ACBS Penjing Project Moves to Next Phase

At its April meeting ACBS members discussed several different types of plants that might for cascading and upright trees to be planted in the rock cavities. Samples of two varieties of dwarf boxwood, a type of small honeysuckle, juniper and spruce were discussed.   Smaller companion material and types of moss was also
considered to add perspective and differences in height on the composition  be used began working on creating the boundary lines that will help define the land land water features of the tray landscape.

For this feature part of the project, it was important that all members who are developing a section brought their sections so that the feature boundary lines of each section would neatly fold into each of the adjoining sections. This would ensure that the entire composition would flow together when completed.

Working from the master blueprint, guidelines for the
boundaries were drawn freehand on each section. Then a thick bead of construction adhesive was applied over the lines.  Members pressed bits of crushed rock into the adhesive beads to form the shoreline-like ridges.  The crushed rock was chipped off of discarded section  of the same type of tufa-like rock that was used elsewhere on the planting.  In some places this borderline feature already had the appearance of sand as well as a rough textured look. Once the adhesive has dried, the loose pieces and dust will be vacuumed away.  It is important not to rub off the loose material, as it is quite abrasive, and in parts it has scratched the dark blue Corian material that was used to make the trays.

ACBS member Carlton Buck offered to store and begin working making a frame like sections made from aluminium angle edging.  This edging will be attached to some of the sides to hold soil where there are raised land features on the planting.
An architect by profession, it was easy to see where Carlton's professional skills of familiarity with materials, organization, planning and vision have carried over into this composition as a whole.  In other words, it already just looks cool.

ACBS Workshop: Ken Makes Erodium Magic

Just cut erodium in clump style: a new flush of leaves will follow

"For beginners, it is an ideal practice and learn material. You can learn many basic ideas about designing, shaping and refining bonsai from working with erodiums.  You can create any of the traditional styles like and learn how to create some fine branching and how to reduce the size of the leaves--all in a short turn around time."  --Ken Huth

It was almost like the history of bonsai in miniature.  At the March ACBS meeting, Ken led the group through a demonstration on creating a small bonsai from an erodium right out of a nursery container.  This small ground-cover weed lives easily on any kitchen window sill and is known to flower regularly. Ken explained the concept of just learning to take what the plant gives you to create a "mame" or miniature bonsai.  For the demonstration, he showed how to rake out and cut back the roots.   As these plants put out considerable roots for their size, periodic repotting is necessary.   He also explained how to clean out the overgrown foliage to expose the trunks and to begin to create a miniature bonsai.

Ken cut the demonstration examples back pretty far.  He explained that as with other species of trees, heavy pruning forces the tree to respond.  He noted that the erodiums would in  few weeks put on a second flush of smaller leaves.  Then removing the larger ones again would continue to refine the pant.  Over time, a tight small-leafed foliage umbrella would result.  These particular plants bore nice-sized trunks for something right from the nursery, and the heavy foliage yielded a good number of cuttings.

As is typical, the opening each nursery plant is a bit of a surprise. It was a lesson in how to take what the tree gives you, and working with it. Some of the plants worked into small cascade styles, while other members created root-over -rock plantings, and most members also had an ample number of cutting to root up for future projects.

Ken has worked with erodiums now for a number of years, and has grown to love them.  He believes
they are an ideal plant for someone new to bonsai.  On the use of this small plant and what it can he commented that "For beginners, it is an ideal practice and learn material. You can learn many basic ideas about designing, shaping and refining bonsai from working with erodiums.  You can create any of the traditional styles like and learn how to create some fine branching and how to reduce the size of the leaves--all in a short turn around time."

A few club members still had their erodiums from a workshop Ken did for the club about 15 years ago,and have been exhibited in past ACBS shows.  Hopefully, those planted in this workshop will do as well, and we will see some in our next club show this summer --leafed out and in full bloom.

March Meeting will Feature Erodiums with Ken

by Michael Rusnak
In the first years of the club's existence, Ken Huth introduced us all to erodiums, a sort of ground cover weed, to make miniature bonsai.  Some members planted them over rocks, while others just potted them up and let them flower and thrive on their kitchen window sills.  Plus if in the course of pulling off dead or overgrown leaves, you happen to break something, the broken piece will readily propagate.  One of our past presidents had so many cuttings he used to give each new member one from his original plant. From time to time, erodiums from that original club workshop will appear in ACBS exhibits. The photos at the left is Carlton's erodium in a unique copper wire pot, and on the right is Mike R's in a of Dave C's hand-made salt glazed pot. Both very cool. 

A Barbie-doll sized one in Ken's greenhouse

A visit to Ken's greenhouse shows that he has developed erodiums into just about every classical style.  Twisty trunks, cascades, literati, root over rock and broom style to name just a few.  Often flowering, their twisted shapes in Barbie-Doll sized pots just look cool.  This section of Ken's green house sort of makes you wonder if Barbie herself didn't talk her boy friend into working with these plants.

Anyway, it turned out the erodiums were just plain fun to work with, especially in the winter months when our hearty trees are put up and you just want to satisfy your hunger for bonsai. Visitors just love them, especially if they catch them with their colorful blossoms. Also, erodiums really are trouble free plants for the most part.  Aside from remembering to water them, you only have to re-pot them a couple of times per year.  This is important because they do put out a lot of roots, but it really only takes minutes to do this small chore.

Ken prepares a root over rock

Ken suggests that members bring a golf ball sized porous rock to the meeting.  The plants can easily be held in place over the rock with with a rubber band.  He recommends using a tall container and completely burying the rock under the soil.  The tall can encourages roots to grow deep and vigorous. Then over time, sections of the upper part of the can and soil can be removed, gradually exposing the roots. Under the right conditions, a healthy erodium will wrap itself on the rock in no time, and will produce an easy root over rock style. 
(And just in case any of you don't think a weed is proper for bonsai, don't forget John Naka himself made a bonsai from a dandelion.)

Newer members to the club will not want to miss this workshop.  These fast shaping projects are an inexpensive way for someone new to the art to begin to learn how to visualize, develop, and care for a bonsai--and at the same time earn a quick and rewarding result. 

Penjing Cemented: A Little Epoxy Does It

Precise placement was the order of the day.  The blueprints were closely followed in order to maintain the overall scheme of the composition. A little scoring of the trays, some epoxy and the landscape rocks were in their positions.This included some rocks that were positioned upright as to give the appearance of steep peeks, an arching rock bridge--central to the composition as a whole--and smaller individual islands.


The next task will be to select and plant the miniature trees into the rock hollows.  Both evergreens and box woods are likely candidates.  Then we will begin to lay out the ground and water features.  It should be an awesome composition  when it is displayed (with a little luck) at our annual June exhibition.   Also, a note to club members: we still have one section in need of someone to develop it. Be a part of this unique project.

Work Continues on ACBS Penjing Landscape Project

At the January meeting, ACBS members began putting together the "nuts and bolts" of the penjing landscape project.  As noted in an earlier post, the landscape project covers a wide area equal to the size of a large counter top, approximately 8 feet by 3 feet.  The area has been divided into 14 different sections, or trays, with each tray to be developed by an ACBS member.  Each tray planting is conceived so that it could stand on its own as a small individual composition, and at the same time, the 14 sections can be fitted together to form one large landscape.

Legs on underside of tray

 The first hurtle was over come as Carlton brought the individual penjing trays to the meeting. Each tray had been cut to size from a single sheet of deep blue Corian, a durable synthetic material used to make kitchen counter tops.  In addition, the underside of the cut trays was fitted like a low table with legs made of stacked Corian.  This raised and supported them as to appear similar to classic penjing trays.  The sides of the trays were neatly sanded and polished flush.  This time consuming task was in itself a noteworthy accomplishment and gave the project a good initial boost.  


Much of the meeting was spent piecing together the landscape in total and selecting areas of the stone where plants would be located.  Some collaboration and visualization was needed to make sure that interesting features in the stones were kept undisturbed, that plants from one section would flow with the next, and the placement of the stones from one section would align itself into the overall design.  Much care was taken to try to maintain the cohesiveness of the overall landscape.

Preparing for the plants required some drilling and gouging in the stones.  Die grinders with a rasp tool and power drills were used to create hollows for small trees and plants, and members took turns doing this task.  In drilling out the hollows, it was important to place the them at a proper angle to allow some plants to cascade over the side of a stone or reach straight upward--and to also to ensure that plants, would not interfere with any of the objects in the adjacent trays.


One issue that has not yet been solved is the problem of finding a material to create the boarders between the land and water feature areas.  Such materials as gorilla glue, silicone window caulk, and others have  been suggested.   Several members are experimenting with how well these materials work and how natural they can be made to look with the addition of sand or soil.

Next up will be the selection of pant materials for the project.  Several small species are being considered, mostly evergreens.  The whole project should begin to take shape as the spring months approach.  Stay tuned; more to come.

Winter: a Good Time for Study

by Michael Rusnak
While our hardy trees are dormant and tucked away under the mulch and snow, winter is the time of the year when you might have a chance to do some bonsai studying--and perhaps hone or expand on bonsai skills, get ideas for projects, and maybe find some inspiration from other clubs, books and posts from other tree people.

A project in DeGroot's book

This time of the year I like to sit and review some of my favorite books.  One book that I come back to again and again is a small book by David DeGroot, entitled Basic Bonsai Design.  It that was designed for workshops, and is a small wire bound book.  What I have always liked about it is that it lays out some basic principals along with a few projects where the author begins with nursery stock. For someone new to the art, it shows a clear path for creating your own bonsai.  He discusses the process of visualizing and planning a project, making the initial pruning and wiring to begin to develop the tree.  It is concisely written and easy to follow.  I used this section several years ago when I started some literati pine projects. I thought it was very helpful. The book is available through the American Bonsai Society at this link for $16.

The internet is an inexhaustible library for information to help with bonsai skills and ideas.  I enjoy looking at photos of the trees that other clubs publish. It's just exciting to see what other clubs and well-known bonsai artists produce.  There are two places that I really like and have found myself going back to over and over again--one for just plain and simple joy and inspiration, and another that excites me to think more ambitiously about working on seemingly impossible material.

Example of inspiring sequence on TedyBoy's blog

For inspiration, there is nothing quite like looking at the remarkable array of trees by the Indonesian bonsai artist Tedy Boy.  The photos and drawings on his blog are just a marvel. If nothing else, take a look at what he does with shimpaku junipers.  The shapes that he works the trees into are simply exciting to see and they sort of pull you out of the box of what you might have been thinking you could do with some of your own projects.  Here's another link to another gallery post that show lots of sketches.  Just scroll down and click on any of the photos. 

The second internet spot that I have kept going back to are the Youtube posts by the English bonsai artist Graham Potter. Potter has made me think about how I might be able to move to the next level and reach for more ambitious projects and ways of creating bonsai.  Also, he often works on material that is similar to what I like best-- an old beat up shrub that the neighbors have ripped out of their lawns and put out on the curb. His series of videos are practically an on-line course in the art of carving and conceiving what can be done with this type of large material. Take a moment or two to watch one of his videos, you won't be disappointed and it will start you thinking of what projects are possible if you can get that discarded shrub to live in a pot.

Shapes on the Winter Skyline

Winter is also a good opportunity to really study shapes.  The bare winter tree lines with their black branches against the gray sky make for a wonderful study of shapes.

One of the skills that I most admire in other bonsai people is the ability to make a good, interesting and believable apex. Along the winter skyline, you can catch some of the phenomenal apexes that nature creates.  Sometimes the snow sort of highlights curves and features of trees. If you have a camera handy, photographing such magnificent trees can serve as a reference of what trunk movement near the top really looks like.  They can also inspire. The old Scots pine (photo) near a cemetery in Kent, Ohio is practically a classic literati bunjin style.  Nature just shows you how its done.

Anyway, that will keep you thinking and getting ready for a new season.  The best is yet to come.

Ideas for Protecting Your Hardy Trees for the Winter

by Michael Rusnak
This is a mostly repeat of an earlier post from a few years ago, but then again getting trees ready for winter is an annual task, so  the ideas bear repeating.

Although pines and other winter hardy trees need their dormant period rest, because bonsai are kept in shallow pots there is a danger of your trees drying out, or being damaged during the winter months.  Without some protection, winter may weaken or damage a bonsai, or in some cases, an unprotected tree may not survive.  So some protection of the roots is prudent to keep the tree moist and healthy.

One way used by many of our club members, and that has worked for my own pines over many seasons is to heel the tree into the ground, along with a covering of mulch. Good spots for heeling in your trees include land scaped areas near the house.  Such locations give you the added benefit of wind protection from the house and in between shrubbery.  Plus you may already have plenty of mulch in these areas.
To do this I simply use a rake or garden hoe to pull away the landscaping mulch.  I like to carve a long shallow trench about as deep as the pots.  The long trench allows me to put up several trees at once and it seems much quicker than trying to heel them one at a time.  Once a shallow trench is cleared, just place the trees in the trench, and rake the dirt back in and around the potted trees.   Then pull some mulch back over the pots as well.  Below is a photo of some of my trees heeled in and covered for the season.

Trees healed into a shallow trench and covered with mulch

For most trees, I've typically heeled them pot and all, as long as the pot is of such quality that it can withstand the freezing without cracking apart.  If you are unsure about your pot, healing the tree into the ground works just as well if you slip you bonsai out of the pot.  From experience with, it is disappointing in the spring to bring the bonsai out of the ground and find that your pot has burst apart from the frost. So take note as to how the pot is going to hold up. 

I also like to use the tomato garden for some of my larger plants. It is close to the area where I keep a lot of the larger trees that I work with, so I don't have to carry them as far, and it seems to work real well for the bigger pines.  During a lot of winters, they stay coated with snow.

In the tomato garden

Another handy spot that I use are the window wells around the house.  In these spots, I put trees that are still in good-sized nursery pots.  The sunken well is handy and well out of the wind. Adding a little straw around the pots will also help protect the trees and is not too hard to clean out in the spring.

Window well seems to work OK for some

Two maples packed in mulch in the garage

Lastly, I keep some of the less hardy trees like my Japanese maples in an unheated garage that is attached to the house.  Putting the bonsai into a plastic milk crates or shallow boxes and then packing some mulch around each pot is a way to help them stay moist and well protected. In the photo, two trees are fit into the crate by stacking them.  I set the larger one first into the crate with a layer of mulch packed around the pot and then stacked the smaller onto it, and finishing with a second layer of mulch.

Also, since they are in the garage, keep in mind that dormant trees will still use a little water. Be sure to check these trees occasionally. Watering them is necessary.  Be especially vigilant if your trees are in very shallow pots.  I lost two prized maples a few winters ago that happened to be in shallow pots, and were watered the same as those in deeper ones.  But at some point the moister wasn't adequate and trees had dried out. It was painful to loose two incredible maples. So keep a close eye  on them.

Hopefully, your trees will emerge healthy and ready for the new season with a nice flush of enlightening bright green foliage.  After, all "If winter comes can spring be far behind?"