Conejo Valley Bonsai Society

Conejo Valley
Bonsai Society
A member of the Golden State Bonsai Federation
Graphic by Paul Centeno © Conejo Valley Bonsai Society
In This Issue
• President’s Message:
Happy Holidays &
New Year … 1
• CVBS Elections: Officers and
Chairs for 2010 … 1
• Club Event: Nagatoshi Demonstrates His Ample Juniper
Expertise … 2
• Events: Walter Pall Treats
Crowd to Bonsai
Philosophy and
Honest Critiques … 5
• Refreshments … 6
• Barrett’s Bonsai Tips:
Holiday Bonsai Break?
Forget it! … 6
• Membership … 7
• CVBS Future Programs … 7
• Coming Events … 8
• GSBF Event: 2010
Bonsai-A-Thon Needs
Volunteers … 8
• Bonsai Haiku … 8
V
O L U M E
6
N
U M B E R
1 2
D E C E M B E R
2 0 0 9
President’s Message
Happy Holidays & New Year
By Ken Fuentes
H
appy Holidays
Congratulations, we are coming up on the
end of another very successful year for the
club. We made great strides this year in membership, the quality of our Annual Exhibition at
Gardens of the World, and in adding our new
bonsai classes. We have great expectations
that these improvements will continue next
year and the board is making improvements to
accommodate our continued growth in 2010.
We will share these changes, which were discussed at our board meeting this month, with
you at the January meeting.
I would like to thank every member who
has given of his/her time and talents and would
like to encourage any member who has a talent
that
they
would like to
share with the
club to step
forward next
year.
Let’s have
a great Potluck
and remember
to bring you
check books
so you can
participate in
our
Holiday
Raffle
and
CVBS President Ken Fuentes
Auction.
Conejo Valley Bonsai Society 2010 Memberships
Reminder: Membership renewals for 2010 fall due on January 1. Please bring your check to the
next meeting or send your check to Marj Branson, 1169 Triunfo Canyon Road, Westlake Village,
CA 91361. Please make the check payable to Conejo Valley Bonsai Society.
CVBS on the Web
(Click on name to visit Web site.)
Conejo Valley Bonsai Society
CVBS CaféPress Store
CVBS Online Bonsai Gallery
Elections
Officers for 2010 Elected, Chairs Named
Other Bonsai Groups
(Click on name to visit Web site.)
Golden State Bonsai Federation
American Bonsai Society
National Bonsai Foundation
Bonsai Clubs International
Bonsai Club of Santa Barbara
California Aiseki Kai
Descanso Bonsai Society
Shohin Bonsai Society of So. Cal.
San Diego Bonsai Club
Dai Ichi Bonsai Kai
Sansui-Kai of So. Cal.
N
ew Conejo Valley Bonsai Society officers
were elected as scheduled at the club’s
November meeting. These officers will serve
from January 2010 through December 2010.
• President: Ken Fuentes
• Vice President: Kevin Kiely
• Corresponding Secretary/Treasurer:
Marjory Branson
• Recording Secretary: Ken Martin
The new officers also have appointed the
following committee chairs for 2010:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Newsletter: David Whiteside
Program: Deborah Ervin
Publicity: Guy & Deborah Ervin
Refreshments: Bob Stradling
Webmaster: Tom McGuire
Advisors: Nat Stein, Paul Centeno
The four officers, the committee chairs,
and the advisors constitute the CVBS Board.
Volunteers to help the chairs are urgently
needed. Please contact any board member or
the committee chairs directly to volunteer.
© 2009 CONEJO VALLEY BONSAI SOCIETY
Views expressed by authors are not necessarily those of the Conejo Valley Bonsai Society
Contact Us
(Click on E-mail to automatically
create a message.)
Officers
PRESIDENT
Ken Fuentes
Phone (805) 495-7480
E-mail Ken
VICE PRESIDENT
Paul Centeno
Phone (805) 648-6330
E-mail Paul
CORRESPONDING
SECRETARY/TREASURER
Marj Branson
Phone (805) 373-1330
E-mail Marj
RECORDING SECRETARY
Evans Thomas
Phone (805) 497-0327
E-mail Evans
PAST PRESIDENT/ADVISOR
Nat Stein
Phone (805) 374-9668
E-mail Nat
Committees
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
David E. Whiteside
Phone (805) 647-8803
E-mail David
PROGRAM CHAIR
Deborah Ervin
Phone (805) 495-8688
E-mail Deborah
PUBLICITY CO-CHAIRS
Guy & Deborah Ervin
Phone (805) 495-8688
E-mail Guy & Deborah
REFRESHMENTS CHAIR
Bob Stradling
Phone: (805) 558-5206
E-mail Bob
WEBMASTER
Tom McGuire
E-mail Tom
Conejo Valley
Bonsai Society
Meeting Place
Westlake Village City Hall
Community Room
31200 Oakcrest Drive
Westlake Village, CA 91361
Meeting Time
Club Event
Nagatoshi Demonstrates His
Ample Juniper Expertise
By Ken Martin
A
t the Conejo Valley Bonsai Society October 2009 meeting, Roy Nagatoshi selected
one of two junipers that our club provided him
to work on. These trees were donated by an
individual collector who was giving up the
hobby, and we got them without any information about the species, age, prior horticultural
‘prostrata’). In particular, he was quite sure they
are not San José junipers (Juniperus chinensis ‘San
José’), which have very sharp needles and rugged
bark and a lighter green color than these specimens. Roy likes San José junipers better as the
branches bend easier without breaking. Prostrata junipers have more scale growth and are
more blue-green.
Roy said you always want jins
and shari on junipers. He said if
you visit the mountains north of
us you will notice that California
junipers and bristlecone pines
that have been exposed to the
elements always have deadwood
on them.
When contemplating purchase of a tree, evaluate it as an
The demonstration tree before Roy Nagatoshi started working on it M.D. evaluates a human patient:
(above left) and after he and his assistant finished (above right).
• Health: Is it alive [and in
good health]?
practices, or history of training.
• Roots: Visible roots are very important.
Based on his examination, Roy said the two
With deciduous trees, new roots sometrees had artificial curves applied to the trunk by
times can be grafted, but that is very diffiwrapping it around some object such as a stake
cult with junipers.
when they were young. He was pretty sure the • Trunk: He didn’t say but implied it should
two trees are prostrata (Juniperus chinensis
have a taper. The demonstration juniper, he
said, has “nice movement but lacks taper.”
Roy first removed much of the foliage and created jinn.
• Branches: Are they well distributed
Note the small amount of foliage near the top jin—which
along the trunk, and will they bend easily?
he said was for insurance should something go wrong
The demonstration juniper, he obwith the rest of the styling of lower branches.
served, had plenty of branches all along
the trunk, and an intermediate student of
bonsai would use the whole trunk. “I
could wire them all and have a very nice
bonsai,” Nagatoshi noted, adding: “But I
want to do something more radical.”
When someone guessed from the audience that Roy was going to “cut the
whole top off at the first branch, he replied, “no, not that radical.”
In fact, he introduced a tight bend in
the first branch to complement the
movement in the main trunk—which he
jinned (see photos). He estimated that
7:30 PM – 9:00 PM
3RD Thursday of every month
2
(Continued on page 3)
CONEJO VALLEY BONSAI SOCIETY
DECEMBER 2009
(Continued from page 2)
the tree is about 20 years old.
Answering a question from the audience, he said it is best
to keep a tree on the dry side before working on it as the
branches will bend more easily.
Roy intentionally broke several branches that could not be
used in his design to see how much bending they would take
(for fun, see Bonsai Haiku, page 8). He also cut some of the
branches partway through before breaking them off. He said
this gives the break a more natural look as if it were done by
wind, snow, age, lightning, etc.
To explain his vision for this tree, Nagatoshi told this
imaginary story about it: There was a 20-year drought and this
old tree almost died. When the drought was over, one remaining live shoot low in the tree began to grow. This shoot grows
up in front of the old dead trunk.
So Nagatoshi essentially jinned the old trunk except for
one little branch near the top. He asked the audience if anyone knew why he did this. The only answer was; “Because it’s
pretty.”
“No”, he said, “The reason is it is my backup plan. If the
remaining live shoot gets broken in bending, the tree won’t
die.”
This primary branch has a lot of secondary branches. At
the base of these branches there were a lot of suckers. They
needed to come out as they would weaken the secondary
branches if allowed to remain.
He anchored two 5-mm aluminum wires in the soil,
wrapped them around the primary branch, and bent it. His
assistant, Alex Martinez, then finished the tree by wiring and
placing all the secondary branches. Roy then removed the
“pretty” little small branch at the top of the old trunk to the
moaning and gasping of some in the audience.
When asked about when the wire should be removed on
the demo tree, he said in about a year. If you notice wire digging into the bark earlier, just remove that section of wire.
Wire scars on junipers will go away in time—not so with deciduous trees.
Two 5-mm aluminum
wires (right) plus a
small notch in the
branch (above) prepare for a drastic
bend.
More Juniper Pointers
For the second part of the demonstration Roy discussed
junipers and how he uses them to make good bonsai.
Nagatoshi discussed foliage density, pointing out in particular that junipers such as the prostrata don’t have a tight mass
like a shimpaku (Juniperus chinensis, ‘Sargentii’), which he feels is
highly desirable. To correct this, he shears, not plucks (or
pinches), the foliage on prostrata, San José, and California junipers. He says this is the only way to get tight foliage on these
trees.
Others feel shearing junipers results in brown tips, so they
don’t do it. But Roy said if he shears his trees in November,
the brown will be gone in time for a March show.
However, he plucks the foliage on shimpaku. He said
shearing is not necessary for tight foliage on shimpaku.
In addition to the club-supplied demonstration tree, Roy
brought in a large San José juniper (he thinks) on which he
grafted one shimpaku whip on by the approach-graft method
three years ago (see photo, page 4).
He said he almost always approach grafts shimpaku whips
(Continued on page 4)
Roy started the major bend alone (above left), but needed some help from Alex (above right) to complete it.
DECEMBER 2009
CONEJO VALLEY BONSAI SOCIETY
3
Detail work—from
trimming tertiary
branches (left) to
cleaning out
‘garbage’ (above
right) and pad
formation (below
right) are critical
aspects of Roy
Nagatoshi’s approach to juniper
refinement.
(Continued from page 3)
onto good prostrata, San José, and California juniper bonsai
prospects. In about five years after grafting, he can have a
show-ready bonsai. He recommended that someone graft a
shimpaku whip onto the second, unused demo prostrata.
Additional Good Information
Roy Nagatoshi is widely regarded as one of the leading
experts on junipers in general and the shimpaku in particular.
Here are some of his observations and practices, gleaned from
presentations both at our October meeting and at one he
gave several years ago at the Descanso Bonsai Society:
• Spider mites are a big problem for junipers in this area.
He sprays in the January-February time frame as a preventative measure. He uses dormant spray (often mixing
Malathion plus oil) in January and looks for spider mites
again in June. He uses
paraffin-based oil such
as Superfine if required.
• He likes to use a 12
-12-12 fertilizer on his
junipers.
Roy Nagatoshi with one of his works-in-progress (below), a
specimen created by approach grafting shimpaku foliage
onto a San José juniper rootstock. Quiz: How many grafts
did it take to get all that foliage? (Hint: Less than two!)
(Continued on page 7)
Alex Martinez wired all the
secondary and tertiary
branches (left). Roy and Alex
with their finished creation
(below).
4
CONEJO VALLEY BONSAI SOCIETY
DECEMBER 2009
Events
Walter Pall Treats Crowd to Bonsai
Philosophy and Honest Critiques
By Verna Murrell
many, in sight of the Alps where he grew up and still loves to
ski. Since 1980, Pall says he has been busy with bonsai as a
hobby.
After a career in the electronics and consulting industry,
he decided in 1990 to become a part-time bonsai professional. But Walter still considers himself an amateur because
he does not style trees to sell them later. He does it for his
alter Pall, according to the profile of him on own joy.
The Art of Bonsai Website, “is well known throughout
Nonetheless, he has a hard time passing himself off as an
the world for his distinctive style, willingness to teach, and amateur: When he told his audience at the Sansui-Kai event
straightforward approach. He has received several dozen that he is still an amateur, you can only imagine the laughter
national and international awards for his bonsai. He has won in the room.
the most prestigious Crespi Cup Award of Italy for his Rocky
Today Pall is known worldwide for the quality of his
Mountain Juniper and has come in among the top six every bonsai creations. He has performed on most international
time he has entered. He has also won second and third stages and is one of the most popular European bonsai artplaces in the Gingko Cup Awards of the Belgium bonsai com- ists. He has visited the vast majority of European countries
petition of which he is the first artist to have 10 bonsai ac- and also South Africa, Argentina, Australia, Israel, Canada,
cepted.” [The Art of Bonsai Project describes itself as “an and the United States.
online journal and community for the examination and exploIt has been said that his lectures are a treat, and our exration of the bonsai art form”—it is worth visiting at http:// perience was no different. Walter’s philosophy about bonsai
www.artofbonsai.org/. – Editor.]
is very interesting. First, he says to learn all the rules of bonIn his online autobiographical sketch, Walter Pall says he sai, and then don’t be afraid to break them. He could not
was born in 1944 in Austria, is married to Hanna, has one stress enough the importance of wiring the entire tree. He
son, and lives near Munich, Ger- feels that most people are lazy when it comes to wiring, but
it yields the best results possible and
hence is necessary. He was also very
honest and was not afraid to tell some
folks to just throw their tree out and
start over.
Altogether this made for an entertaining and professional show. To be
sure, nobody fell asleep in Walter’s lecture; he is very animated and fun. It has
been said that Pall is a walking encyclopedia on bonsai, and he proved that true
with this group. He certainly shared his
knowledge freely.
Pall was one of the first Europeans to
work
with
indigenous
species, which he collects from
Walter Pall’s passion
for bonsai was obvious the wild. He reportedly now owns a collection of
more than 500 quality trees in varying stages of deat the San Sui Kai of
Southern California
velopment and keeps a reserve of about 1,000 handBonsai Club’s in early
made pots to complement the bonsai.
December.
Pall’s bonsai usually are strong, powerful trees,
frequently formed in natural shapes, but the longer
Photos by Verna
he has been involved with tree development, the
Murrell
more he has moved away from traditional bonsai
styling to his own concepts of design.
Note: Hosted by Sansui-Kai of Southern California Bonsai Club,
European Bonsai Master Walter Pall made a rare appearance at
the Encino Community Center on Wednesday, December 2, 2009.
Pall, who was visiting from Germany for one night only, offered his
assessments of trees from personal collections. Material ranged
from raw stock to show-ready bonsai. CVBS members Verna
Murrell and Kevin Kiely attended this event; this is Verna’s report.
W
DECEMBER 2009
CONEJO VALLEY BONSAI SOCIETY
5
Barrett’s Bonsai Tips
Refreshments
Holiday Potluck,
New Year Drinks
By Bob Stradling
H
appy Holidays everybody. I want
some bonsai pots, some new
tools, a bag of soil, and a couple of
trees … I’m sorry, this is the wrong
list. This should be the refreshment
list.
I hope everybody is having a
good season so far. Our Potluck Dinner should top off the holidays. Every
-body be sure to be there. A good
time is sure to be had by all. This
months’ refreshments will be provided by everybody. Thank you all in
advance for supporting the dinner,
the past year’s refreshments, and in
supporting CVBS.
Below is our refreshment volunteer list as it now stands.
To volunteer (especially for January cold drinks), please see me, Bob
Stradling, at the Potluck/meeting or
contact me at rlstrad@verizon.net or
phone me at home (805) 388-9954
or my cell (805) 558-5206. Again,
thank you to all who have helped
with refreshments over the past year
and to all who will help in 2010.
Happy Holidays!
Cold
Drinks
Dec.
Cookies/
Pastries
Annual Holiday Potluck
2010
6
Jan.
Volunteer
Needed
Damon
Du Bois
Feb.
Shar
Lugo
Shirley
Jorgensen
Mar.
Jill
Peters
Tony
Castagna
Apr.
Bob
Stradling
Larry
Kimmelman
May
Volunteer
Needed
Momata
Gokhale
Holiday Bonsai Break? Forget it!
By Jim Barrett
D
ecember and January are busy will be the
times and because of holiday J a p a n e s e
preparations, we tend to forget about elm (Nire).
bonsai. After all they are sleeping away Their heavthe winter, right?
i
e
r
Now is a great time to clean them b r a n c h e s
up, prune, and wire. Japanese maples, tend to be
trident maples, and Chinese elms (not rather britCatlin elm, which are evergreen) can tle. Again,
have all leaves removed, including those start your
that are still green. Prune all of the wiring with
twiggy growth having more than two the lowest
nodes and those twigs whose nodes are b r a n c h e s , Jim Barrett
too far apart. Leave one or two nodes proceed to
on each small (tertiary) branch.
the top, but only wire those branches
Do this systematically from the that need to be repositioned.
lowest branches to the topmost
Strive for a delicate, graceful apbranches. When this is done, remove pearance with Japanese maples and a
heavy thick top branches, paying atten- more rugged ramification on trident
tion to those with
maples. Chinese elms,
particularly large
whose habit is to lose
Set the bonsai in a sunny
diameters.
This
leaves in the winter,
location where it will be ad- should be pruned to
occurs when fast
growing branches mired for its winter look and produce the finest netgrow unnoticed
work of twigs possible.
enjoy it.
and hidden by the
All of these species
foliage canopy.
have a habit of producStrive for a multitude of fine secon- ing heavy, thick branches in the upperdary and tertiary branches in the top most portions of the tree. If they grow
one third or one quarter of the tree. unnoticed during the year, it will be
Don’t be worried if the tree has more obvious when the leaves are gone
than one primary branch leading to the which branches need surgery. Make the
apex. As long as one terminal remains cuts on a slant, making sure they are
slightly higher than the rest, the tree concave. Seal all raw scars over ¼ inch
will be natural and aesthetically pleasing. in diameter.
Now is a very good time to pay
Now that the upper portion of the
attention to form and inner branch tree is taken care of, clean the trunk
structure of trees in parks and on the and main branches with a stiff
streets. Notice the natural transition toothbrush or you might try a brass
from trunk to primary to secondary to wire brush shaped like a large
tertiary branches–especially in the up- toothbrush. If the bark has a crusty,
per portion of the trees.
rugged look and it is a desirable feature
When you are through pruning the of the tree, do not brush it. Pull all
obvious problem branches, consider moss off of the very base of the trunk
wiring those branches that are not posi- and main roots and brush these also.
tioned as you would like them to be. After covering the soil with a cloth or
This time of the year is a good time to plastic, spray the tree with a good dorbend and manipulate maples, elms, mant spray such as lime sulfur, volck oil,
liquidambars, and zelkova branches. or copper oil.
Branches are generally more flexible at
Set the bonsai in a sunny location
this time and because the tree is bare, where it will be admired for its winter
much easier to wire. One exception look and enjoy it.
CONEJO VALLEY BONSAI SOCIETY
DECEMBER 2009
CVBS Memberships
CVBS—A Bonsai Club for Everyone!
By Marj Branson
I
f you are new to the Conejo Valley Bonsai Society—as
a visitor to our Web site, reader of our newsletter, a
guest at a meeting, or already decided to join the club—
there are virtually no barriers to entry. Our annual dues
(Continued from page 4)
•
•
On Junipers, you should go into the pads
with tweezers to remove “garbage.” He
defines garbage as any growth not required for the health of the tree and for
its looks.
He grafts in December and January when
the sap is not flowing. If it’s flowing, the
bark of the tree comes loose from the
Roy Nagatoshi appears pleased with the results
of his October 2009 CVBS demonstration.
cambium and the graft won’t take. He
leaves the tree alone for one year then
removes the root section of the scion.
He waits until the next June to remove
the parent tree’s vegetation. He leaves
the wire holding the graft together for
another couple of years. He waits three
or so years before styling the new shimpaku. The roots of the root stock take
on the characteristics of the new tree
top he says. The roots become denser as
a shimpaku.
• Shimpakus like slightly basic (as opposed
to acidic) soil.
• Roy doesn’t wrap branches with raffia
before wiring and bending them. “To me,
raffia is just sound proofing—when you
break it, you don’t hear it,” he said.
Roy gave an excellent and very informative presentation!
DECEMBER 2009
are only $20.00 for a single person, $25.00 for couples.
We meet on the third Thursday of each month, starting
at 7:30 PM, in the Westlake Village City Hall at 31200 Oakcrest Drive, Westlake Village, CA 91361. You can bring your
check to the next meeting, or mail it to me at 1169 Triunfo
Canyon Road, Westlake Village, CA 91361. Please make the
check payable to Conejo Valley Bonsai Society.
CVBS Future Programs
2009
December 17
HOLIDAY POTLUCK
2010
Several professional demonstrators have been scheduled (see
below), but the remainder of next year’s schedule remains
tentative or under development. Details will be announced in
the January 2010 issue.
January 21
(Tentative)
6:00 PM Novice Workshop
7:30 PM Brief Meeting followed by
Workshop—BRING YOUR TREES
February 18
6:00 PM Class: Topic To Be Determined
7:30 PM Brief Meeting followed by
DEMONSTRATION: Bob Pressler
March 18
To Be Determined
April 15
6:00 PM Class: Topic TBD
7:30 PM Brief Meeting followed by
DEMONSTRATION: Ted Matson
May 20
To Be Determined
June 17
6:00 PM Class: Topic TBD
7:30 PM Brief Meeting followed by
DEMONSTRATION: To Be Determined
July 15
To Be Determined
August 19
To Be Determined
September 16
To Be Determined
October 2 – 3
– OR –
October 7 – 9
7TH ANNUAL EXHIBITION
Gardens of the World
October 21
To Be Determined
November 18
To Be Determined
December 16
HOLIDAY POTLUCK
CONEJO VALLEY BONSAI SOCIETY
7
Coming Events
December 2009
December 26, 2009 – January 2, 2010 / San Marino, California
California Aiseki Kai: 20th Anniversary Exhibition of Viewing Stones Show in Friends Hall at the Huntington Library and
Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road. Hours are 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM. (Closed on January 1st.) Daily slide shows repeated
each hour, December 26 – 30, 2009. Free parking and free entry to our exhibit. For more information see our Web site:
www.aisekikai.com or contact hutch@aisekikai.com
January 2010
January 16 – 17 / Pleasanton, California
Bay Island Bonsai Annual Bonsai Exhibit. New location. Bigger facility. Hall of Commerce, Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501
Pleasanton Avenue, Pleasanton, 94566. Admission $5.00. Free Parking. Same great auction on Saturday, with preview at noon
and auction at 1:00 PM. Guided tours of the exhibit both Saturday and Sunday. Bonsai sale and vendors both days. Hours: 10:00
AM – 4:00 PM Saturday and Sunday. For more information: (510) 865-1008 or www.bayislandbonsai.com.
February 2010
February 27 – 28 / San Marino, California
Golden State Bonsai Federation: Collection at the Huntington Bonsai-AThon XIV fundraiser will be held at the Huntington Library, Art
Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road. Hours are 7:30
AM – 4:30 PM each day. Many vendors of trees, pots, tools, and books will
be on hand. Ongoing demonstrations each day and the finished trees and
other items will be auctioned each afternoon. Breakfast, lunch, raffles, and
novice workshops will be offered. For more information contact Elissa
Hoxie: (310) 373-2840 or (310) 977-7966. E-mail ehoxie@mac.com.
NOTE: Volunteers are needed for this event, see box below.
February 27 – 28 / Oakland, California
Golden State Bonsai Federation Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt: Mammoth
Fundraiser 2010 at the Lakeside Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Avenue. ,
Oakland. Saturday (February 27): Auction of fabulous bonsai 1:00 PM –
4:00 PM with preview at 12:00 Noon. Sunday (February 28): Mammoth
Fundraiser and Bazaar, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Demonstration at 1:30 PM by
Collection Curator Kathy Shaner. Silent auction, vendors, benefit drawings,
raffles, and a large consignment sale of bonsai and bonsai-related items. For
general information: http://www.gsbf-bonsai.org/lake-merritt/ or Linda
Soliven: (925) 776-2342.
October 2010
October 28 – 31 / Santa Clara, California
Golden State Bonsai Federation: 33rd Annual Convention, Santa Clara
Marriott Hotel (see poster, right). Details to be announced.
Bonsai Haiku
GSBF Event
2010 Bonsai-A-Thon Needs Volunteers
T
he Golden State Bonsai Federation’s annual Bonsai-A-Thon is
slated for the Huntington Botanical Gardens on February 27 –
28, 2010. This event raises funds to support the GSBF collection at
the Huntington.
Our friends at the Descanso Bonsai Society shoulder the chore of
organizing this two-day bonsai extravaganza every year and, as always,
they need our help. To volunteer, please contact our own Corresponding Secretary/Treasurer Marj Branson: Phone (805) 373-1330 or
e-mail her at secretary.treasurer@cvbs-bonsai.org.
8
CONEJO VALLEY BONSAI SOCIETY
Positioning the branch
bending it here ... now there
Oops! ... accidental pruning
—Dave Burke, Plymouth, Indiana.
He comments: “Before wiring a branch, we often move it
about a bit to find the best position.”
Editor’s note: See page 3 for Roy Nagatoshi’s method to
prevent such “accidental pruning.”
© Copyright 2009 Mid-America Bonsai Alliance & Dave
Burke. Reprinted by permission.
DECEMBER 2009