Demonstration by Ivan Lukrich

Demonstration by Ivan Lukrich

On November 27, 2018, REBS held their regular meeting and demonstration. Club Sensei Kathy Shaner was scheduled to be the demonstrator; however, Kathy’s plane was delayed in Alabama due to bad weather. Ivan Lukrich at the last moment filled in for Kathy with a demonstration on three Japanese maples (Acer palmatum).

Ivan described the three Japanese maples as grown from seed from the same parent tree, approximately 10 to 12 years old. All three J. maples were planted in a large, plastic nursery container. The leaves were displaying wonderful fall colors. Ivan started the demo by removing all the leaves. He said pruning the J. maples would take place after the leaves drop off or before new bud growth occurs. Bleeding can occur during pruning at times.

Ivan pruned the unwanted branches and deadwood first. He discussed branch development and internodes. It is most desirable to have short internodes for bonsai. Pruning will help in dividing branches for ramification and short internodes. Ivan used cut paste to seal the wounds on the cut branches.

Ivan led a discussion of pinching new growth. Pinching the new leaf growth is necessary to maintain a tight ramification of the branches. Pinching is constant during the growing season for J. maples. After the first leaf pair has unfolded, remove the soft little tip of the shoot between them.

J. maples enjoy full sun. However, summer heat can burn the leaves and so afternoon shade or shade cloth is necessary.

Joanne Lumsden purchased the winning raffle ticket for the demo J. maples.


Demonstration by Ivan Lukrich

On October 23, 2018, our club enjoyed an outstanding demonstration by Ivan Lukrich for styling a Hornbeam (Carpinus). Ivan is a senior club bonsai instructor. There are 30–40 species occurring across much of the temperate of the Northern Hemisphere.
The demonstration tree was won by the club in a past “Ironman” competition between the Marin Bonsai Club and REBS a number of years ago. Ivan has been caring for the tree ever since.
The demonstration Hornbeam tree was not showing much fall colors, but the leaves were in the process of drying out and falling off. Ivan proceeded with removing a majority of the leaves to show more of the movement in the trunk and branches. The demonstration tree was in an informal upright style with nice movement of the trunk and slight tapering.
There were several branches removed earlier and wounds required some follow-on treatment to heal over. This required scrapping the sides of the wound with a knife to expose some of the green cambium and sealing with a cut paste.
Ivan said the previous wiring and work on primary branches were complete. And so, he would be wiring the branch tips at this point. Ivan used copper wire on the demonstration tree because he is most comfortable using copper wire on his bonsai. The copper wire has more strength and holding power with smaller gauges than aluminum wire.
Upon completion of the demonstration, a raffle was held and club member Diane Matzen won the Hornbeam bonsai.

Hornbeam demo tree before styling

Club members look on as Ivan Lukrich removes leaves

Ivan thinning out small unwanted branches and stems

Wiring the stem tips and shaping

Setting up the wired branch stems

Ivan discusses after care of the demonstration bonsai

Diane Matzen and Ivan pose with the finished demonstration bonsai

Hornbeam demonstration bonsai after view

 

 

Demonstration by Jonas Dupuich – Satsuki Azalea Bonsai

On September 25, 2018, between 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., at the Luther Burbank Art and Garden Center, Santa Rosa, California, Jonas Dupuich conducted a demonstration on Satsuki Azalea bonsai imported from Japan. Jonas is a professional bonsai grower, artist, instructor, and vendor. He has been growing azaleas for about 20 years.

Imported Satsuki Azalea bonsai

Satsuki Azalea (Rhododendron indicum) is native to Japan. Satsuki is a Japanese term that refers to the bloom period, May or early June. There are thousands of different varieties. Satsuki azaleas are popular bonsai plants for many reasons. It can take a hard pruning, the flowers are amazing, and they can be developed fast. Since azaleas prefer to be slightly acidic, a popular soil to grow them in is Kanuma.

Jonas brought with him a number of Satsuki Azalea bonsai for showing different varieties, leaf sizes and shapes, and styles. He mentioned that Satsuki Azalea can be styled in numerous ways. He chose as his demonstration bonsai a cascading Satsuki Azalea with multiple trunks, at least four primary trunks. In choosing the front view, Jonas preferred in bonsai to show the trunks. However, since it was Satsuki Azalea it would be better to show off the most flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

He started to cut and thin out the leaves and tiny branches on the demonstration bonsai. He said general guidelines for cutting and thinning applied here. Cutting the tips, lower leaves leaving two leaves per branch or stem, removing vertical and downward growing branches and stems. Jonas said when cutting branches he will leave a small stub or convex cut. After cutting branches, he would seal the wound with a cut paste and wound seal. (Top Jin Cut Paste and Wound Seal, yellow in color, stops bleeding and helps to protect from fungal infection). Sometimes branches are found to be in clusters of three or more. These should be cut back to two branches.

Jonas said he uses 100% Kanuma for soil. Repotting should take place when watering appears to slow in draining, a sign that the Kanuma has been compacted and roots have filled the pot. Jonas mentioned the function of watering bonsai plants. Watering pushes out any old residues and pulls in oxygen vital to the health of the plant.

Some things to avoid with Satsuki Azalea bonsai are wind, salt and cold. An environment close to the coast would be challenging for growing Satsuki Azaleas.

Popular times to wire Satsuki Azaleas is after the bloom and in the summer. Besides wiring, the clip and grow method can be useful.

Jonas led an interesting discussion on how commercial growers produce Satsuki Azalea bonsai in Japan. There are various levels of growers for each phase of developing the Satsuki Azalea bonsai. One level may grow whips, another for wiring and creating movement in the whips, other levels to transfer to and from the ground for growing large trunks.

Jonas uses 30% shade cloth when the temperatures are 75 degrees in Alameda and recommended 40% shade cloth when temperatures reach 85 degrees elsewhere.

In discussing wiring Satsuki Azalea bonsai, Jonas said he looks for beauty and function. The discussion led to the degrees in the angle of wiring. Where 45 degrees was the standard for wrapping wire around branches, the trend today is somewhere between 55 and 60 degrees. Again, the most important factors are beauty and function of the wiring.

Fungus is a problem. It can be root or leaf fungus. Root fungus can first show up by having black leaf tips.

Large branch bending – it is not really possible to bend large branches with wire wrapping. Instead, use guy wires to lower or raise large branches.

Finally, removing the flowers after bloom will send energy to the leaves.
Jonas worked on the demonstration tree during the discussions above. He removed unwanted weak branches, cut and thinned out the leaves, wrapped wire on small branches to lower and show movement, and used guy wires to lower the larger branches. The result was a well shaped cascading Satsuki Azalea bonsai.

 

 

 

 

 

A raffle was conducted for the demonstration bonsai and Jim Gallagher was holding the winning ticket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Redwood Demonstration by Sensei Kathy Shaner

On August 28, 2018, our Club Sensei Kathy Shaner performed a demonstration on a collected California Coastal Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). The demonstration redwood tree was collected about three years ago by Bob Shimon of Mendocino Coast Bonsai. The redwood was at the smaller end of the classification of Chiu or Chumono, two-handed bonsai, 16 to 36 inches in height. Its trunk was thick and somewhat slanted with top heavy healthy green foliage.

Let me digress for a moment and explain more details about the demonstration tree. There were two trees offered for demonstration. In addition to the redwood, there was a Procumbens Nana Juniper (also known as common juniper or Japanese Garden juniper). The club members voted to have the redwood serve as the demonstration tree for the evening.

Kathy started the demonstration by pointing out what we should be looking for in a bonsai. That being the best focal point or item of interest within the tree. She believed that the redwood demonstration tree could be developed into a multiple trunk bonsai. She began by working the surface soil, removing the soil to expose surface roots and discover what was the extension of the trunk base, referred to as the nebari. The widest part of the trunk base or nebari is oftentimes used for the front view. The nebari is found under the surface.

There were pieces of deadwood near the trunk base that showed tool cut marks. Kathy worked on eliminating the tool cut marks by using pliers and branch cutters to “cut and tear” the straight tool mark edges. Some of these pieces of deadwood became jins. A jin is a branch that is deadwood or created as deadwood and can appear almost anywhere on the tree. Jins are short since deadwood rots and breaks off over time in nature.
Kathy then discussed styling the redwood tree. She wanted to angle the tree by tilting it upward and forward towards the viewer looking at the front. She said perception is very important here. With the redwood tilted towards the viewer the tree appeared and felt like the tallness of redwood trees in nature.
Kathy explained the difference of jins versus shari. A jin was described above. Shari is deadwood created in nature or by the bonsai artist along the trunk of the tree. She reduced the thickness of several deadwood trunks by stripping the bark using the “cut and tear” method. By doing so, this strengthened the primary trunk in size and appearance. She said the styling of the demonstration redwood would have multiple tops by wiring three branches upward, each having its own height, one being the apex or taller than the others.


She used copper wire for its strength and holding power. Kathy’s wiring was loosely wrapped around the branches to create movement and hold them in place. She would wrap the wire in an elongated manner and not close together like a spring. She chose to have three apexes, each wired closely together and which would have similar growth patterns. By wiring loosely, she would avoid having the copper cut into the bark of the branches. The wire could stay on for about one year and would set the branches in the desired position. Wire cuts are ugly and require vigil to avoid them.


New growth on redwoods should be popped off at the very tips of the branches in order to prevent them from becoming long and leggy. Using you fingers, you pop off the tiny middle section of the new growth tips. This should be done throughout the growing season.


Kathy advised that the demonstration redwood tree should be placed in the shade until it becomes adjusted to its new location. Light morning sun and afternoon shade is the best condition for the young branches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon completion of the demonstration, Peter Naughton won the raffle for the redwood bonsai.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

35th Redwood Empire Bonsai Society Annual Bonsai Show

During the recent Redwood Empire Bonsai Society’s 35th Annual Bonsai Show, August 25 and 26, 2018, held at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building, Master Bonsai Artist and Club Sensei Kathy Shaner performed two demonstrations – a collected Sierra juniper on Saturday and a Procumbens juniper on Sunday, from 1 to 3:30 p.m.

Let’s look more closely at the Sunday’s performance on the Procumbens juniper (also known as Japanese Garden juniper or Common juniper).

The demo tree was a healthy green and full of foliage. There were several primary branches. Kathy first dug into the surface soil to discover the nebari girth (strength of the surface roots and trunk base). She removed some of the length in the foliage to give a better look at the movement of the trunk.

By removing the dense foliage, one could see the strength and interesting movement of the trunk.

 

Kathy cautioned about removing too much of the foliage in the initial styling. Here the apex appears as a rounded mass of foliage at the top. The primary side branch is left alone for the time being to protect the health of the tree.

 

 

 

 

 

After a bit more styling, it is time to raffle the tree. Kathy and Raffle Chair Wayne Culp build on the excitement in selecting the winning raffle ticket.

Club member Jim Scholz was rewarded for buying the raffle tickets by adding the Procumbens juniper to his bonsai collection.

Congratulations, Jim.