And what an amazing show it was. Seldom does the child in a sweet shop syndrome come home quite so clearly. Standard of exhibits was mind numbingly good; John Trott had a great stand of his Bronzes and Jitta. I think John was running on ‘auto-pilot’ after just getting in from a week at the Chelsea Flower show.

Dan (the man) Barton had a wonderful selection of pots for sale; yes, I had to have a couple. Ritta Cooper had some beautiful mini Kusamono for sale, and again, I had to have one. Organisation was tremendous; car-parking perfect, hall was not too warm considering it was 26C in the shade.

It would be unfair to name any exhibits really as the whole lot was a feast for the eyes. I’ll let the images talk now! Oh a huge thank you to Mark Cooper for the tip on the flash for my camera. Duly ordered Mark; thank you!

I’ve just found out I missed the entire trader area which was in a room behind Ritta, or near by. I’m gutted

Hawthorn blossom that is. Love these colours on both white and red flowering.

Taken just now on a Stoneage compact; no post editing, just as they come Must get round to changing the WordPress theme here. Club site has doubled hits since updating.

John Trott (Mendip Bonsai) secure yet another R.H.S GOLD medal for their outstanding display!

Congratulations also go to FOBBS. GOLD!!!!

JT gave the Taunton & Somerset club an insight into a completely new way of creating a slab for group or forest planting.

This LINK will take you directly to the club page.

Shade temperature in my back garden this afternoon … 19 Celsius. I think my buddy Ian in Northern Ireland has blown the tropical weather my way. Thanks friend.

Of course plenty as always to do. I’d have been happy ‘bonsaing’ all day but my good lady needed help repotting Hosta’s and Astilb’s; still I pinched some of the cut of Astilb’s and have planted them up in small plastic pots.

I have no idea if they will take. If they do I figured I would try as an accent plant. Could be too tall, but maybe not. Time will tell. Did manage to get the Display House cleaned from top to bottom; Good old Jeyes fluid; tis all I can smell now.

Potted up some more accents so will get pictures on soon. Ahhhh bliss it is to be sure that great big yellowy orange thing shining away … and no wind to speak of either. No smutty replies to that thank you.

More of the same please!

When I am frequently asked to help out repotting Bonsai for enthusiasts new to the ‘sport,’ one of the main questions is how long before I get results?

Well to be honest it does vary what precise species is being repotted. As an example I will show you an image that I took this afternoon of a Mountain Maple. Four weeks ago to the day, I removed around 60% of the existing root-ball and ended up virtually bare rooting it as I needed to clear out dead and decaying roots. It was indeed overdue by twelve months, but the new pot was smaller and shallower; hence substantial removal.

Post repotting care is essential for many species and with this Maple I make it no exception to treat it very gently. It has been kept out of winds, away from frost etc, but I have given the tree several hours of dappled sunshine each day (when the sun decided to turn up that is).

No feed but constant misting; always at night and first thing in the morning then twice a day there on in. I have also been pinching out with tweezers all new growth once one pair of leaves arrived. I use tweezers as this helps keep internode length short, (the branch that grows in-between each pair of leaves). It needs to be done quickly as you see it emerging; if the internode is there and the leaves have opened it is already too late!

So …. when I repotted buds were swelling but not formed, and I very much want slow growth to give the roots a chance to form. Again as I have mentioned in other related posts and pages, by spraying the leaf you are taking the strain away from the roots; you are also feeding the roots with moisture. Two-way traffic, always remember that. What goes on will go down and what goes in will go up.

Thankfully for the first three weeks response was nice and slow. This week however, almost every leaf opened, hence the pinching.

Here then, in my winter quarters is one Maple doing very well indeed. I will not feed yet however. At least another four weeks yet! Please excuse the twine, it is being used to reposition branches and will be removed prior to showing later this year. Bear in mind it is currently not refined; this will be undertaken in May/June.

This Bonsai is 34cm tall. I will be reducing the lower branches later on as well as defining the centre and crown.

Indeed, the 18th March and it dropped to -4c last night. Everything covered outside and green houses heated. WHEN is this ever going to finish????