April Bonsai Newsletter
SPRING HAS FINALLY SPRUNG... . We hope everyone is enjoying the spring flush of growth everywhere, there is just something about that spring green color. Now is a good time to be looking at the Oaks while their leaves are off and you can get a close look at their branching, if that doesn’t give you some inspiration then you best check for a pulse. Everything at the nursery is popping out like crazy, already been seeing a lot of butterflies and heard my first Hummingbird, that tells me it is time to start bringing plants out of the greenhouse. It’s always fun finding those little treasures you stashed away in the fall and seeing them again, all flushed out and ready to be styled.
WHAT’S NEW... We have been busy building new benches in the center of the nursery so we can have more pre-bonsai for you to choose from. We are redoing a lot of the nursery area this spring so we can have room for more bonsai. It is getting us behind in some of our spring duties, but it is going to be worth it, wait till you see the place next time you come. We should be done updating the area by the end of the month. We got in three shipments of pots last month so we have plenty to pick from now, and, oh yeah, I have already been picking, but I left a bunch for you.
FERTILIZE... You can start feeding most of your trees now. Wait until the leaves have hardened off on your deciduous trees before feeding them. Also wait on any of your tropicals that you plan on defoliating. I apply a timed release fertilizer now. You can incorporate a little into the soil and then top dress the soil to hide it. When using a timed release fertilizer be careful not to use too much and watch for any salt build up. It is wise to learn about fertilizing your trees, there are so many variables when it comes to fertilizing a bonsai. If you want to thicken branches or the trunk, you can feed it more nitrogen. If you have an older tree with fine ramification, you don’t want to feed it anymore then you absolutely have to for optimum health. You do not want to overfeed your trees, it will promote too much growth that you will end up drastically having to prune off later in the season, increase your leaf size and lengthen the internodes.
PRUNING... If you have Maples you should be very busy pinching the growth tips back, this is a daily task this time of year, but it is the only way to keep your internodes short. Your Cypress will be budding out all over, keep all growth pinched off except for on the branches you want, don’t cut the smaller green branches until the branch starts to turn brown. Elms will need to be steadily pruned back to the first or second node. Your tropicals coming out of winter can be pruned back hard, prune farther back than your original style to improve taper and allow for rapid growth, or you will be doing it again soon. You can start defoliating some of your tropicals now to reduce the leaf size if needed, if not, keep your larger leaves pruned and keep pinching those growth tips off.
INSECTS... Along with the flush of new growth come those pesky little buggers wanting to eat it. Now is when you should pay careful attention so as to prevent infestations. As Barney Fife would say “nip it in the bud”. If any of your Ficus have deformed leaves, open one up and you will probably see Thrips, a systemic insecticide will take care of them. Aphids love new growth and come out with a vengeance now, spraying them with a little soapy water will get them. Watch your yard for Georgia Lubbers, they are small black grasshoppers with an orange racing stripe down their back, they hatch out in groups. If they grow up, they turn into monsters! When I see them I give them the old song and dance, I sing a little song while I dance all over them.
2011
TOOL OF THE MONTH
Now that you have your basic tools there are more specific tools you will want to look into. We first started with the red handle pruning shears, which are great for everyday pruning. When we begin to be more specific in our pruning there are a few pruning shears that fit those needs. There are: Ashinaga, Satsuki Hasami, Kiri Hasami and Ohkubo Hasami Shears. The main differences in them are the handle, which will make them more comfortable to use, the length for reaching into the branches and the thinness, also for reaching into the branches. I mainly use the Kiri Hasami shear, which is thin with a 2" blade and 8" overall length, good for pruning small branches well into the tree. Also good for tip pruning, they stay very sharp.
A SPECIAL THANK YOU
Linda and I want to take a moment and thank all of our volunteers that graciously devote their time and skill to help us, without them we would not be able to do all that we do. THANK YOU!!!!!!