Alabama Bonsai Society

Watering is merely done to cool trees off right now, any drying of pots is a result of evaporation and the sun simply baking the moisture out of the pots. It seems all the trees need is a cooling off several times a day...but they’re lucky to get it twice in a day, never at the hottest times. Feeding was off for a few weeks, and just hit them last night with fish emulsion as a foliar spray to let it sit on the leaves all night. The temperatures are finally resting at 70 overnight, and this week it’s supposed to be in the lower 90s...actually a break!

I’m playing with videos of the trees (click here), or http://www.nebaribonsai.com/Nebari_Bonsai_112109/Video.html, and hope to incorporate them into some of the presentations I’m working on (or vice-versa). Sounds like a great winter project, so for now, I’m shooting everything I can so I’ll have plenty of material to work with this winter when they’re all tucked away.

I’ve started turning my attention to junipers a little lately. Since the collecting trip in May, they’ve kind of been on the top of the study pile. 2 of the 3 I collected are doing well; the best of the three (this one) is still quite green, I’m told. I styled a shimpaku with Kathy Shaner, it’s a work in progress, and recently got a GREAT Itoigawa juniper from Brent Walston at www.evergreengardenworks.com. I decided long ago that if I was going to have junipers or trident maples, they had to be great; since they’re far too common to have mediocre ones.

Finally, I’m working on 2 new documents, one chronicle of a black pine I started at a club workshop with Guy Guidry and continued last fall. It’s coming along and will be dynamic after this fall’s work. The other document is summer pruning and fall work of corkbark black pines...it’s going to be the most comprehensive information you’ll find out there...

Stay cool!
Brian Van Fleet

 
The heat is ON…
 
Summer Work
 
Over the years, I’ve noticed that I tended to do major work on the trees in the wintertime, but during the summertime, I wasn’t advancing the trees as they grew.  I am working on a Zelkova that I cut back to 15” from a 48” “finished” tree a few years ago.  I let the branches go for several summers, cutting it back hard in the winter, and looked back to see that I really hadn’t gotten anywhere.  This year, I decided to stay on top of it; pinching every shoot from 5 leaves back to 2 leaves.  Anytime a shoot stretched out to 5 leaves, I nipped it back to one or two.  This year, the tree has responded with growth so rampant, that every day it needs a little attention, and it’s getting quite full.  It’s still a few years away from a “finished” state, but had I worked on it this way a couple years ago, the tree would be further along.
Summertime work is just as important as the major operations that are carried out in the wintertime.  Usually it’s as simple keeping a pair of scissors on the bench and tidying up the trees as part of daily watering.
 
Here are some July tips
Feed well, using plenty of Nitrogen and supplement with foliage drenches of fish or kelp fertilizer, add new cakes if necessary.
Watering becomes a twice-daily chore now, and you’ll want to move tender trees into more sheltered locations.  Beeches, hornbeams and azaleas that appreciated lots of sun up until now will start to wither in our heat.
Pines candles are mostly open by now, candle-cutting starts at the beginning of the month for Black Pines by removing ALL weak candles…found on lower and interior branches.  Those branches get a head start putting out the second flush of growth before removing medium-strength candles 10 days later. Watch water needs now, we want them on the dry side as new growth emerges.  20 days after removing weak candles, remove the remaining, strong candles.  Feed well and watch the tree put on a new flush of tiny needles!

So here is the “haul”...5 great Rocky Mountain Junipers and 12 Ponderosa Pines. All tagged, bagged, and ready to roll out. We worked 2 full days collecting, and another full day just getting everything into the ground or grow boxes. Oh, and did I mention that this was a 3500 mile trip from B’ham? I’m beat, and sadly, have nothing here to show for it...everything’s up in Iowa. Good way to leave it alone to recover until it’s strong again!