Hamilton Bonsai Club

National Bonsai Convention 2019
2019-10-11 - 2019-10-13 | Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton Gardens Road, Hamilton, Waikato, 3216, New Zealand
National Bonsai Convention — Demonstrations and talks by Suthin Sukosolvisit from the USA and 5 NZ demonstrators.
Trade Stands and probably the largest ever display of bonsai in NZ.
For more information on the Bonsai Convention, please visit the convention website here.

Bunnings Workshop
2019-09-22 14:00 - 16:00, 2019-08-25 14:00 - 16:00, 2019-07-28 14:00 - 16:00, 2019-06-23 14:00 - 16:00, 2019-05-26 14:00 - 16:00, 2019-03-24 14:00 - 16:00, 2019-02-24 14:00 - 16:00 (Pacific/Auckland) | Bunnings Te Rapa – DIY Area, 446 Te Rapa Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
Subject: Bring your trees to Bunnings on Te Rapa Straight, look for us in the DIY area of the store.
The workshop is open to anyone and is a great place to get help on your trees and ask any questions you may have.

Club Meeting - Show Prep
2019-09-08 14:00 - 17:00 | St Francis Church Hall, 92 Mansel Ave, Hillcrest, Hamilton, Waikato, 3216, New Zealand
Topic: Show Prep – How to display trees
Show preparation of your trees. How to display your trees and how trees are judged—including practical sessions.
More information will be listed here, check back later.

Club Meeting - Making Bonsai Stands
2019-08-11 14:00 - 17:00 | St Francis Church Hall, 92 Mansel Ave, Hillcrest, Hamilton, Waikato, 3216, New Zealand
Topic: Making Bonsai Stands
Bonsai stands and how to make them.
More information will be listed here, check back later.

Tony Bebb Workshop
2019-07-20 - 2019-07-21 | Waikato Society of Potters, Cnr Ward Street and Seddon Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
This is your chance to work with an Australian Bonsai expert, Tony Bebb.
This will be the second year of the three year programme. Tony will work on the tree you selected for the first year of the programme, and continue it’s development.
The Hamilton Bonsai Club is now taking registrations to this workshop with Tony. To reserve your place fill out the form below and follow the payment instructions provided. Payments must be received to secure your spot.
Session times:

Morning Session: 9am till 12:30pm
Afternoon Session: 1pm till 4:30pm

Please arrive 15min before the session starts
Price per session:

$50 for Hamilton Bonsai Club member – Workshop participant
$20 for Hamilton Bonsai Club member – To observe
$55 for Non-Hamilton Bonsai Club member – Workshop participant
$25 for Non-Hamilton Bonsai Club member – To observe

Limited places available, your registration won’t be confirmed until payment is received.

July 20th – AM Session – 1 space available
July 20th – PM Session – 2 spaces available
July 21st – AM Session – 1 space available
July 21st – PM Session – FULL

Club Meeting - Critique with Tony Bebb
2019-07-14 14:00 - 17:00 | St Francis Church Hall, 92 Mansel Ave, Hillcrest, Hamilton, Waikato, 3216, New Zealand
Topic: Critique with Tony Bebb
More information will be listed here, check back later.

Tony Bebb Shohin Critique & Workshop
2019-07-13 14:00 - 17:00 | Waikato Society of Potters, Cnr Ward Street and Seddon Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
The Hamilton Bonsai Club is holding an afternoon Critique & Workshop with Australian Bonsai expert, Tony Bebb.
Please bring your Shohin Bonsai for critique and to work on. You will also need to bring your tools.
Dinner: Afterwards we will have dinner in one of the Thai Restaurants in Cambridge. If you could indicate whether you are interested in Dinner when you register please.
Price:

$35 for Hamilton Bonsai Club Member
$40 non-Hamilton Bonsai Club Members

Limited places available, your registration won’t be confirmed until payment is received.

Club Meeting - AGM plus Bonsai with Bling
2019-06-09 14:00 - 17:00 | St Francis Church Hall, 92 Mansel Ave, Hillcrest, Hamilton, Waikato, 3216, New Zealand
Topic: AGM and Bonsai with Bling
Melody and Peter S will give you an insight into the use of rocks and small scale people / animals and building in your trees.
More information will be listed here, check back later.

Club Meeting - Sam Brierley Presentation
2019-05-12 14:00 - 17:00 | St Francis Church Hall, 92 Mansel Ave, Hillcrest, Hamilton, Waikato, 3216, New Zealand
Topic: Sam Brierley Visit
Sunday 12 May. Club Meeting. Held at the St. Francis Church Hall, 92 Mansell Ave., Hillcrest. Starts 2:00 PM. If for any reason the upper carpark is full, don’t forget there is another carpark in front of the Church, just off the Morrinsville road near the traffic circle. And I also suggest you make a habit of bringing your own mug for coffee or tea, which will taste better than in the styrofoam cups and create less trash!
Guest speaker is Sam Brierley from Whakatane, President of the Eastern Bay of Plenty Bonsai School. Subject is collecting trees from the wild, and more importantly, keeping them alive! Collecting from the wild is a passion of Sam’s.
For Show and tell: bring along something in glorious Autumn colour, or a tree that you dug from the wild- that you have hopes for or that has made it to Bonsai status (before photos please and stages to the present ).

Club Meeting - Kathy Steyn Presentation
2019-04-14 14:00 - 17:00 | St Francis Church Hall, 92 Mansel Ave, Hillcrest, Hamilton, Waikato, 3216, New Zealand
Topic: Visit by Kathy Steyn
Kathy will be taking the meeting after a short business meeting. If you didn’t finish your Saikei on Saturday bring it back for more work. If you have a tree Kathy worked on before, bring it along for an update. Or bring a tree(s) for advice from Kathy. She has a wealth of knowledge about styling, and care and is an expert Bonsai tree carver. While we cannot actually do any carving at the meeting, she can offer suggestions on what to do and how to do it.
Show and tell- bring a Saikei if not too large, or something else. Please this month only one per person.

Kathy Steyn Saikei Workshop
2019-04-13 09:00 - 16:30 | Waikato Society of Potters, Cnr Ward Street and Seddon Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
Topic: Kathy Steyn Saikei Workshop
Workshop with Kathy Steyn from South Africa on creating your own Saikei. A list of materials required will be circulated before the workshop.
The Workshop will be held at the Waikato Potters Society located at:
Studio 1 Ward Park Art Centre, 2 Seddon Road ( Corner of Ward and Seddon Road)
Prices:
Workshop Participant $40
Observer $20
Limited Places are available, you place is only secure once you have filled out the registration form AND paid in full.
9 Workshop Participant places
5 Observer places
A list of useful materials
Large flat pot, a good sized shallow tray will work. Saikei are usually planted into a shallow pot- rectangular or oval will do. Drainage holes will make tree watering a lot easier, but are not totally necessary. If you have access to a drill and a large bit, you can probably drill holes in the container. Check out Op Shops, garden centres, David’s Emporium, $2.00 shops, etc.
If your container has drainage holes, you will need mesh to cover these and wire to hold the mesh in place. If you use the sticky Gib board mesh, make sure it is well stuck down.
Interesting rocks of different sizes, can be of the same materials or mixed as long as they give the look you want and fit well in your pot. Landscape places usually have rock selections. Lots of rocks or just a few- up to you. But, lots of rocks also means heavy.
Soil- your usual potting mix, that is suitable for the species of trees you are using.
Small trees. Size and number depend on the the size of your container. A variety is fine, or of different sorts if they look well together. It is, however, important for the selected trees to have similar needs in care- water, amount of sun. nutrients, etc. It’s too late to start cuttings. Small trees in little pots can be purchased at some garden centres cheaply- Palmer’s especially. I will have a large number of lonicera available at the next meeting for $1-$2.00 each.
Small plants, moss, lichen, etc. These want to compliment the trees and rocks, and be in proportion, smaller than the trees. Again, care requirements must fit with the trees. If you want the trees to eventually grow a little larger, the complimentary plants must be of a type to keep quite small.
Different sizes and colours of decorative stones to be attractive and represent different textures in your planting. Garden centres usually have an assortment of gravels, and places that sell fish aquarium supplies will also.
Fine white sand- silica sand is ideal. Available at places that sell filtering materials, aquariums, Animates, Pottery supplies. And probably others. This would represent water in your Saikei.
If you want a path or road in your Saikei, well sifted river sand is excellent, or some other fine gravel/sand of quite uniform colour.
The end result wants to be pleasing, not crowded. Often, less is more.
You may want some means of attaching the rocks to your pot/tray- muck, Knead it, Blu Tack or some other stuff can be very helpful. Glues may work but you may not be able to make any future alterations. If your rocks are of a soft material you may be able to rasp them smooth on the base, so they are as flat as possible, etc. If they are hard the goop process may be the best bet. Remember, you will have to transport your creation home, and the last thing you want is for it to fall apart!
If all of this seems a bit much to handle, just do what you can do.
I mentioned at the meeting the need to do some homework before the workshop. You should arrive with a reasonable idea of what constitutes a Saikei, and definitely an idea of what you want your planting to look like when completed. Google “Saikei” and cruise through the offerings. Our library has quite a number of books that delve into the interesting and fun world of Saikei also. I hope to have them separated out for the March meeting. Once you have thought out what you want to end up with, play around with positioning, but don’t do any final pruning of your trees until they are planted.
A small cheap flat paintbrush, about 2c cm across is useful. bring tools to deal with the trees roots and for pruning once the trees are in place ( not always a good idea to have the trees perfectly pruned in advance as the final positions may end up different to what you first thought.
The materials you bring should be ready to assemble. It can take some time to assemble a Saikei that looks quite natural, but if you do your homework, and visualise what you want , and arrive with your material ready to use, you will have more time for the fun part!

Beginners Bonsai Classes - Night 4
2019-04-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Wintec Building at Hamilton Gardens, Rose Garden Carpark, Hamilton, New Zealand
This is your chance to learn bonsai!
The Hamilton Bonsai Club will be holding classes again this year. Everything is supplied, including trees, pots & wire to create your very own Bonsai. Your enrollment fee also includes membership to the club until 31st March 2020.
Night 4 Topic: How to re-pot your Bonsai
Spaces are limited.
For the full details please view the Bonsai Classes page and fill out the form to sign up.

Beginners Bonsai Classes - Night 3
2019-04-04 19:00 - 21:00 | Wintec Building at Hamilton Gardens, Rose Garden Carpark, Hamilton, New Zealand
This is your chance to learn bonsai!
The Hamilton Bonsai Club will be holding classes again this year. Everything is supplied, including trees, pots & wire to create your very own Bonsai. Your enrollment fee also includes membership to the club until 31st March 2020.
Night 3 Topic: How to wire your Bonsai
Spaces are limited.
For the full details please view the Bonsai Classes page and fill out the form to sign up.

Beginners Bonsai Classes - Night 2
2019-03-28 19:00 - 21:00 | Wintec Building at Hamilton Gardens, Rose Garden Carpark, Hamilton, New Zealand
This is your chance to learn bonsai!
The Hamilton Bonsai Club will be holding classes again this year. Everything is supplied, including trees, pots & wire to create your very own Bonsai. Your enrollment fee also includes membership to the club until 31st March 2020.
Night 2 Topic: How to prune your Bonsai
Spaces are limited.
For the full details please view the Bonsai Classes page and fill out the form to sign up.

Beginners Bonsai Classes - Night 1
2019-03-21 19:00 - 21:00 | Wintec Building at Hamilton Gardens, Rose Garden Carpark, Hamilton, New Zealand
This is your chance to learn bonsai!
The Hamilton Bonsai Club will be holding classes again this year. Everything is supplied, including trees, pots & wire to create your very own Bonsai. Your enrollment fee also includes membership to the club until 31st March 2020.
Night 1 Topic: Introduction into the world of Bonsai
Spaces are limited.
For the full details please view the Bonsai Classes page and fill out the form to sign up.

Club Meeting - Seasonal Workshop
2019-03-10 14:00 - 17:00 | St Francis Church Hall, 92 Mansel Ave, Hillcrest, Hamilton, Waikato, 3216, New Zealand
Topic: Seasonal Workshop – Repotting and Styling
Seasonal workshop — including repotting. Bring along something that needs work on or advice. This will be a workshop to work on your trees, more information will be listed here, check back later.

Club Meeting - Creating an aged look from young material
2019-02-10 14:00 - 17:00 | St Francis Church Hall, 92 Mansel Ave, Hillcrest, Hamilton, Waikato, 3216, New Zealand
Topic: Creating an aged look from young material
Welcome to the New Year of the Hamilton Bonsai Club. You should have received your Newsletter, thanks to Peter M.
Our February meeting is next Sunday the 10th. Held at the St. Francis Church Hall, 92 Mansell Ave., Hillcrest . If for any reason the upper carpark is full, don’t forget there is another carpark in front of the Church, just off the Morrinsville road close to the traffic circle.
Starts at 2:00 with a short business meeting, then the fun begins with the topic workshop – making your young Bonsai tree look like an old one.

Below is a reminder of what to bring, from Les.
The main feature of this meeting will be a workshop recreating an aged look from young material.
As this will be a workshop we need every body to bring along a tree or trees plus your tools plus wire if you have it. The focus will be on creating an aged look from young material. Look for something that is suitable. Pencil thin trees will not do. I will give a brief introduction. However I would like you to think about how we achieve this aged look before the meeting and I might even ask a few questions to see if you have thought about it. Wiring is one way in which an aged look can be achieved. Sandra will take the lead on the wiring part. Whilst the emphasis will be on this topic if you have a tree that does not fit the theme or if you want advice on any of your bonsai bring them to the meeting.
I also suggest that you bring your trees to the workshop a little on the dry side as they are easier to work with ie do not water them the day you bring them to the meeting. LES
And I also suggest you bring your own mug for coffee or tea, which will taste better than in the styrofoam cups and create less trash!
In place of the usual Show and Tell, the display is to show Summer Disasters and Successes. Each person bringing one can give a brief synopsis of what happened or what worked.
Marshall will be bringing the Library, hopefully with two new books if they arrive in time. A reminder you can view the complete Library listing on our webpage. If you want to take out or see a book or magazine, you can request it from me via email and Marshall will make sure it comes to the meeting. This also applies to the books and magazines in the list that are not normally brought to meetings.
With the National Convention coming up, I also strongly suggest you learn a bit more about the guest artist, Suthin Sukosolvisit. Check out his website – www.suthinbonsaistudio.com or Google his name and scroll through the offerings of video clips and more.
See you soon! Marshall

Nobu Workshop 2018
2018-12-08 - 2018-12-09 | Pirongia, Pirongia, Waikato, New Zealand
This is your chance to work with a Bonsai Master, Nobuyuki Kajiwara (Nobu).
The Hamilton Bonsai Club is now taking registrations to this workshop with Nobu. To reserve your place fill out the form below and follow the payment instructions provided. Payments must be received before the 6th of December to secure your spot.
We will having a Pot Luck Supper / BBQ afterwards on the Saturday night at the workshop venue, that all attendees are welcome to join.
Session times:

Saturday Session: 9:30am till 4:30pm
Sunday Session: 9:30am till 4:30pm

Please arrive 15min before the session starts
Price per session:

$40 for Saturday Workshop participant
$40 for Sunday Workshop participant
$75 for Saturday & Sunday Workshop participant
$10 to observe

Limited places available, your registration won’t be confirmed until payment is received.

Club Meeting - Xmas
2018-12-02 14:00 - 17:00 | St Francis Church Hall, 92 Mansel Ave, Hillcrest, Hamilton, Waikato, 3216, New Zealand
Topic: Pines Part 2 and Xmas fun
This meeting is the second installment on Pines. Aaron will have a brief update on starting pines from seed. (I know a few questions have arisen from Part One). Les will do a talk and demo on pruning. Keeping with the Subject, if you have a pine in almost any stage of development, bring it along for Show and Tell.
As it is December, bring along one of your Bonsai decorated with Christmas decorations. This is an annual event, judged by the membership with a fabulous First Place prize. There will also likely be some entertainment.
And we ask that each of you please bring a plate.
A reminder to please bring your own cup or mug for tea or coffee- your hot drink will taste better and help us do our bit to reduce landfill
trash. There will be yukky styrofoam cups if you forget.
There will NOT be a January Club Meeting

Bunnings Workshop
2018-11-25 14:00 - 16:00, 2018-10-28 14:00 - 16:00 | Bunnings Te Rapa – DIY Area, 446 Te Rapa Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
Subject: Bring your trees to Bunnings on Te Rapa Straight, look for us in the DIY area of the store.
The workshop is open to anyone and is a great place to get help on your trees.

Club Meeting - Air-layering
2018-11-11 14:00 - 17:00 | St Francis Church Hall, 92 Mansel Ave, Hillcrest, Hamilton, Waikato, 3216, New Zealand
Topic: Air-layering
Our November meeting is next Sunday the 11th starting at 2:00PM. Held at the St. Francis Church Hall, 92 Mansell Ave., Hillcrest . If for any reason the upper carpark is full, don’t forget there is another carpark in front of the Church, just off the Morrinsville road.
And don’t forget to bring your own mug, for better tasting coffee or tea and to reduce the waste we have to remove.
I will only be bringing a minimum of the Library (I have to leave for the South Island about 4:30AM Monday). On our website is a library listing. Have a look and if you see something you would like to have a read of, let me know and I will ferret it out and bring it (them) to the meeting. I will be bringing back some terrific books from the South Island for the library, available in December.
Lindsay Muirhead will be talking and demonstrating air-layering. He has had great success with a variety of trees over the years. If you have a tree you think would make a good candidate to air-layer, bring it along for some advice.
And bring along a success story from a previous air-layer if you have one for Show and Tell.
The garment order placed after the Show, is being processed but no more orders will be taken this year. Next year there will be an order taken.
With the winds we have had and that are in the forecast, remember they are very drying, so be attentive to your trees water needs even if there have been some showers.. And when aphids take over, think twice before using Mavrik. I usually use Confidor but couldn’t find it so used Mavrik, and burned most of the fresh new leaves. New leaves will be grown, but it is a stress the tree doesn’t need! Certainly killed the aphids though!

Will Baddeley Workshop 2018
2018-10-22 | Waikato Society of Potters, Cnr Ward Street and Seddon Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
Will Baddeley Workshop
The Hamilton Bonsai Club is now taking registrations to this workshop with Will. To reserve your place fill out the form below and follow the payment instructions provided. Payments must be received to secure your spot.
Time: 9am till 4:30pm
Price:

$100 for Hamilton Bonsai Club members
$110 for Non-Hamilton Bonsai Club members

Limited places available, your registration won’t be confirmed until payment is received.

Places are now full, you can still go on our waiting list encase someone pulls out.
If you would like to be added to the waiting list please contact the club with your name, phone number and email address.

Hamilton Bonsai Club Annual Show 2018
2018-10-13 - 2018-10-14 | Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton Gardens Road, Hamilton, Waikato, 3216, New Zealand
More information will be released closer to the date.
