Best of all, Winter is OVER! Yay! No more winter protection …..? unless of course your Spring hasn’t sprung yet. Spring in Florida means Spring temps are heading northward soon. I know because most of the Snowbirds just left or will soon. If you are south of the Equator then all bets are off but your day will come. All four seasons have their moments of beauty and, well, a few not so good days.

In Florida, Spring is my favorite time of year. The excitement of seeing deciduous trees leaf out is always a thrill. If you haven’t experienced it, you might not fully appreciate it. Just like if you have never experienced throwing your own slab of clay on a potter’s wheel, you might not fully appreciate potters work. Speaking of that, it is a time of year to start getting your hands dirty (or your gloves). But first, just feel the joy of Bonsai as you see all the fresh beautiful shades of green as everything starts growing, especially after you begin your fertilizer regime again. That’s the BEST!

The birds are singing and all manner of creatures are out and about including bugs. BAD People-biting and Bonsai-eating BUGS are the WORST! I planted some flowers last week after dark (don’t ask) and had to grab the bug spray but too late as I had already been bitten numerous times. I like to use organic, natural things when possible but some things can’t be tolerated like ‘no-see-ums’ and mosquitoes. Inspect each bonsai for bugs and decide /ask / research how you want to treat whatever you find. There are natural ways of treating too, as well as other methods. Bugs like aphids, thrips, scale and mites are bad. Lady bugs are good (they eat aphids). Even spiders can be helpful; they eat other insects (i.e. ants, etc). Know your bugs. County extension centers are very helpful with insect and plant classification, soil analyzing and more. All for free! Consult your local bonsai experts if you have specific bonsai questions or just to chat bonsai.

Then get your hands dirty as it’s time for repotting many trees, or styling, pruning, wiring, defoliating, trunk cleaning, etc. Consider Orlando Bonsai for your new tools, wire, pots, and more. We love to help people find out how much tools help their Bonsai journey. Wire cutters from a box store just aren’t the same. My dad taught me to use the right tool for the right job and that definitely holds true in Bonsai. If you didn’t receive concave cutters at Christmas, do yourself a favor and buy yourself a birthday gift. Clean cuts are important but that’s a lesson for another day.

Do the right things now with the right tools during the BEST of Spring and your bonsai will be thanking you all year long. ENJOY BONSAI.

… a few words of encouragement from …

Sandy R

Orlando Bonsai

sandy@orlandobonsai.com

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Bonsai Societies of Florida will hold “Bonsai by Design”, their 42nd Annual Convention on May 21-25, 2015 at the Florida Hotel & Conference Center at the Florida Mall, 8001 S Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando FL 32809. It is Orlando’s largest retail shopping mall and close to Orlando International Airport. Registration begins Thursday evening from 7 until 9 pm.

Bonsai by Design features well known artists David DeGroot & Guy Guidry. It will be an exciting weekend of Demonstrations, Workshops, Vendors, Specimen Exhibit Trees, Raffles, Scholarship Competition, Club Night, Auctions and Camaraderie. For a complete itinerary and more, go to www.bonsai-bsf.com.

Orlando Bonsai will be a vendor there selling tools, pots, accessories, display stands, trees and more. Come meet Sandy, Orlando Bonsai’s owner, in person if you haven’t already. Ask for your special SHOW discount. Former owner, Paul Pikel will also be there teaching a Bonsai Photography workshop. Maybe you can stop by and ask him what the subject of his next Bonsai video will be.

Enjoy Bonsai and Life.

Sandy

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Not talking about what happens at the friendly neighborhood bar… This is about remembering to take before and after photographs of your bonsai as well as the work in progress so you and your bonsai friends can feel adequately impressed after all the work (er… drinking) is done. Well, maybe not done as in finished since the growing continues but you can always take follow up pix too.  Taking photos help you to remember what the tree used to look like, to really LOOK at your tree, to see things that can be improved, to remember what you planned to do next, gives you a journal for future reference on similar trees, and either make you humble or give you bragging rights.  Heck, you might even enter a photo in a contest or use it for an exhibit entry. Most of all, the pictures help you to learn about the tree.  I don’t have a fancy camera so I use my phone and the pictures are only adequate right now and usually just make me humble.  So here are a few humble photos of two very different trees I worked on recently.

This is how it looked when purchased.  Lots of foliage, branches to choose from, healthy looking and look at those small leaves – sweet!

Dwarf Ligustrum – Before

Below is a close up shot. You can almost see the original outline of the tree before all the outrageous, straight up growth!

Dwarf Ligustrum – before – close up

Below is the tree after the first styling.  Definitely starting to look like the makings of a bonsai.  Will let it grow in the pot for a year to increase the trunk size.  These trees make nice little forests too. Needs a little tweaking yet and will find a nice pot for it before next year.  Have to remember to take OFF the WIRE!  The photo file date will help with that.  Time to set a reminder!

Dwarf Ligustrum – first styling

Here’s the Ficus Microcarpa that was worked on last summer – see where the lower branches were tied down.  Also used a wedge cut to lower the upward tilt of the two lowest branches to a downward angle.

Ficus Microcarpa – before second styling

Ficus Microcarpa – post defoliation

Brother can you spare a leaf? (Sorry – bad recession joke).  It was best to defoliate to see the branches and when repotting.  The leaves will sprout quickly; especially since it is a ficus.

Ficus – defoliated

It’s been less than a week and the new leaves are already sprouting!  Lots more branch pruning to be done then it can go into a pot.

After some drastic root cutting, I like the banyan-style in the new home. A few branches and banyan roots need adjusting but it’s coming along nicely and the new growth is already starting one week later. The new angle in pot is helping the bar branch look and next year, we will be able to maximize the angle after the roots adjust.

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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.

Inside Curve cut

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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