This year we have started off another Chinese Elm project to include any new members and existing members and see what they can achieve with these sightly larger Elms this year. Swindon Bonsai Club sourced around 25 Chinese Elms from Lodder Bonsai and are offering them to club members at a subsidised rate. For those members wanting to take part they need to purchase a raffle ticket and it links to a corresponding ticket on an Elm and that will be their tree to develop going forward.
Our Chairman, Paul Bowerbank has been awarded a Life Time Member Award at our Annual General Meeting, presented by Sally May. This is to recognise his contribution to Swindon Bonsai Society and bonsai as a whole. He has a passion for bonsai and is always keen to share this with new and existing club members.
This is the time of year you will find out if you have any soil borne problems with your bonsai trees. The time for repotting is from around October through to March for broadleaves and into April for evergreens. Tropical bonsai are generally repotted when it is slightly warmer so later in the Spring but again it does depend on how you are keeping your tropicals.
However, the many people in the UK tend to repot in February and March but it does depend on your location, tree species and frequency of repotting and the root development of each bonsai tree.
It is worth checking the roots of the trees annually if possible to check for such pests like Vine weevil larvae or Leather Jackets as these can be very detrimental to your bonsai roots if left un checked.
Mark is starting to show more of his bonsai trees, and this year we were delighted he put his Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) on display which he has been working on now for 6 years. He is an active club member at Swindon and has put on some great bonsai displays at our show.
He also displayed his Kiyohime maple (Acer palmatum kiyohime), which he has been developing for the past 5 years and it is in a Dan Barton pot. Mark is also the Chairman of Newbury Bonsai Society.
René Lecocq is from Belgium and is well known for his stunning bonsai pots, which apparently he began to create when he started the hobby for bonsai and his love of bonsai and inspiration come through in his pots. Here are a few images of his pots on sale at the Lodder Bonsai Open Weekend this weekend.
It was with great relief that Jerry was able to make the show this year and we were glad to see him there. He brought along a lovely yamadoi English Yew (Taxus baccata) that he has had for 4 years which was in a Dan Barton pot. He placed alongside the Yew a Juniperus Sabina.
Kit who is a club member of Swindon and well known for his passion for small trees, set up yet another fantastic miniature display of fascinating mame and accompanying items. It made up a super display and it was a delight to spend time admiring each element.
Sally’s shohin display contained 6 trees and an accent and five of the trees are presented on a shohin display stand. There was a Premna (Premna serratifolia), Japanese quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) Korean hornbeam (Carpinus turczaninowii), Trident maple (Acer buergerianum).
A second Trident maple (Acer buergerianum) over rock with a snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) accent. The trees were a delight and provided a good flow and range of style.
The open weekend at Lodder Bonsai this year was again a great success with so much to see and do all weekend with the focus being everything bonsai and so much more. We had a really enjoyable time with friends in a very friendly relaxed atmosphere surrounded by bonsai trees. Throughout the weekend were bonsai demonstrations, a stunning bonsai exhibition and lots of shopping opportunities.
Grahams shohin display was a six-tree display with a Juniper (Juniper itoigawa) in a Klika pot on the top of the shohin display case and a collection of 4 broadleaf winter image shohin bonsai below.
These were a Privet (Ligustrum) in a Klika pot, a Cork Bark Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia) in a Bigei pot, a Larch in an Ian Baillie pot and a Siberia Pea tree (Caragana arborescens) in a Tony Remington pot.
Set to the right hand side was a Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) also in a Tony Remington pot with a snowdrop accent (Galanthus nivalis).