the right job. Four tools I use all the time are standard concave cutters, shears, wire cutters and tweezers. And there are lots of other great tools that really come in handy and some that are more specialized. Feel free to send an inquiry to sandy@orlandobonsai.com if you are unsure what tool is needed or how to use it.

So take a TIME OUT! After ‘working’ in the garden, get a refreshing beverage of your choice,  sit back and ENJOY your bonsai.

 

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There is a large amount of tools available for bonsai, and not knowing what you need could be costly. I wanted to go over the top three most needed bonsai tools so that people new to Bonsai could have an idea of what they need.

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So I thought I’d share with all of you what I have in my Bonsai Tool bag. Many of these tools are used quite frequently, and some have been there in a pinch. However all of them have come in handy at one time or another.

The bag I use is one that I found at a local home improvement store. I liked that it was an open design and had a solid structure.

Most important to me are the side pouches. These are useful for a number of reasons. First is that it is easy to see the tools you have to work with without having to take them out. Secondly they are easy to grab when you are working on a tree. Lastly, is that the tools can dry after being used so that they don’t rust. I do dry my tools with a towel when I use them, but this allows for additional air drying to occur.

My most used (and some of the more expensive tools) are the Root cutter and Large Knob Cutter. Both very large and very heavy tools. Its nice to be able to get to them quickly. Also shown is a stainless steel brush, Nylon brush, root hook, and two rolls of wire (probably 1.5mm and 2.0mm).

From this angle you can see my camera (a nice camera that STAYS IN THE BAG), cut paste, root sickle, and chop sticks.

My most expensive tools (and my favorites) reside in a leather tool roll inside my tool bag. Most of the time I use my other tools. However if I am working on something special or participating in a workshop I bring these out.

All of these tools are available at Orlando Bonsai, and I really do use them. I hope you found this interesting and useful.

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I have been asked by a lot of people what tools are needed for bonsai. However that is not the easiest of questions to answer. Sure as the owner of the Orlando Bonsai Store I am always looking to make a sell, but depending on level of experience of the individual a sell isn’t needed. I always suggest to new people to bonsai to take it slow. Many tools that they most likely already own are enough to do the basic pruning, trimming, and maintenance of any entry level tree. So I recommend not just buying any and every tool that there is, and to focus on quality. BUY THE GOOD STUFF. In the long run it will pay for itselt by not having to buy the same tools over and over.

However once the bonsai artist begins to aquire more skills and learn more advanced techniques they will need tools specially designed for the bonsai artist in each of us.

First and foremost is the concave cutter, This tool works like no other cutter in the lawn and garden center of any home improvement store. It is designed to remove the branch in a manor that allows for the natural healing of a tree to roll over the wound and leave a flat and very reduced scar.

In future posts I will continue to review other tools in my tool bag, and preovide suggestions on which options exists. If you have questions please feel free to ask.

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