The club held it's regular 'decorate a bonsai Christmas tree' competition. A wide range of trees in various shapes and sizes were on display, some appearing more alive than others! The club members all voted on their favourite with the results showing a close first, second and third place. After some (delicious) Xmas themed goodies [...]
The talk on using New Zealand Natives in bonsai saw a number of the committee discussing the suitability of many of the common native species. The talks were illustrated by a large number of NZ Native bonsai which had been brought in to show the differing styles well as several natives not normally used [...]
Once again we had a very busy Labour Weekend with our annual show. This year the weather was kind and the public were out enjoying the sunshine at Hamilton Gardens. A change in the layout this year saw specific areas set aside for shohin displays, smaller tree displays and the shohin project. A well [...]
I had the opportunity to lead a session on Penjing on Sunday. I started by talking about the meaning and understanding; there being 3 distinct categories, “ Shuma “ or tree penjing,”Shanshui” or landscape penjing and “shuihan”, being water and land. How the early penjing artists gained influence and understanding from their own painters and [...]
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 [...]
