Saw us at our first meeting in our new home. Some good points, some not so good. Whilst we received a nice welcome, the background noise present when speakers were doing their thing was a bit of a distraction, but hey.

Anyway back to the meeting:-
The evening began with Robert giving a talk on grafting. It never ceases to amaze me how many experts we have within our merry band of tree stranglers.

It was obvious to everyone there that Robert is very experienced at this, not just in his use of the grafting knife, (how many fingers has he got?) but in the effortless way in which he demonstrated different techniques to us.

Robert explained that sometimes we graft to get the best of both worlds, be it a strong root with a desired foliage or flower or, as in the case of fruit trees, to control the size of the mature plant.
Several methods were demonstrated. These included, T-budding, rind grafting and whip & tongue grafts.

T-Bud Graft

This is where a bud is taken from the stock plant and inserted into a T-shaped cut in the host. This is then tightly bound.
Rind grafts. This is where a scion is inserted into, or rather, just behind, the layers of bark next to where a rootstock has been cut off. An example of this may be where a new crown is desired to form a broom style.

Whip & Tongue

Here two pieces are cut at an angle in a manner to expose as much of the inner bark as possible. The two are then offered together and tightly bound.

Next it fell to Keith to take the stage with his demonstration of air layering.

Air Layering

This is where a band of the outside or bark of a branch/trunk is cut away, right down to the wood (about the width of the branch). Moss is then wrapped over the "wound", and this is then wrapped in polythene (black or white). The moss must be kept damp, but if this is done, then hopefully, in a short while, depending on species, roots should emerge. These can then be severed from the mother and planted into a growing on pot. Great care must be taken, however, as these roots are very, very delicate.

Next month
Maples with Lee Verhorevoort.
Lee makes a welcome return to the club ( I hope someone has told him we have moved)
I think I can safely say that most club members have maples, maybe not Japanese ones, how about our own field maple or even the ubiquitous Norway maple.
Please, please bring them along.

Book of The month
The Bonsai Workshop by Herb L Gustafson.
First published in 1994 this book is, shall we say, very American, that is, it is geared towards the American market. Having said that, I'm sure that any reader will be able to ascertain what Herb is going on about.

I must confess that I found this book a let down. On the surface, it looks great, lots of nice pictures and drawings, but aside from these, the actual contents offer very little that is new or indeed fresh.

It does contain some nice examples of styles but (I'm trying to find the right words here) it lacks something, that spark, that little gem that takes it from being a mere manual (nothing wrong with that) to being an essential reference book. Others will disagree with me, but I can only write what I feel.

On the subject of books, it has been mentioned that this section of the bulletin should concentrate on new books.
Whilst I agree that this is a very valid point, I will continue to report on old and new releases for at least 2 reasons: first, new releases are reported on in most bonsai publications and second, I get a lot of bonsai books from the library, where the books are not all of the latest issue, so if I have read a review of an "old book" that sounds interesting, I might just get the book out and have a read. I might even manage to get some knowledge into that thick skull of mine!

FORTHCOMING EVENTS
23 June: Wessex Bonsai Show - Littledown centre, Chaseside, Bournemouth 01202890021
20 July: Kent Bonsai Show - St James's Church Hall, Maidstone
9/10 October: Bonsai Kai Show - RHS Hall, Victoria, London

Nearly forgot
Watering when on holiday:
A few tips,
First and best, get a friend or better still a fellow club member to check them over if we have a dry spell.
2: Place trees is a cool shady place away from wind and direct sun, give a good watering before you go
3: Invest in an automated watering system (test before you go)
4: place trees in a large container surrounded with very damp moss, should delay them from drying out.
5: You could try the wick in pot method, you never know it might work
Please remember if you are going away, let me know anything interesting you go to or find out.