September's meeting was all about Mame - one of the smallest bonsai. Sandra gave a fascinating presentation regarding Mame followed by an informative repotting demonstration. Mame Size = 10cm tall including the pot. There is a smaller size called Shinto that is 7cm and a larger size called Shohin that is 25cm from the rim [...]
Ann started us on the Shohin Project in May last year. This was primarily to encourage us in the importance of record keeping - both written notes and photos, with the added bonus of having a nice Shohin tree as a result. Ann showed photos of many of the trees from the first session. Each [...]
Pauline Muth from the USA gave a talk on Shohin Pauline has a wealth of knowledge and experience towards Bonsai, and has been involved in a number of high-level positions across a number of clubs and societies in America. Her website can be found here: http://www.pfmbonsai.com The club was then presented with a Powerpoint presentation [...]
Sandra gave a brief talk on Winter Pruning This time of year it’s time to do predominantly structural pruning although some pruning can be done for refinement too. This is the time of year for BIG cuts in tree – but this is only necessary if you’re changing the style of the bonsai, and if [...]
The Annual Trip in May saw 14 members headed up the motorway to Auckland. Lindsay had organised for us to see three private collections and plans included a visit to Plantarama in Drury on the way home to search for treasures. With no GPS in the van there was some lively conversation about what turns [...]
Marshall gave a talk on group planting A group means 2 or more trees, up to about 9. Human eyes can absorb a visual number up to 8 or 9 (then your mind just goes “many”). More than 9 trees and it’s considered a forest. The Japanese word for group or forest is the [...]
As we had to re-arrange our meetings due to conflicting calendars the pot making session was brought forward to April. Sandra asked for club members to let her know what type of pot they were interested in making as there are differing levels of wetness in the clay for slab and pinch pots. Great fun [...]
This year we tried to get everyone to bring along the trees they had worked on with Tony last year. Unfortunately not everyone was able to make it and some of the trees had not survived the winter so there were a number of new trees for Tony to have a look at as well. [...]
When Tony met George George - a large Juniperus pfitzeriana was saved from George St, Auckland in October 2000. He was a sad sight indeed, growing hard up against an apartment blocks foundations, completely overgrown with weeds and large conifers and lots of dead branches. From the day she first met him, Melody [...]
We began the year with a new venue – one of the classrooms at WinTec Horticultural School at the Hamilton Gardens. The first meeting of 2016 was mostly one of organising and rearranging things, plus a ‘Show and Tell’ session about some of our trees, a look at our new website and a special [...]
