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Corin`s Treble |
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Corin Tomlinson making a welcome return to the Society and gave us a
good value evening in which he completed three tray creations, a group
planting, a landscape and a water pot planting. Starting with the tray, Corin said this should be regarded as a blank
canvas. The next step was to gather everything that was to be used, rocks,
trees, compost and material for underplanting. It was good practice to
have more than enough of everything. Corin`s recommendations for a tray
was one which was long, narrow and of an earthy colour. The trees should be chosen to avoid fast growers as they would quickly
become out of scale. Spruce is a good species to use. Small cuttings can
sometimes be used with effect. It is important to have a good rock because
in combination with the tray there must be a visible mass. Rocks could
be allowed to break out over the edge of the tray. For his tray landscape, Corin assembled mixed sizes of Chamaecyparis
obtusa `Nana Gracillis`. The rock was an industrial by product called
`Alpha Coral`, a form of clinker or slag. It had a variety of colours
and overall was a better colour than Tufa rock. The compost to be used
was 2 parts peat, 2 parts grit and 1 part J.I. No 2. After putting compost into the tray, Corin tried a number of rocks before
settling on two rocks spaced slightly apart. He choose his trees with
care to fit the physical and visual aspects of what he was trying to achieve.
A branch had to be removed from one of the trees to achieve a good fit.
Yellowing foliage was removed and some other foliage was thinned out before
finally settling the trees into position with compost. A peat muck of
peat and clay, or peat and chopped sphagnum moss, made a good material
for holding trees in position. The rock structure was continued by adding a smaller rock to lead the eye along the tray. Extra compost was placed where necessary and the design was completed by a scattering of small alpines and some gravel.
For his group planting Corin used Korean grown “Deshojo” maples. They
were leggy in growth and had been grown on in pots of open soil resulting
in plenty of fibrous roots. Corin started by trimming the trees into a
rough shape and would leave them for a year before commencing to shape
them. He selected the tallest tree and cut the root into a compact shape. The movement for the group was started by slightly leaning the first
tree into the centre from the edge of the tray. A slightly smaller tree
was placed towards the edge. It was important to harmonise the first three
trees. Corin continued to add further trees each time studying the angles
and spaces before final placing. He said that it was important to stand
back occasionally in order to get a more objective view. Finishing with 10 trees, Corin said that an odd number of trees was not important above 7 trees but it was easier to arrange groups of less than that number if an odd number was used. The tray group was finished by arranging soil to give some surface movement and then some gravel was added for effect.
To finish with a quick creation, Corin used a small White Pine grafted onto Black Pine stock. After pruning and lightly trimming the remaining foliage it was placed into the tray with a small rock and some gravel. He used fine white sand to give the effect of water.
****************************** Three
Tree Tips and a Warning Whilst reading an old article on tomato growing I found a tip for growing strong plants which could be equally valid for bonsai. Two plants are joined together near their base with a sort of saddle graft retaining the roots of both as illustrated. Once the graft has joined, the top of one plant is removed leaving a sturdy double trunk and root. I have just grafted two seedlings together as shown and hope to have a result in the Spring.
No doubt you have all tried the new vine weevil killer “Provado” which
claims to be effective for several months after the trees have been treated.
I think this can only apply to controlled conditions as it would surely
be washed through if the pots are left exposed to the elements just as
fertiliser is. However, another method I heard about on Gardener`s Question
Time to control vine weevils was to make some tubes from corrugated cardboard
and fill them with blackcurrant leaves which will attract them. Perhaps
the addition of some Ribena or blackcurrant wine would really make it
party time ! We use high nitrogen fertilisers in the Spring to improve the early
foliage and I have been told that a pinch of gold nitrate then will produce
a much deeper green. Anyway let me know if you find any of these tips useful. During a hot spell in July (now forgotten) I put a covering of fleece
on the framework over my bonsai stand to protect them. This worked very
well except in some places I allowed it to rest on the trees and the leaves
were badly burnt where it touched. ****************************** "The
Art of Bonsai" ****************************** Another miniture Bonsai
In an earlier issue of Bonsai Bulletin we showed a miniature bonsai alongside a 50 pence piece which had been crafted by Roy M. Now he has created a miniature bonsai shelter complete with miniature bonsai trees. The tree in the centre of the display is a brilliant red maple. There are many members of this Society who struggle to find the time to look after the bonsai they own, leave alone create miniature versions out of all sorts of materials. All photographs in this issue by Phil ********************************** Next Meeting. For the last meeting of the year enter a tree in the Winter Show. |
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