Connie Bailie will host
an open house featuring the Matthaei bonsai collection followed
by a slide show demonstrating the development of some of the
trees over many years. Members with modest trees take heart!
Find how much improvement can happen over time.
President Roger Gaede called the July AABS
meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Approximately 30 members attended.
Most committee reports dealt with the August
show. Paul Kulesa encouraged members to help with setup
on Friday August 27th anytime from 10 a.m. through the evening
hours. Hugh Danville reminded members that vendors start
arriving Friday between noon and 5 p.m. The vendors appreciate
help club members give to help them bring in their stock
and supplies for sale during the show.
Bob Thatcher asked volunteers for 2-hour shifts
at the welcome table to greet visitors and answer questions.
Bill Cavers said he and Larry Hall had been in touch with
multiple radio stations and newspapers to generate publicity
for the show. Bob and Hugh asked members to bring food for
volunteers and vendors when they stop by.
Doug Hawley of Cincinnati may confirm his
availability as a judge for the show soon. Tree owners can
sign up their bonsai for entry in various categories, i.e.,
tropicals, forests, novice’s trees. Saturday after
the show, all members are invited to stop by for food, beverages,
fellowship and a discussion of trees from Doug’s perspective.
Members are welcome to bring a dish if they would like.
Kathy Powell brought a gingko with about a
2-inch diameter trunk she had cut off about 5 inches from
the soil line after getting advice from Jack at the April
BYO tree meeting. Jack had “almost positively guaranteed”
that new shoots would form. They did, but from the root
line rather than the trunk, creating the basis for a possible
future forest.
Zack Holmes brought a framed poster of a banyan
tree at Thomas Edison’s former home and lab in Fort
Meyers, Florida. The giant fig was transplanted from a
coffee can container in 1925 and now has spread via aerial
roots over appears to be ½ a city block.
September will be the annual auction. Dean
Bull will be the featured speaker at the October meeting.
November is the annual potluck dinner meeting. There is
no meeting in December.
Bill Heston, Cyril Grum and Jack Wikle combined their expertise
to give members information about how to care for and work
with pines this month. Jack supplemented his discussion
with a handout, “Pines and Pine Manipulations:
A review of Basics for the Bonsai Enthusiast”
and cuttings from a Scotch pine to help illustrate yearly
growth patterns.
 True
pines, Jack explained, have needles that grow in groups
with only a few exceptions. If a conifer has needles attached
singly to a branch or if branches develop at intervals along
a new shoot as well as at the tip, the tree is likely another
type of needle bearing tree such as a spruce, fir, hemlock,
or larch. Pine branch buds form only at the tip of a shoot.
Jack explained that most pine management
techniques involve manipulation of new shoots (the candles)
for styling, branch development and health. A pine’s
tendency to form new shoots when the current year’s
growth is cut allows us to have great control of branch
length and development. Shoots can be pruned as they develop
as long as the tree is healthy and can take the stress of
pruning.
He also advises that we thin candles, often
aggressively. If there are more than 2 or 3 growing from
a shoot tip, take off the weaker ones. Or if there are clearly
dominant shoots at the tip, pinch back the strongest and
let the runts develop unchecked for the time being. Jack
also touched on more advanced shoot and needle management
techniques. These are covered in more detail in his handout,
but the methods vary by species. For example, complete removal
of most candles may achieve dramatic needle reduction and
stimulate back budding on a Ponderosa pine, but this may
kill a Japanese white pine. You may be able to spur some
growth by cutting back the previous year’s shoots
on a Scotch Pine. However, if you cut back to an area where
there are no needles, you can almost be guaranteed you
will end up with a dead branch.
 Because
most pines will not backbud and have strong apical tendencies,
lower branches may waste away if energy is not directed
away from the apex and higher branches. For this reason,
Jack does not recommend heavy pruning on lower branches.
He theorizes that one of the reasons many Japanesestyled
pine bonsai have heavy lower branches is because the stylists
religiously concentrate on maintaining the health of lower
branches.
By Ron Milostan
When hunting in Quebec in the spring of 2004 we discussed
the life cycle of Bears, specifically the growth of Bears.
Bears are born in the spring, grow all summer, hibernate
all winter and begin growing again in the spring. During
their growth time in the summer, they learn and shape their
survival skills, grow stronger and store body nutrients
for the following spring. During the winter (hibernation),
the bear does nothing. His systems are on hold. Only minimum
life support is needed. After waking up a bear must live
off himself (stored fats) and wait for the grasses and plants
to begin growing. In early spring, he does forage but does
not find much. At this time, the bear loses weight by living
on his own fats. Once the plants begin to grow, the bear
begins eating the vegetation and bugs that have begun to
emerge. He now gains weight and begins to grow and learn
once more. His growth and learning is only for one-half
of a year. The other half is lost.
Our bonsai trees are like this. We say they
are so many years old but in reality, they, like the bear,
have a very short growing period each year. When you let
a bonsai sit on your bench and only allow it to grow you
are wasting more time then you realize. You really need
two years of age to get one year of growth. Even when “growing
out” a tree you need to be training and shaping its
future. Like the bear, nutrients stored through the winter
are used to restart the tree when spring comes. In the spring,
these stored nutrients begin sending out new buds for new
shoots and new leaves that will bring in the nutrients for
this years growth and store nutrients for the following
year.
They say it is difficult to train old Bear
new tricks. The same is true for bonsai trees. While the
tree is young and growing this is, the best time to shape
and define the branch structure. No major cutting or prunings
since you are allowing the tree to grow and increase in
size, usually trunk size or a particular branch. However,
if you wait for a larger branch it will be difficult to
move or reshape. The growing bonsai tree needs to be trained
and given attention to its growth pattern at all times.
Start training the branches when they are new shoots and
feed the tree well all year to allow extra nutrients for
the following spring flush of new buds and leaves. Even
when redesigning an older bonsai this holds true. While
letting it grow out you should be shaping and directing
its new growth as it emerges.
You only have one half year in which
to influence the growth of your tree. Do not miss this opportunity.
Ten years growing in the field is a loss of five growth
periods for design and bonsai artistry. Most bonsai trees
are developed. They do not just grow that way. In nature
sometimes, we do find a good bonsai. It may be so but it
will not stay that way for long. If you just allow it to
grow, it will take off in all directions. Especially in
the new perfect environment, you are giving it. A good bonsai
found in the wild only gives you a jumpstart on its final
development. Bonsai are made not found. Remember the Bear,
be bearish with your bonsai, train, and develop during all
the growing season. Remember only you can prevent Poorest
Bonsais.
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Jerry Mieslik, now living in Montana , is
a well known AABS life member who has a long time interest
in tropical bonsai. Jerry has published a new book Ficus:
The Exotic Bonsai.
Signed copies of the book are available for $32.25 + $4.70
for shipping. Write to Devonshire Gardens Ltd., 161 Ridge
Run Drive , Whitefish , MT 59937 USA . More information
about the book is also available at www.bonsaihunk.8m.com
Send new memberships to:
Tamara
Milostan
4228 Highcrest
Brighton, Michigan 48116
Make
check out to Ann Arbor Bonsai Society
Dues
are $25
Jan.
28 Wednesday
Bill Heston: Natural Bonsai of the Colorado Rockies
Feb. 25 Wednesday
Margaret Parker: Slide Show from a recent trip to China
Mar. 24 Wednesday
TBD
Apr. 28 Wednesday
BYO Club Workshop
May 26 Wednesday
TBD
June 23 Wednesday
Annual Show Preparation Workshop
BYO trees and work with club experts
July 17 Saturday
Tropical Tree Workshop
July 28 Wednesday
TBD
August 27, 28, 29 Fri, Sat, Sun.
Set up and Show Annual Bonsai Show
Demonstrations and Vendors
Lots of Member Help Needed
August 25 Wednesday
TBD
September 22 Wednesday
Annual Auction
October 27 Wednesday
Dean Bull
November 22 Wednesday
Club Members Family and Guest Potluck Dinner
December No Membership Meeting
MERRY
CHRISTMAS!!
Call
Bill Heston at (734) 6628699 if you have any questions
regarding programs.
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AABS EXECUTIVE BOARD
President: Roger Gaede (517) 5922249
VicePresident & Program Chair: Bill Heston (734)
6628699
Corresponding Secretary: Chuck Omer (734) 9964508
Recording Secretary: Kathy Powell (810) 2312782
Publicity Chair: Bill Cavers (734) 9964508
Treasurers: Tamara Milostan (810) 2296355
Librarian: Bob Thatcher (313) 8395815
Past President: Connie Bailie (734) 7476493
Director for 2004: Cyril Grum (734) 9959828
Director 2004: Dustin Mann (734) 4249979
Show Chair: Hugh Danville (313) 4557922
Pete
Douglas (313) 8678644
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AABS AD HOC COMMITTEES
Auction Chair: TBD
Membership Chair: TBD
Show Chair: Hugh Danville, Pete Douglas
Members: Paul Kulesa, show staging,
John Parks, demonstrations
Chris Burnett, Raffles
Harry Gable, Refreshments Chair
Ways
and Means Chair: Chuck Omer, Bill Powell
Web Master: Jarrett Knyal (webmaster@annarborbonsaisociety.org)
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by Jack Wikle
Not sure if you need to read further?
Why not go directly to the three test questions
near the end of this article? Those so confident
in their responses that they don’t need “correct
answers” to know they are right can probably
skip this comfortably. Others may want to forge
ahead.
Botanists make a distinction between
“nonwoody” plants (things like grasses,
lilies and a host of other kinds that never develop
stiffened trunks) and “woody plants”
(trees, shrubs and vines) which have trunks that
thicken each year as layers of wood accumulate.
The focus of this discussion will be on woody plant
growth and on some useful terms associated with
it like, “bud,” “shoot”
and “annual ring.”
To start, think of a tree seed, anything
from a cherry pit to a walnut. When that seed germinates,
roots grow down and a shoot (typically unbranched
through its first season) grows up. Distributed
along this shoot will be leaves (needles in the
case of cone bearing evergreens). These leaves are
the tree’s solar panels that it uses in capturing
energy from the sun.
Looking closely at how leaves are
arranged along the shoots that support them, one
soon discovers that not all trees bear leaves in
the same pattern. Some kinds, maples are a good
example, support leaves in pairs (“Opposite
Leaves, Figure A1”). Every place a leaf is
found on one side of a shoot, another will be found
directly opposite it – assuming no caterpillar
activity or other outside intervention.
Much more common than the opposite
leaf pattern is to find individual leaves seemingly
alternating, first a leaf on one side of the shoot
then, farther along, a leaf on the other side (“Alternate
Leaves,” Figure A2). Close scrutiny of an
actual live shoot will reveal that this alternating
arrangement is often a spiral of leaves each pointing
a somewhat different direction than the leaf preceding
it and the leaf following it.
Comparing the first two figures, notice
that a bump representing a bud has been drawn in
at the base of each leaf (in the angle between the
leaf stem and the shoot supporting it). Every leaf
has a bud at the base of its stem; if not universal
truth in the world of woody plants, this is very
close.
The next year (or, in some cases,
as early as the next growth flush), it will be from
buds that have been dormant that new shoots are
produced. In popular terminology, the tree will
be “budding,” “flushing”
or “pushing” as the buds swell and they
put out new growth.
Be aware that not all dormant buds
become active and produce shoots. To use a sports
analogy, the buds farthest out along each shoot
(usually noticeably the largest) are the “first
team,” buds that will leap quickly into action
pushing out new growth before all others. The next
buds are the “second team,” not so big
and not so strong. The growth from these weaker
buds will be less than that produced by the really
strong buds. Buds even farther back on the shoot
are “reserves” or “bench warmers,”
available but almost never activated until through
one catastrophe or another the bigger, stronger
team members have been eliminated from the game.
All of this is controlled by plant hormones. The
internal program for suppression of weaker buds
by stronger buds serves trees very well. It supports
the very strongest shoots as they push rapidly upward
in the competition for light. And, when the strongest
are suppressed or eliminated, the reserves are
called into action. Imagine the waste of energy
and resulting congestion if new shoots grew from
every leaf location. All trees and shrubs would
be impenetrable, matted tangles of sticks.
Now, going farther, here are three
more diagrams (Figures B1, B2 and B3) that should
be helpful in visualizing a generalized, three
step (usually three growing season) sequence in
the development of a woody plant. Kinds of trees
that produce several flushes of growth in a season
can do this in one year. As a convenience, leaves
have been omitted in these three figures; these
are dormant shoots.
Figure B1, represents a typical branchless
shoot (after its leaves have fallen but with buds
retained), one year’s growth from a seed.
The buds are retained, of course, exactly as the
leaves were positioned.
A note of caution. Although in this article, the
term “bud” is used for the dormant or
resting structure capable of opening and elongating
into a shoot, and the word “shoot” is
used for the still elongating or recently active
growth produced by a bud, one cannot assume all
other authors have the same intentions. Often, especially
in translations of Japanese bonsai literature, no
distinction is made between the dormant bud, the
swelling bud and the actively elongating shoot;
all are referred to as “buds.”
See Figure B2 for a representation of what might
remain after leaves have fallen, if just three buds
on the first year shoot produced new shoots during
the second growing season – again, each new
shoot retaining its buds where the leaves were attached.
Notice that the new shoots (in the process of lengthening
upward and outward) have made last year’s
spindly stick begins to look somewhat like a tree.
But, these new shoots are not the only growth which
has occurred. Last year’s shoot has been thickened
by the addition of an annual growth ring layers
of wood with cells large and loosely packed being
formed in the spring and small, tightly packed cells
formed in the summer and fall. It is this contrast
between soft looking “spring wood” and
hard looking “summer wood” that creates
the annual rings so easily counted to determine
the age of most temperate climate trees.
Figure B3 represents what could have
happened in a third growing season if three shoots
again grew from each of the previous year’s
shoots. Looking at trees closely it will be apparent
that it is not uncommon, especially on a weak branch,
for only the bud farthest out (“end bud”
or “terminal bud”) to grow and all other
buds on that shoot to remain dormant unless the
end bud is damaged. The typical response to removal
of an end bud is that not just one but several of
the buds below it will be activated. Thus the common
knowledge that clipping off shoot tips causes much
more branching, much more bushy growth, than would
occur otherwise.
Notice also in Figure B3 that once
again all shoots from prior years have thickened
as a growth ring was added but they did not lengthen.
I remember clearly being amused years
ago by a farm magazine cartoon depicting strands
of barbed wire stretched through the tops of tall
trees in a row and a farm wife admonishing her husband,
“I told you what would happen if you fastened
that fence to those trees.” To my surprise,
the next issue of the magazine included at least
one letter to the editor criticizing the use of
that cartoon because it perpetuated common misunderstandings
of how trees grow. Actually, I had thought the cartoon
was pretty effective in making it obvious that trunks
don’t keep stretching their entire length
upward over the life of a tree.
The important point of all of this
is that elongation or extension in length of any
shoot or branch only takes place in the initial
spurt of growth from a bud (or seed). When that
new growth stops elongating and hardens, it will
never lengthen again. It will thicken seasonally
but it will not stretch out. And in my experience
it will not change position unless moved by some
external force such as wind, weight of snow or ice,
or the pull of gravity on the wood accumulation
in a long, heavy branch. Of course the work of a
bonsai artist is another possibility.
Readers somewhat confused now and
seeking clarification may find it helpful to examine
Figures B1, B2 and B3 again. Ask yourself what
is really happening here? Get your pencil and paper
and, relying on memory of the growth patterns depicted,
draw your own three sketches (three buds per shoot
will be enough). Do this several times and you will
understand the basics of tree growth clearly. You
will even be able to pass the following test without
having to think about it very much.
First question: Fifteen years ago as an
impetuous youth, a boy carved his initials in the
bark of a tree four feet above the ground. Since
that time, the tree’s height increase has
averaged twelve inches a year. How high above the
ground are his initials now?
Second question: Lacking
enough yellow, welcomehome ribbon to encircle the
trunk of the old tree in the front yard, mom ties
it in a bow near the end of the tree’s lowest
branch, twentyseven feet away from the trunk. Mom
being reluctant to discard this memento, the ribbon
is still in place four years later. During this
time, the branch has lengthened six inches a year.
How far (approximate distance is enough) is the
ribbon from the trunk now?
Third question: Two branches
are growing from a tree’s trunk, one somewhat
above the other, almost parallel. Fifteen years
from now, can we expect the space between these
branches to be larger, smaller or unchanged?
If you have read, this article two or three times
and still feel a need to confirm your test answers,
don’t hesitate in asking me for my answers
the next time you have a chance.
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Please
send articles, anecdotes, information, announcements,
quotes, artwork or anything else of interest to club
members to:
Robert Bryant, 30685 Rushmore Circle , Franklin Village MI 48025, brybon_2004@sbcglobal.net or Chuck Omer, 4411 Stearns Hill Rd. Waltham , MA , 02451 , email cndomer@juno.com The deadline for submissions to the newsletter is the End of Preceding Month. |
For
Sale or Wanted
10% of Sales go to AABS Club.
Member Ads are free.
Your Business Card Printed Here
$20 per year.
Contact:
Chuck Omer (734) 9964508 cndomer@juno.com
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Pine
Management and Manipulation
Pineapples
and Porcupines
The
Deeper the Better
Bill
Heston helped Cyril and Jack give members’ information
about specific pines using bonsai and prebonsai brought
by members. Many asked for styling, health, and management
advise from these senior club members. This gave other members
a chance to hear information about pine diseases and pests
and see the results of techniques others have used over
the years to develop their trees.