Care Guide – Expressions of Grace Bonsai

Azalea Bonsai

Xavier Martinez — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 11:11:21 +0000

Azaleas produce incredible flower displays and last year was fantastic. Let me tell you the KEY dates and Tasks that I ALWAYS follow to ensure my Satsuki Bonsai thrive.

A few Fun Facts about Azalea Bonsai.
What about the Flowers?
When is my BEST time for pruning?
What about Cuttings?
Repot: Spring or Summer?
When do I do my Wiring?
What are the issues with pests?

God Bless & Happy Bonsaiing
Xavier

KEY Bonsai Tasks for Dec / Jan

Xavier Martinez — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 10:29:19 +0000

So is Chinese Elm really an Indoor Tree? (Just one of the topics covered today)

In this video I talk through all the Essential Bonsai tasks for December / January. With the temperatures dropping, what do I REALLY need to do to protect my trees? I look at the choices I make to protect my valuable bonsai & developing saplings / Pre-Bonsai. Grantham is Zone 9b so overnight temperatures rarely stay below -5C for longer than a couple of days (if ever). The biggest issue I have to deal with in my garden nursery is the howling gales that constantly freeze the tips of my ramified bonsai!

So what can you do? Easy – watch the video and find out. Or, you can just cast your eye over the headings below and get an idea of what I will be doing before settling down for Christmas Bonsai Carols…

AND…There is so much work to get done before I can finally update my ACCESS Bonsai Management System.

SUBSCRIBERS PHOTOGRAPHS EDITION

This week I am also showcasing more bonsai photographs from Subscribers. Submissions have been sent in from the following people:

Chris, Joe, Susan, Vinnie, Joe G and Dan of The Bonsai Project.

Topics Discussed:

What Bonsai really needs winter protection?
Is Chinese Elm very cold hardy?
What is a safe location for your Bonsai?
A last ‘wire’ check.
Plan for next Springs repots.
Make sure Display Benches and Pots are checked.
Applying my Dormant Spray.
Check stocks of soil, pots, fertilser & bug sprays.
Subscribers Photographs.
A word about my Access Bonsai Management System. (Bonsai App)

God Bless & Happy Bonsaiing
Xavier

Time to prune that Scots Pine

Xavier Martinez — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 15:30:33 +0000

In early 2017 I decided to purchase a batch of 20 Scots Pine two-year-old saplings from eBay. They arrived bare-rooted and at the time I had no true understanding of the necessity of mycorrhizal fungi. I potted them up in a standard garden centre mix and left them to ‘thrive’. The short story is that they didn’t! Of the original twenty, only three managed to establish a healthy roots system by 2019.

When I examined the ‘deaduns’ it was clear that no beneficial fungus had developed whereas in the three healthy plants there were obvious signs of the white ‘powdery like’ mycorrhizal fungi in the soil. I did a lot more research and am now looking to purchase some for my next set of bare-rooted saplings.

This is a classic example of ‘on the job’ learning. Looking back I wish I had understood the requirements for succesful potting of a bare rooted pine. Perhaps then, I would now be dealing with twenty thriving potensai subjects

What I also learnt was how difficult it was to identify that the young saplings were struggling for those years. Yet, if I had considered their progress, I would have identified that the majority were not producing new healthy candles – as they should AND this would have told me their was probably a root issue.

So hopefully, if you are new to pines, you will take this crucial bit of knowledge and use it wisely. Key point for pines – do not bare root them. You want to keep a good amount of that beneficial fungus from the old soil to keep the exchange of nutrients process going.

Early summer pruning:

Around this period of summer it is a good time to start looking at your Scots Pines. This is when we can clearly see all of the new growth and make decisions on what to keep and what to lose. As with all pruning we must ask ourselves what stage the tree is at and what we wish to achieve. This is explained in greater detail in the first series of ‘pruning’ posts started June 2021.

In this case, I have three four-year-old potensai that have had wire applied to them in 2020 and are now ready for further styling and development. I will only be using one of the three for this post and I apologise now if some of the information is a little repeitive.

In this image I have tried to capture several of the branches each showing numerous new healthy shoots. Our first task is to reduce any groups of shoots to just ‘two’. This ensures we reduce the risk of unwanted swelling and also allows us to establish directionality to our design.

If their are any yellowing needles then these can be removed

You are able to see that near the tip there are three shoots growing from one junction – one of these must be removed.

As an observation, I also notice that lower down the branch there are smaller single shoots growing. This is great news because it means I may eventually be able to cut back to this growth in the future.

There are no hard and fast rules about which candle you should remove in this trio. However it does help to have a design idea already in mind. This way you can easily identify which of the shoots is growing in the wrong direction.

Generally it is best practice to maintain acute angles (less than 90 degrees)

I always cut right back to the junction to leave a flush transition to the remaining shoots. In my experience it has not been necessary to seal these size wounds with cut paste.

This operation should be repeated across the entirity of the tree – even on branches you wish to grow out. (We must always be careful of junctions swelling)

We then shorten candles as shown in the image. This should encourage back budding from the site of the cut and also further down the branch. Hence we aim to achieve 2 new shoots at each cut site and thereby establish ramification for next years growth.

These pines are classified as ‘single flush’ which means what we do now sets up the growth for next spring.

This is the branch after pruning is completed. I have two growing tips at the end which will produce further buds for next year.

I also have two weaker juvenile buds pushing out further back down the branch. These are key for my design and I am hoping that next year I can chose to either cut completely back to these OR remove the one on the inside and leave the outside one to develop the pad.

I do also wire my pines at this time and will generally leave this in position for up to 9 months. I have set a reminder on my phone for 6 months to check for wire bite. It is important to already know where and in which direction you are going to be wiring your branches before pruning.

I have included one of my latest Scots Pines Collaboration videos. This was a very difficult young tree that had been growing in my nursery bed for several years. A fellow YouTuber (Kennet de Bonde) suggested a completely radical over haul…

It is really worth taking the time to look back over some of his earlier videos – he is extremely clear in his explanations and visually makes it much easier to know what ‘you’ should be doing next.

It is also fun to see the various ways his hair is styled

Be ready for my shop page to appear soon(ish) – it will still be centred on ‘collections only’ but I am now able to take card payments.

Keep smiling…

Chinese Elm Bonsai

Xavier Martinez — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 17:18:53 +0000

In this fourth episode I look into the most popular of species for both Indoors and Outdoors Bonsai – the Chinese Elm (Ulmus Parvifolia). Also known as the ‘lacebark elm’, this species is native to eastern Asia, including China, India, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Of all the bonsai available to beginners, this is probably the species most purchased…and also, most often killed

I killed my first Chinese Elm, also my first bonsai, within the space of 3 months. I had no knowledge of how to care for this plant and no understanding that such care was needed. When it first started to shed all of its leaves I panicked and thought it must need more fertiliser – to stop the leaves falling!

When more leaves fell from the bonsai I looked at a book in hope and realised my tree probably had a root problem and must need repotting. Needless to say, I had no idea about the right soil or when the right time was to do such an operation. I pulled it out and trimmed the roots, because the book said I should, and then put it back in using a combination of topsoil and John Innes No 2 (potting mix).

Surprisingly, it seemed to ‘pick up’ over the next month and I thought I had the problem solved. I was now a Bonsai Master!!! Alas, I then noticed the tips of the new shoots were wilting and yellowing. Clearly I thought, with an air of smugness, I needed to prune this back (like the book says)…

This process of plant murder continued for about 3 months. It is probably important to mention that I made the biggest ‘common’ mistake by daily overwatering…as well as giving it more fertiliser. One week later it dropped the last of its leaves and the new shoots browned off and died. I think I ‘loved it’ to death…

But here is what happened with a dying Chinese Elm that I did take the correct action on

So if you want to learn how NOT TO kill your Chinese Elm Bonsai then I recommend watching this video

God Bless & Happy Bonsaiing

Xav

Dawn Redwood Bonsai

Xavier Martinez — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 17:34:39 +0000

Find out my KEY dates and Bonsai Care Tips for Dawn Redwood. A short and simple guide that is ideal for beginners. Pruning dates, Wiring, Potting, Disease, Fertilising and a bit of history too…

God Bless & Happy Bonsaiing
Xavier