Here in the U.K autumn is rapidly giving way to winter and it’s now time to complete some very important work to ensure your bonsai have a good dormant season. Neglect this work at your peril.
When keeping bonsai it is important to follow good nursery practice. It’s good for your bonsai and it’s good discipline for you too. It’s important to have respect for our bonsai and a little winter care can make a BIG difference to how well our plants perform next spring and summer.
Now that leaves have fallen it’s time to have a good clean up. Keeping your bonsai garden clean is vital if you are to keep healthy trees. In general we do not recommend pruning at this time, pruning scruffy trees now can result in die back and some other problems. If your trees need a prune leave the work until next year just before you see signs of life.
Following these simple steps will make your bonsai look good and will improve your overwintering success.
1. Remove the remains of shed leaves of deciduous trees. Sweep the soil surface clean and remove coverings of moss, weeds and any liverwort. This improves air circulation through the soil and will help prevent root rot. Make sure drainage holes are clear and clean, slugs in particular love those little nooks and crannies. Also remove any fruit still remaining. This will prevent it rotting and harbouring pests. It will also stop pigeons breaking ramification from the upper part of trees as they perch on top and try to pull the fruit off.
2. Trees that have become green with algae should be sprayed with our Algae Cleaner. Remove sphagnum moss that may have formed around the base of the tree with a brass brush. Deadwood areas should be scrubbed clean inside and out and preserved with appropriate products – Bonsai Deadwood Preservers. For more information on preserving deadwood see our article Preserving Bonsai Deadwood.This work will prevent fungal infection and will rid the tree of many overwintering pests. It will also ensure craggy bark survives the winter.
3. Benches should be scrubbed or pressure washed and then disinfected with a product like Jeyes Fluid. Spray down the underside too. A lot of pests can spend winter hidden in your benches, particularly if they are wooden, just waiting to crawl all over your lovely bonsai in early spring.
4. Clean up and dispose of leaves and other detritus. This material is a MAJOR carrier of pests and fungal disease. If you have ground cover such as concrete, Mypex or even gravel give that a good soak with Jeyes Fluid too.
These few simple steps are just good nursery practice and if followed will prevent a whole host of summer problems that are common to all bonsai. A little work now will prevent a lot of problems next year and your bonsai will look a lot better too.
Here at KB we like to think we have the best selection of bonsai and raw material available for sale in the UK. It appears a whole bunch of you agree. We have just had what must be the best few days selling bonsai ever.
Sincere thanks for all of our customers for your faith in us and you continued support.
Here are a few of the better trees we have re-homed in the last 5 days.
Don’t worry we won’t be running out of stock any time soon, lots more cool trees are on the way.
Sunday 3 November found me stumbling around in the dark at 4am in my keks trying to get dressed without causing too much of a ruckus. The reason for being afoot at such an unearthly hour? I had agreed to attend the Heathrow Bonsai show and because I live in the nether regions it was a fair hike. We set out at 5am in the dark and it was cold, I HATE winter time. One of the great benefits of living in ‘clod hopper’ country if that we can travel 60 miles on a Sunday morning without even seeing another car on the road the upshot of which found us at the venue before 8am.
All was pretty quiet upon our arrival but a warm cuppa’ was quickly provided. As we stood around people started coming from all corners, cars arrived and spilled bonsai and related paraphernalia all over the yard. By 9am the place was packed, it reminded me of one of those colonies of soldier ants moving home. I have to say how impressed I was with everyone beavering away and working together. The result was an impressive display of bonsai in every size, shape and colour.
My job for the day was to provide a little entertainment and education with a demonstration. Mark had asked me to bring along a privet. The tree I chose belonged to my good friend Stuart who was only allowed to purchase the tree on the understanding I had it for this event. About 5 hours saw it tidied away thanks to a little help from Bob, Bill and Rammon, thanks guys.
I have to say I absolutely loved this event. I do not remember the last time I had the priveledge to be involved with anything in bonsai that had such a great atmosphere. It was a joy to attend and I will remember this one for a very long time. Thanks to everyone that worked SO hard to put it all together.
Hopefully it will all happen again next year. If it does BE THERE!
No I wasn’t in an actual fight. Riding a motorcycle at the weekend a bee hit me in the face. I still had to go to the Heathrow Bonsai Show and knock out this cool privet though. More details soon.
One of the things that has always motivated me in bonsai is making something out of not a lot. Being a Brit’ I am genetically a sucker for a lost cause. When I buy trees I never go out of my way to get the best stuff, that costs a lot. I like to buy the oddball stuff nobody else want’s. There is little to compare to the rewarding feeling of turning an ugly duckling into a swan and it can pay very well too.
This week we had a whole bunch of yamadori arrive. The tree I made a b-line for was the worst and cheapest of the lot. This oak was looking very sad with it’s dead top and a big ugly stump sticking out of the side. A perfect candidate for a 15 minute fix. Sure it will need a bit of growing and the deadwood needs a little refinement but now it looks worth the effort.
