Kusamura Bonsai Club
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From the October 2001 Meeting |
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Without photographs it is impossible to document all that Kathy Shaner did to develop a beautiful semicascade juniper bonsai from a rather ordinary full cascade that was planted in a tall, slender bonsai pot. She chose the semicascade style because it was best suited to the shape of the plant and the pot. Tall pots, she told us, are no longer preferred for full cascades. Semicascade bonsai represent trees in nature that are reaching out for the sun. Kathy always strives to bring out the best features of any tree she works on, its essence. In her designs for bonsai, she uses her observation of how natural forces shape trees. In her demonstration, Kathy first cleaned up the tree, removing juvenile foliage growing from the bases of the branches. (She remarked that for shohin, these might be retained and used to develop into shorter and thinner branches.) This time of year, branches and twigs should be cut back to smaller ones, leaving "nice tips. (Rough work can be done in the spring when growth is much more vigorous.)
Juniper Pests. Next, Kathy removed some excess twigs and jin that confused her design. She cleaned up the dead wood, explaining that in our area damage is often done by borers and girdlers. One can spray for these pests from the end of April to the first part of May. Lindane was the best insecticide for these pests, but it is now off the market. (Ed Poggensee recommended using an oil spray and also a systemic insecticide to kill girdlers.) Kathy said she had heard that a black stocking full of mothballs hung from a branch was supposed to control borers! Yellow tips on juniper foliage may be caused by fungus. Spray with a fungicide like Daconil. Treating Dead Wood. As she removed dead bark, Kathy talked about treating jin to preserve and whiten them. Lime sulfur has traditionally been used. India ink, burnt umber, and acrylic paint have been added to the lime sulfur to soften the whiteness. The red color of live bark was revealed by stripping off the shaggy bark. The contrast between red live wood and white dead wood is much admired by some. Kathy, however, prefers the soft, subtle colors dead wood takes on naturally. She uses Minwax wood hardener, available at most hardware stores, to preserve the wood and its colors. Kathy said that white dead wood could be suitable for jin on the top of a tree, where it suggests that the wood has been worked on by ice crystals. Dead branches under the canopy of leaves would probably not turn white in nature. She thinks that on young trees, the natural rough bark should be retained because it lends a feeling of age. Kathy stripped a low, live branch of bark after first squeezing it all over with pliers. She remarked that this is better done in the spring when the tree is growing rapidly and the bark separates easily. To preserve newly created jin, one should let the wood dry completely. Then it can be wet and treated with lime sulfur. Wood hardener, on the other hand, is applied on dried wood. Be sure to do a thorough job, she said, because after the hardener is dry, nothing can penetrate it&emdash;not even more hardener. When applying hardener, be sure to keep it off the soil and live wood. Use acetone to clean up yourself or unwanted drips. (Be sure to work outdoors when you are using acetone.) Repotting. Junipers can be repotted in spring or in fall as late as November. The roots keep growing and appreciate the winter rains. Repotting should be done every year or two. Always keep the roots wet when you work on them. On neglected trees, carefully untangle the long live roots and cut them back to smaller ones. If the rootball is too compacted to untangle, at least poke quarter-sized holes in the top of it and fill these with new soil. Continue to work on the roots the next year. Kathy prefers akadama soil amended with coarse sand for her juniper potting mix. As is customary, she planted her semicascade high enough in the pot that the root base showed above the pot's lip. Collected Junipers. It is not necessary for these to have jin. (The red bark contrasts well with the blue-green foliage.) To help them recover from the trauma of collection, these plants should not be worked on for five years or so. Pines. Fall is the time to get things together that will be needed to graft pines. The proper time for grafting is in January-February. You will need as grafting material twigs that grew from candles in the preceding spring and were not cut off in the summer. You will also need an extremely sharp grafting knife, one not used for anything else. A new tape is available that sticks only to itself and can be used in grafting. Deciduous Trees. Do not remove damaged leaves before the plant is dormant because doing so may force the growth of tender new leaves. Do use superphosphate to promote root growth. . |
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Pines and
Junipers
