It’s been a very productive few weeks around here (A NEW VIDEO!). There’s a great deal going on in preparation for the spring. Organising and sorting out the dozens of tons of products we sell through the spring period typically starts in June thanks to manufacturing lead times, slow boats and UK port delays etc’.
At this moment in time there are about 30 tons of goods inbound from Europe, Japan and China. We already received tools, wire and over 15 pallets of soil products in the last few weeks. Thankfully supply chains are recovering from the insane enforced shut down of the world thanks to the tw*ts in charge. However the fuel situation is forcing many manufacturers to review their ranges and some of the staples we are used to seeing will disappear.
Thanks to bulk buying and leveraging the good will built up over many years of trade KB have not had to increase prices as much as we thought we might. For instance most tools have only increased a few pence here and there. Soil prices this year have typically increased less than 5% and wire has remained roughly the same as it has been for 15 years (about £10). We have also NOT increased shipping costs despite our costs rising for the first time in 20 years. Almost ALL the cost increases we have seen are down the the UK governments actions, rules, taxes and legislation, virtually no increases are due to producers. The UK government is the biggest cause of our insane inflation figure, make no mistake we are getting shafted.
Moving swiftly on it’s a great relief when all this is taken care of so I can get back to doing what I love best, tinkering with trees and bikes. These last few weeks I have been able to spend a little time fettling me bits and bobs. So….. here’s another freebie for all our lovely loyal supporters.
A NEW VIDEO!
It’s taken most of the last week to sort out and here it is totally free gratis.
Apologies for the verbose nature of this one but I feel it’s time we looked at the basics seeing as many folk have demonstrably missed these foundational skills (including some self professes bonsai masters who ought to know better).
Enjoy and stay tuned for more.
G.
Your video’s are by far the best that are around on Youtube. I’m really glad you started making them again. Thanks!!
Thanks Graham,
A very informative video.
Very informative video Graham , great to see you back making them.
I have a white pine and if I am honest I know very little on how to look after it, as i am only 30 mins away from you , i will keep an eye out for any classes you might run and bring it over .
Really enjoyed the video, do the same principles apply to Japanese Black Pines?
I;ve got a lovely example which I always prune more apically but this year decided to let the candles fully form and see the result next spring. Any words of wisdom?
Nigel.
JBP is an entirely different animal, especially in UK. The season is much too short to get two good full breaks of bud which you need to produce tight compact foliage. In a greenhouse I remove all the candles completely very early on and in a good summer there will be a second flush. If not they just make a lot of buds for the following season. JBP needs to be ultra strong to do well here and that’s hard to do in a bonsai pot. IMHO they are a PITA here. Most years just cut candles down to about 10mm and leave it at that.
Great to see a back to basics video about jwp without all the fancy instant bonsai styling like you many videos you see on YouTube nowadays.
Absolutely no point trying to style a tree or until you understand these basics, always love you videos
I’ve just watched this and recent pine video.
Supremely informative, your videos are excellent, clear, considered and concise. The trees you work with and develop are beautiful in so many dimensions. I hope you’ve had a great break. I’d love to come to a workshop this year, do you have any dates?
Bloody brilliant trees matey