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First workshop this year (2012) is January the 29th so the pictures will follow of what we create this year....................John will load the van with tree material, soils, pots and all manner of other stuff, so save on postage and pick up any bonsai supplies you need for the spring. Any special orders should be phoned through to before so it goes on the van.
If you have never attended a workshop before here is a bit of a checklist - not everything is essential but will end up quite useful.
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TREE MATERIAL. This can be a raw unstyled suitable tree you may have already, a pre-trained piece of material or an existing bonsai you want to refine or even totally change. Often you will have a tree at home that has never quite reached its potential and these are perfect to bring along as a few new sets of eyes loooking at the tree can see styles that are overlooked. (John will bring a selection of pre-bonsai in the van too). Choosing the right material for a workshop is the most important part - give yourself something to spend the day on to get the most from the day.
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TOOLS. Depending on what tree you intend working on a few tools will be essential. They dont have to be expensive and you dont need every tool under the sun. Really the important ones are a sharp pair of scissors / pruners, a set of wire cutters and if you can, a concave cutter or knob cutter. This last tool will create hollow cuts that heal flat on the tree - a job that ordinary secateurs can never achieve. Other tools are optional and can be borrowed on the day from one of us - or there will be a full selection on sale too.
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WIRE. It is very hard to create a convincing bonsai tree without some use of wire. Wiring is essential to steer branches and trunks in the direction you want, to shape the finer foliage and twigs into mature and pleasing shapes, and to pull down branches that rise up in a 'young tree' image. Initially aluminium wire is fine for all your trees, in time you may wish to invest in copper wire for pines and junipers as it does a much better job in the long term
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Camera / sketch pad. Very useful and often overlooked. It is good to have pictures of 'before and after' to see the progression of your trees. A sketch pad can be used if you have a challenging piece of material and want to come up with a plan before cutting off important branches. If you have time taking some pictures, doing a sketch or making a photoshop virt before you come can save lots of time on the day
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Wooden wedges. Quite often a change of trunk angle can transform a tree from boring to dynamic in one simple move. Using a couple of wedges under the pot to prop it gives the new angle to style the branches to, and if you keep the tree proped at this angle until repotting time the leaves and fine twigs will already be growing at the right level for the new design.
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Extras you may need depending on the work you plan could be potting soil, pot mesh, a tray to keep your work area tidy, dustpan, brush, black sack, carving tools etc
Also at the planning stage for this year is a summer workshop run by the club members for the members. We are thinking of using the hall again and having a full day tree styling day with plenty of pruning, defoliating, a little bit of wiring etc. Details will be worked out at the meetings.
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