Larch Forest Project-- Demo & Workshop

Ken and ACBS president Mat with the completed forest on a slab.

What a terrific April meeting.

I have to say, Ken pulled off a hat trick with this combined demo and workshop.  As he discussed some of the basics of creating a forest planting, Ken built this wonderful grove on a fiberglass slab.   In the photos at the right, you can see the larch seedlings spread out on the table as he selects the trees by size, thickness and number of side branches during the assembly. Ken explained why he chooses to prune the larches back at one point over another along the trunk for the forest, and how to clip the tap root so that the seedling would fit into the group.  He also discussed placeing the trees in such a way that the planting appeared natural and not contrived.

Having placed and worked all of the trees into the soil, he pointed out how he would next come back and prune the height of each tree so that the largest, and more dominant trees formed the apex of the entire composition.  At the same time, the smaller trees to the back and side contributed a sense of depth, and a feeling of the forest spread out across the horizon.  There was also a sense of perspective with the smaller trees now beginning to appear further away.

One of the of the notable points of Ken's forest was in his soil mix.  In addition to the mixture of grit (haydite and builder's sand) and organic material, Ken adds sphagnum moss right into the soil mix.  While some books recommend such techniques as using a mix clay and sphagnum to make a rim for a slab planting, putting the sphagnum right into the soil binds the mix, and seems to work well for holding the group in place. 

In the workshop, members put together their own forest groups, although on a smaller scale, using the bundles of nine larches as well as larger seedlings.

Below are several photos of our newly created groves.  (More pictures posted shortly) It will be fun to follow all of these forests over the next several years to see how they flush-out and develop--and also see them in their fall colors. In the coming years, we will add these to our Virtual Fall Show--you can see photos of trees from past autumns posted on ACBS's gallery spot at http://picasaweb.google.com/akroncantonbonsai

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Larches Are Ready for Your Forest Planting

Well, the Larches are here and they are healthy and perfect for a grove or forest planting.  Much thanks to ACBS member Ken Huth of Ken's World of Bonsai for getting them for us.

I stopped by Ken's place Sunday afternoon, and Ken and Gib already had the work done ahead of schedule. So thanks also to Gib for pitching in to help Ken bundle them up to they are ready to go for the April meeting. Since the work was already done, it was time for some fun in the form of clipping and cutting--it's never dull at Ken's.

While I was there, several members  of the  Columbus Club  were visiting, clipping, planting and working on projects of their own.  

Ken (far right) works on this 50 + larches went into this forest planting

With the help of all of his guests, Ken put together this large 50+ tree forest planting out of some of larches from the same batch as those we will be using for our club project. The larches you see in the planting have to be pruned back considerably. It took two guys and a wheel barrel to move the finished project to its spot in the sun.  Very cool.  And it should look amazing in the fall.

Larch Project: Forest Planting Basics

Larch grove--fall and spring

by Michael Rusnak
Soon we will begin working with our larch seedlings.  Prior to the meeting, please think about what you want to do with your seedlings so you know what to bring.  Some members may want to bring materials to begin their projects, while other may want to just keep their seedlings moist and then pot them up at home. 

Members may want to plant the seedlings and grow them as individual bonsai projects.  This can be accomplished by growing your larch in progressively larger nursery pots over several seasons.  Ample watering and feeding will aid in trunk development.  Members may also want to try planting seedlings in the open ground. You can also begin to develop the trunks by some preliminary pruning, as well as adjusting the planting angle.

Members may want to create a grove or forest planting.  For beginners, even a small grove planting of three or five seedlings can be a good learning  experience, as well as a fun project.  There are a couple of options to think about for creating your forest.  One way is to first plant seedlings individually in separate nursery containers, and allow them to allow to develop a bit over a few seasons, and then in a year or two assemble these now older seedlings into the forest.

You could also create your forest by planting it in a seed tray.  Seed trays are a handy and inexpensive training pot for a beginning forest--whether you are going to make your forest now or in a few seasons.  Seed trays are deep enough to permit ample soil for the seedlings to continue to grow and develop.  The tray will train the roots of the group for a later transfer  into a shallow pot or onto a slab. At the same time, the tray  allow you to artistically place the seedlings into an believable arrangement.

Chan's diagrams for group plantings--worth studying

Author Peter Chan's book Bonsai Master Class has an excellent chapter on creating forest plantings.  He suggests the use of seed trays to create the forest, and has photos of the process.  Additionally, he discusses such artistic points as how use empty space in the composition and how to create a senses of perspective by using seedlings of varying sizes-- largest near the front and offset center, smaller toward the back and side.  He also adds considerations such as the larger trees will dominate the competition for light and so smaller trees will often bend, turn or angle slightly away from the larger one.   In some, for example the smaller trees on the outer edge will angle slightly outward.  See the pattern diagrams from Chan's book for good ideas on where to place seedlings in group plantings.

Planting your seedling group on a slab now is also an option, and a few members did this several  years ago at a club workshop.   At the meeting, Ken will walk us through the process of building the slab arrangement with use of sphagnum moss and other soil types to accomplish the planting. The photos of Gib's larch forest was actually done at the past club workshop, and it continues to thrive and develop.

Again, please think about what you want to do with your seedlings before the April meeting so you know what to bring.  If you plan to begin working on your project, you will need :bring tools, soil, and containers for either individual trees or group planting.  Some members may instead want to just keep their seedlings moist and then pot them up at home.  

Much thanks to our own charter member Ken Huth of Ken's World of Bonsai for acquiring the larch seedlings for this project and for all of his help and expertise.  Greatly appreciated--on this club project, as well as many others.  See Ken's website for more on his nursery:  http://www.kensworldofbonsai.com/

ACBS March Meeting: Natonal Bonsai Collection

Japanese maple of the National Collection in its spring colors

The photographs will speak for themselves at the ACBS March meeting when Mike shares slides of some of the trees from the National Bonsai Collection at the National Arboretum in Washington D.C.
Here's a brief rundown of items that were on exhibit at the time of the visit in March of 2011, and will be included in the slide show.

• The earlier (than N.E. Ohio) D.C. spring meant that several specimen maples were featured in the main courtyard, and they were just beginning to leaf out.  
• Several dormant deciduous trees allowed for an unobstructed view of their finely tapered trunks and branch structures.  
• A number of sizable and very old pines--one that dated to the 1600's and originally a gift to the United States from Japan-- were also on exhibit.   
• Trees by the legendary American Bonsai artist John Naka.  In particular Naka's famous forest planting that makes ample use of perspective was on display (see photo below).
• Tropical bonsai
• You'll be inspired by more abstract and "wild" tradition of the trees in the Chinese pavilion.  You instantly know you are in a different world. (see photo below)
• Also of interest to club members: photos of many remarkable, large-sized viewing stones and their custom-carved wooden stands.  

So don't miss the photos and discussion of these amazing and inspiring "big-league"e trees.

John Naka's famous forest

Exceptional Japanese maple just leafing out in March 2011

Dramatic Motion of Chinese trees

Jeff Carr of Staselwood Bonsai Discusses Soil, Pots, & Tree Qualites at February Meeting

ACBS enjoyed some in-depth discussions with Jeff Carr, well-known Ohio bonsai artist and owner of Staselwood Bonsai Studio  http://staselwoodbonsai.com/. In the past, Jeff has given the club some noteworthy lessons. In September 2010, Jeff's extreme bending demonstration was especially well received ( see post http://akroncantonbonsai.blogspot.com/2010/09/extreme-bending-by-jeff-carr.html).

Jeff Car of Staselwood Bonsai in Newark, Ohio

Jeff went into much detail about creating an effective soil mix for bonsai.  He talked about how it was important to keep in mind your needs when considering a mix.  First, there's the unpredictable Ohio weather. And there are also considerations about our life-styles.  Because most of us work full time, it may not be practical to expect to be able to water daily.  This piece of our daily routines translates into a mix that includes sufficient organic material, such as pine bark, into the the soil.  It allows us to care for our trees without having to do constant watering. He noted that due to this watering issue, he uses the same soil mix for nearly all of his trees.  Some of the ingredients Jeff talked about were the organic components.  He prefers pine bark mulch which he sifts to get an appropriate size and eliminate dust particles. For inorganic he likes to use material like haydite (fired shale) or forms of hydroponic fired clay. He also believes that sharp types of inorganic, such as grower size turkey grit, are important for both root development and good drainage.

Jeff discusses ways to improve ACBS trees from past shows

Jeff also discussed artistic qualities to consider when selecting a pot for a tree.  He discussed proper proportions of the trunk thickness with the thickness of a pot, as well as paying attention to the the direction of energy that the tree's movement displays.  Branches extending beyond the pot, as well as the front of the pot that is about the same size as the crown.  He also took time to discuss things to think about when choosing the color of shape of a pot: dark ones tend to look heavier, rounded ones tend to have a more "feminine" quality.

Jeff also took the time to make a brief study of pictures from our past shows, posted on our gallery site http://picasaweb.google.com/akroncantonbonsai    He pointed out issues to consider when placing a bonsai on a stand-- off center with the energy moving to the longer side.  He discussed pot arrangements that might improve the character of some trees, as well as other design issues, such as
older trees having more rounded crowns, and a rule of thumb on the direction that the crown faces: if the tree begins by bending to the left, the tree look more balanced if the crown bends to the left.

Thanks again to Jeff helping again to improve the skills of our club members.

ACBS’s Project Tree of the Year: The American Larch or Tamarack

Collected larch 100+ years

ACBS June show

First a personal note about this species.  (Feel free to skip down to the second paragraph, if you like.)  The larch--tamarack-- is probably my favorite species. It is the best of all worlds. They don’t seem to be bothered much by insect pests; their trunks form terrific shapes and textures, and their branches layer out nicely.  While it is a cone bearing tree, its soft needles turn yellow to gold in the fall, giving it a fine, almost soft-looking fall color (see photos). Its spring colors, though, are my favorite. The vibrant green foliage has such a fresh shade of green that it just makes you happy to look at it. It is the green of light coming through the canopy when translucent leafs light up like church glass. It is also a green like wet moss, ferns and lichens. There is no question in my mind that sunlight on this brilliant, spring, tamarack-green strums some primordial chord. It recalls a time when people were more connected with the forest. In short, it is the green of some ancestral home, a green of tranquility. I cannot say enough about this emotional connection it makes for me with the way its color reacts with the sunlight. Working with them, their spring color slips your eyes into a wide open vision, and open mind. I just love them. For bonsai, they are well worth the time and effort.

The larch is a deciduous conifer-- that is a cone bearing tree, but drops all its foliage in the fall.  The American larch or tamarack  (larix laricina) is described in Wikipedia as:  

a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon … to Newfoundland, and also south into the northeastern United States from Minnesota to .. West Virginia…The name Tamarack is the Algonquian name for the species and means “wood used for snowshoes.”

Grown in open ground for several years

In the fall, you can easily spot them from a distance because of their particular shade of yellow. Last November while driving on I-80, I saw a couple of groves of them in their full color on a steep hill side in eastern Pennsylvania. I was disappointed that I couldn't get to my camera in time for a picture.

Larch grove in fall and summer

A larch’s spruce-like outline allows it to work well for most style of bonsai (except broom-style).  They make excellent formal or informal upright, literati, cascades or group plantings.  The photographs show several examples.  The top photos show a 100+ year old collected larch, on the left is a group planting in fall and summer, and on the right is a developing bonsai about a 15 years old, that was grown in the open ground for several seasons to help thicken its trunk. During that time, the trunk was pruned several times to create a gently curving trunk. It was put in a training pot about 2 years ago. 

Part of the club’s plan for this tree is to order many seedlings.  The seedlings can be made into neat forest plantings.  Members can also plant seedlings individually in pot for a few seasons, prune them for use as individual bonsai or group plantings.  Members may also want to plant some in the open ground to allow them to add some girth, if they are going to be used as individual bonsai. You can do some preliminary pruning to work on the trunk shape while it is in the ground, but these will be more like five year projects.  Ken may have some larch for sale that he has been developing in pots for the past several years, and one of these trees may be a good choice for some. 

Larch's natural growth habit forms a spruce-like outline

You can see the larch's natural growth habit, forming a spruce-like outline in the photo below (with my daughter and me).  It is useful to understand this growth habit/shape if you are making a group or forest planning.  As new shoots form on your forest planting, you may want to wire them in a more downward direction so your group planting will more closely resemble the shape in the photograph.

For winter care, trees can be healed into the ground in an area where it has some protection from the wind (I like areas around the house in between shrubbery). Then cover the pot with a layer of mulch or straw.  As the larch is winter hardy, it will do just fine. 

Mature larch in a park in Stow

As with out black pine project last year, we'll be taking some photos, so we can keep a record of how our projects progress.   Don't be afraid to try both a group planting--even a three tree one can be attractive--and also try a few in nursery pots to prune and develop as individual bonsai.  Working with several will help you to become familiar with how to care for them. Below you can see the kind of planting that can be attained with larches.  This ambitious project that Gib created at an ACBS workshop a few years ago speaks for itself.  With a little work, and time, you won't be disappointed. 
 

Two views of Gib's larch forest  --created at an ACBS workshop

After three seasons 

ACBS Kicks Off a Bonsai Agenda for the New Year +PLUS "the wizard"

ACBS's new president Matt Connelly presented an agenda of events for our club at the January meeting.  In addition to the meeting's presentation by Rich Snyder of the Lorain Botanical Gardens, a number of events are planned.  Among some of the coming attractions for this year are a program on picking the right pot for your trees by Jeff Carr, who did our extreme bending work last year;  a presentation by Andy Smith who is well know for his collected pines and spruces from the mountains of South Dakota; creating penjing planters;  and a possible exhibition in the gardens at Akron's famous Stan Hewit Hall.   Plus we'll continue to have plenty of club work on our own trees and a June show. 

Rich Snyder talks about the botanical gardens in Lorain.

The Magic

The wizard himself

Also, check the wonderful little boxwood that Ken clipped out during the business meeting (Not sure how closely he was listening, and, sorry, he moved too fast for a before pic). Very nice.  Ken is just a wizard when it comes to using a pair of clippers and especially when it  comes to doing something with small sized trees. He always pulls something cool out of his hat.