Programme
We would like to welcome you to the Northamptonshire Bonsai Society (NBS).
Come along to a monthly meeting and meet friendly fellow bonsai enthusiasts
2021 - During COVID restrictions...
Until we can resume normal meetings, each month we are watching a video (in our own time)
followed by meeting via Zoom video conference on the dates below at 7pm to discuss it.
Details of how to join the Zoom meeting will be e-mailed to each Northamptonshire Bonsai Society member
January 7th 7pm Zoom meeting (login details sent to members) to discuss the following videos
The first short video is by Heike van Gunst, a lady I have to admit I had not heard of before I saw this video. Nevertheless she has an undoubted talent and an internationally recognised track record for excellence in creating bonsai.
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaVVqNecf2g&feature=share
For those of you who might not be quite so interested in decisions surrounding pot choice, perhaps this second video would be more to your liking. This is another well respected bonsai grower who some of you will no doubt know of by the name of Walter Pall. In this 8 minute video Walter talks about the correct way to develop thicker trunks in your bonsai, and a little of the science and reasoning behind his success.
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cpc-ivdCXU&feature=share
February 4th 7pm Zoom meeting (login details sent to members) to discuss the following videos
The first video is Tony Tickle with some advice on the most basic technique used to develop bonsai, called Clip and Grow. Although a basic technique that many of you will be familiar with, some bonsai ‘artists’ make this seem very complicated. Tony simplifies this method into a 5 minute video using (mostly) commonly available material.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWIkRr2U-4s
The second video is a little more involved with Graham Potter showing how to develop Junipers, a species that many find difficult. This video runs for 9 minutes and gives a good insight into how to get started with very raw Junipers.
Graham Potter of Kaizen Bonsai talking about developing bonsai from basic material
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mGo7ORpiHY
The third video is another 9 minute film by Graham but this time looking at developing deciduous material salvaged from a garden. So if you have a shrub or small tree in your garden and are wondering how to create a bonsai from it, this will give you a good start. Graham Potter again offering something for nothing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72-glgsc0HA
March 4th 7pm Zoom meeting (login details sent to members) to discuss the following videos
This month, and with an eye on repotting and pruning, I have chosen three videos, two of which are from Corin Tomlinson.
The first showing how to create a pre-bonsai quickly from garden centre material with some fairly significant pruning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC_9IxAIDQ4 8 minutes
The second video from Corin shows spring pruning and repotting of a very nice Japanese Maple, perhaps the opposite end of the spectrum from the first video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e5qlGHPxcU 20 minutes
The third video features a Japanese grower illustrating some more advance heavy pruning and grafting of roots on a Japanese Maple.
Rebuild roots,not branches or trunks 9 minutes
April 1st 7pm Zoom meeting (login details sent to members) to discuss the following videos
The first video is by Bjorn Bjorholm who speaks about the tasks and techniques used throughout the growing season on Deciduous and Broadleaf Evergreen bonsai. As some of you will know Bjorn is an apprentice trained American bonsai artist. I mention this because Bjorn does recommend the use of certain products which are not generally available in the UK, particularly chemical treatments such as the banned pesticide Imidacloprid, and anti-fungal treatment ‘Infuse’. He also makes reference to certain types of fertiliser which may be hard to find here, but the actual products used are less important than the reason for their use. Suitable alternatives are usually available though. As always it’s the techniques and timings which are most relevant in this video, always allowing for the slight climatic and seasonal differences between here and Tennessee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGw-CeuSdNA
The second video requires much less of an introduction thank goodness. It’s Corin Tomlinson constructing a large Japanese Maple forest from nursery stock!
Richard will give an overview presentation of Bonsai Album he uses to record his bonsai.
It works on Windows PC, Apple Mac, iPad and iPhone
bonsai-album-for-pc
May 6th 7pm Zoom meeting (login details sent to members) to discuss the following video
A 10 minute video from Corin at Greenwood Bonsai with a short demo on Larch pruning. He’s working on Japanese Larch but the same process translates across to European Larch just as well. The timing might appear to be a bit ‘off’ as he’s doing this back in March, but with the cold weather we’ve had in the past month causing slower spring growth I think you might still be ok to do this work if your Larch is in need of a trim.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24b0QnuzEX0
As an extra treat here’s another video I thought you might like to watch Graham Potter demonstrating his air layering technique.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CREGA3jxGJE
On the zoom stream on the 6th May we’re going to be talking about what work you might have done to your trees during the past month or so and what you might be looking at doing in the next few weeks. We’ll also look at how trees have responded to the recent unseasonably cold and dreary weather, and what pests and diseases you should be on the lookout for now that your trees are starting to grow stronger.
This may be of interest. It’s a range of natural products, recommended to me by a trade contact, that will combat a wide range of pests and diseases for all garden plants, but are very useful to protect bonsai.
https://www.greengardener.co.uk/shop/sale-page/
June 3rd 7pm Zoom meeting (login details sent to members) to discuss the following video
I thought we’d keep the video recommendation simple this time with some basic pruning demonstrations by Blue Sky Bonsai. This eleven minute video has been recommended to me by a fellow club member so have a look and see how it might apply to your trees. Here is the link: Bonsai tree pruning | Deciding which branches to prune - YouTube
June 5th 2pm Informal Garden meeting
Our first face to face meeting, socially distanced outside in the sunshine. It was an informal meeting in a member's garden where we brought along a tree with some members working on their tree. It was good to be able to chat and keep up with the news. CLICK to see photos
July 1st 7pm Zoom meeting (login details sent to members) to discuss the following video
A video from Corin Tomlinson for you to watch. In this video he’s working on a couple of large rare maples of a variety not commonly available, known as Kotohime. He’s showing a few different methods to take air layers from these trees. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIcY40TUvGY
August 7th Saturday 2-5pm Wollaston Village Hall
Our guest speaker for the afternoon is local bonsai expert Steve McKee. Steve has exhibited at all of the highest level shows in Europe and is a well respected hobbyist in the bonsai community.
Wollaston Village hall is located in Wollaston High Street, NN29 7QE
As we have a guest speaker the meeting will be open to our friends from Milton Keynes and Bedford bonsai clubs. For non-members it is customary to pay a small fee on the door and we would ask £5 to offset our costs for visitors from other clubs. Please feel free to bring a tree to show and discuss.
PROGRAMME 2021
August 7th Sat. 2-5 Steve McKee, guest speaker. Bring along a tree for show and discussion.
NOTE. This meeting is in Wollaston Village Hall which is located in Wollaston High Street, NN29 7QE. There is parking in the front of the building in the attached car park and along the High Street itself, and also in College Street which runs behind the hall.
Northamptonshire Bonsai Society will resume regular monthly meetings at the Weston Favell Village Hall (unless otherwise stated) commencing on Thursday 2nd September at 7pm. We welcome back as many of our members as are able to attend, and new and prospective members are also very welcome to join us.
September 2nd 7-10 Review the ‘2020’ trees
October 7th 7-10 Guest speaker Harry Harrington
November 4th 7-10 Repotting Workshop
December 2nd 7-10 AGM and Social evening with December raffle and ‘Best Christmas Bonsai’
January 6th 2022 7-10 Subscriptions
Unless otherwise stated the meetings will be held on the first Thursday of the month in the Weston Favell Parish Hall starting at 19:00 hrs