BSD NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 MARCH 2019 B onsai Society of …

1 BSD NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 MARCH 2019 Bonsai Society of Dallas, Box 836922, Richardson, TX 75083-6922 b onsai Society of Dallas Message from the Vice President Monthly Member NEWSLETTER MARCH 2019 Advice January Meeting in Review LSBF Convention Update BSD BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sylvia Smith, President Paul Muraida, Vice President, Program Chair Chuck Talley, Treasurer Diane Lowe, Secretary Jerry Riley, Member Relations John Miller, President Emeritus Les Porter, NEWSLETTER Editor Mary Polk, Member at Large Hiram Quinones, Member at Large Board of Directors President, Vacant Emily White, Vice President/Program Chair Ben Karlson, Secretary Bill Muto, Treasurer Chandra Vemulapalli, Membership Chair csvemula@gmail Haiying Huang, NEWSLETTER Editor Luis Alex Lebron, Webmaster Luis Alex Lebron, Social Media Chair Brian Myers, Member at Large John Borusheski, Member at Large Howard Smith, LSBF Delegate John Miller, President Emeritus Sylvia Smith, Past President In This Issue Message from the Vice President MARCH program February Program Review MARCH Bonsai Tips and Advice Upcoming Events Bonsai on the Bayou Beginner Bulletin Board Tip of the Month MARCH To Do List Only one month stands between us and the American Bonsai Society National Convention!

2 I am looking forward to seeing you there in Houston. It s going to be a once in a decade event! If you have not registered yet, act now to get your registration in for the convention next month! We had another fun and fruitful club dig at Mr. George Straw s property in Whitesboro. He was gracious enough to give us a tour of his ranch, allow us to dig a variety of trees on his property, and even join us for lunch afterwards. It is always fun to hunt in the forest for bonsai. I know that members dug winged elms, junipers, and beautyberry trees. Many thanks to him for his hospitality. Remember that our normal MARCH meeting is replaced with our BSD Bonsai Exhibition ( , club show), so be sure to volunteer to make our club show a success. Invite your friends and family to North Haven Gardens to enjoy our living art. BSD Bonsai ExhibitionMarch 1-3 at North Haven Gardens. To submit your trees for the exhibit, please send a picture of your tree to Sylvia at or 972-754-9883.

3 Helpers are needed to set up and man the show. No experience necessary. Please log on to the signup genius and choose a time to help out. #!/showSignUp/5080b49a8aa2ca3fa7-bonsai BSD NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 MARCH 2019 Bonsai Society of Dallas, Box 836922, Richardson, TX 75083-6922 MARCH Program Club Show Weekend 9 AM to 5 pm, MARCH 2nd 9 AM to 4 pm, MARCH 3rd North Haven Gardens Our club show is almost here! One of the last stages of tree preparation is to apply moss to the trees. The recent rain may have perked our moss up so we may be in luck. After collecting moss break off pieces about half dollar size and remove the excess solid from the bottom so that the pad is flat. Sieve sphagnum moss through a small sized hole sifter and add a fine top layer of sphagnum to the tree. Wet it down before beginning the moss application process. Apply the pieces of moss and use a chopstick to help fit them in place.

4 Try to match the flow of the hairs of moss when using longer moss varieties. Fill in the gaps with very fine lava particles and sweep off the excess. This is the secret to making the moss look like it has been growing on a tree for years. If you are lucky enough to have moss, please harvest and bring it to share. We also need to bring other items into a display, including stands, suiseki, and companion plants. Companion plants or kusamono are an essential addition to any show so even if you aren t able to display a tree, you can contribute to the show my creating a companion or two. As a reminder for judging we use a point system and each tree should be evaluated and scored in the following 5 categories: Trunk (1-10 points), Ramification (1 5 points), Nebari (1 5 points), Pot Selection (1 5 points), and Overall Display (1 5 points). There will be a Member s Choice Award, based on your evaluation and we will also have a People s Choice award for our guests to pick a favorite.

5 February Program in Review Study group with the Bonsai Smiths Our second program of the 2019 was another fun and hands-on experience led by Sylvia and Howard. There was plenty of action as members repotted their trees. We even saw the one-seed juniper that was recently won at our club auction come in for fresh soil. For those with many trees, this season can be very busy and good after-care of a repotted tree is essential. Remember to wait at least 4 weeks after repotting before resuming fertilization. Thank you to the Bonsai Smiths for their guidance and help in a fun program! MARCH 11-12, 2019 Lodder Bonsai Open Days, Harmelen, Netherlands MARCH 2-10, 2019, Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA Mach 25-31, 2019, Bonsai Week 2019, National Arboretum Canberra, Australia MARCH 23-24, 2019 California Bonsai Society Show, San Marino, California April 11-14, 2019 Bonsai on the Bayou, Houston Texas April 13-14, 2019 Spring Bonsai Show, Salt Lake City, Utah April 26-28, 2019, Arco Bonsai, Arco, Italy May 2-4, 2019, Omiya Bonsai Festival, Kita-ku, Saitama May 17-20, 2019, 32nd AABC National Bonsai Convention, Melbourne June 1, 2019 Las Vegas Bonsai Society Annual Bonsai Show, Las Vegas, Nevada June 15 and 16, 2019, Bonsai West, Delft, Netherlands EventsElsewhere Saturday, MARCH 2-3, 9am to 5pm Club Show Weekend Saturday, April 6th 9am to noon Better Bonsai Photos Saturday, April 27th NHG Spring Clubs & Societies Day Saturday, May 4th Guest Artist Austin Heitzman Saturday.

6 May 11th, Visiting Artist Owen Reich UpcomingEventsBSD NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 MARCH 2019 Bonsai Society of Dallas, Box 836922, Richardson, TX 75083-6922 MARCH Bonsai Tips and Advice By John Miller This year has been very unusual in the Dallas-Ft Worth area. I have not watered my outdoor trees at all this year (and that probably goes all the way back to Dec 1 of 2018) while Steven in Ft Worth has been pretty dry. Other areas might also have been weird. You have to adjust your care and not just follow a set pattern or a timetable you read out of a book. Regardless of where you live in Texas, there are probably three things calling for your immediate attention. Repotting is still being needed; new growth is running rampant and needs to be controlled; and you must keep any tree to be exhibited at the spring shows well groomed. Throw on top of that an aphid invasion or some scale and you should be plenty busy.

7 After growth starts, some species can take a couple degrees of frost but unless you know what your particular tree can take you should keep it from freezing. Also, newly growing roots are tenderer. In this area you should keep the new foliage out of the strong winds; however they should have some breeze to help harden the new foliage and to help prevent insects and fungal diseases. By this time most of you have finished repotting the early breaking species. Late starting species like the yaupons and most oaks might still be candidates for repotting this year. In order to develop the ramification and fine twigs you want you must be pruning the new growth as its develops. Waiting until the shoots are three or four inches or longer results in coarse twigs with long internodes. These will have to be cut off and new ones developed if you are to have a good bonsai. Essentially there are two kinds of growing habits, those with leaves growing alternately on the twigs, elms, oak, and hawthorn, and those with opposite growing leaves, maple.

8 The alternate growing leaves start out with small leaves and each succeeding leaf will be larger and the internodes longer. Also each leaf will have a latent bud in each leaf axial. If you let the shoot grow to 4 or 5 new leaves and cut it back to 2 or 3, you will be keeping smaller leaves and also getting twice as many growing tips on each branch and each will be a finer twig. Keep this up and you will soon have nice development on the branches of your bonsai. In determining whether to cut to two or three, note the direction that you wish the end of the branch to take and cut to the leaf which has the bud on that side of the branch. Note: If last year s twig has been let grow long it should be cut back to the first 2-3 buds and start over. Tweezers are almost a necessity in refinement working on maples. The opposite growing leaves clasp the new growing tip and will be extending from the old bud but on a lengthening stem.

9 If the new tip is taken off as soon as the leaves separate, the result is that the leaves will be smaller and the stem will stop lengthening. Then two new tips will pop from the new leaf axials and you will repeat the tip plucking. Tweezers work much better for this job. I will sometimes separate the new pair of leaves from the new tip with tweezers but be careful not to bruise them. As the weather warms up the insects will surely make their appearance. Use the foliar spray (1 tablespoon each of fish emulsion, liquid kelp, molasses, and 5% apple cider vinegar per gallon of water) as often as necessary to control aphid, mites, caterpillars, etc. Spring usually means wet weather so weather for fungal problems such as blackspot. I usually only get it on hollys and elms. You can use a 1% solution of hydrogen peroxide or baking soda spray for fungal problems. Do not mix baking soda with the foliar spray or any other acid.

10 Fertilizing is necessary once the trees start to grow. Too many trees exhibited do not have a good dark green foliage. Since we are using soilless mixes for BSD NEWSLETTER PAGE 4 MARCH 2019 Bonsai Society of Dallas, Box 836922, Richardson, TX 75083-6922 the most part, a different technique is required than used for most potted plants. Water soluble chemical fertilizers should be used at half strength and more often since they will wash out with the next watering. The same is more or less true with liquid organic fertilizers. The best technique is to use solid organic fertilizers. Fertilizer cakes on the surface is the best way. They break down slowly and a small amount is carried into the root zone each time you water. Pelletized organic material can be spread on the surface also but they tend to crumble to create an undesirable surface and fill the open space in the soil.