Nova bonsai garden

August44 said:
Agree. Repaint it some other color like river blue before u toast the kids.
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It’s not hot here so they're fine for now. The chicks are about to fledge and I plan on repainting it when they do. There should be a couple of weeks before they attempted a second clutch.

- S
 
markyscott said:
If any of my Virginia friends are planning to go to the Potomac Bonsai Festival at the arboretum, I’ll be there on Saturday May 6. Hope to see you. I’ll be most likely one of the only 6’6” people there.

Scott
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I'm going on Friday hoping for some good finds in the sales area, but I'll likely return on Saturday.
 
Fun day today at the festival! Ran into some old friends and met some new ones (thanks for introducing yourself @NOVAbonsai). Sorry if you were there and I missed you! Saw a fun demo by Suthin and spent some time chatting with Jim Doyle. Got a friendly tap on the shoulder from Young Choe - she is one of my very favorite people and incredibly talented.

56E095B5-8225-4D18-98AA-772A2D1528E7.jpeg
 
markyscott said:
Fun day today at the festival! Ran into some old friends and met some new ones (thanks for introducing yourself @NOVAbonsai). Sorry if you were there and I missed you! Saw a fun demo by Suthin and spent some time chatting with Jim Doyle. Got a friendly tap on the shoulder from Young Choe - she is one of my very favorite people and incredibly talented.

View attachment 486618
Click to expand...
Sorry I missed you Scott! Went there yesterday to dropped off my couple trees for the club show and going back tomorrow to pick them up. Didn’t feel like going there 3 days in a roll lol.

IMG_7091.jpegIMG_7092.jpeg
 
Decandling season! I was very fortunate to have the kind help of @NOVAbonsai who visited and helped me decandle. With Colin’s help, we made quick work of it this year. Thank you so much Colin for your help! Let me know when you want to come by again. There is always something going on.

D1819074-DCE9-417F-8A34-FF9E99B360E0.jpeg
 
Also it’s defoliation time. I think that most of you know that when I say ”defoliation” I don’t mean completely removing every leaf on the tree. Never miss an opportunity to strengthen weak growth and defoliation is a golden opportunity on broadleaf trees. Instead of just blindly removing every leaf, I suggest that you do this. First, remove all the leaves on the outer canopy of the tree. Next, remove all the leaves on extending interior shoots. Leave all the leaves on the weak interior shoots that haven’t extended. If your tree has a dense canopy, you’ll want to put it under a bit of shade (I put mine under 50% shade cloth - 30% is probably better) for a couple of weeks to protect the interior shoots from sunburn. The only time I completely defoliate is before a show in order to exhibit the tree without leaves or to show the tree with a fresh set of small leaves.

Heres a Cedar elm I defoliated a couple of weeks ago.
67780DFD-6A16-4AFE-A7B5-B10EDC2AA423.jpeg

If you have a branch that you’d like to strengthen, defoliation is an excellent opportunity for that as well. Just leave more (or all) the leaves on that branch. Here’s an example with a different Cedar elm where I’m trying to strengthen the lower branches.
57B170C5-7709-49A2-B559-1AD45740605D.jpeg
 
markyscott said:
Also it’s defoliation time. I think that most of you know that when I say ”defoliation” I don’t mean completely removing every leaf on the tree. Never miss an opportunity to strengthen weak growth and defoliation is a golden opportunity on broadleaf trees. Instead of just blindly removing every leaf, I suggest that you do this. First, remove all the leaves on the outer canopy of the tree. Next, remove all the leaves on extending interior shoots. Leave all the leaves on the weak interior shoots that haven’t extended. If your tree has a dense canopy, you’ll want to put it under a bit of shade (I put mine under 50% shade cloth - 30% is probably better) for a couple of weeks to protect the interior shoots from sunburn. The only time I completely defoliate is before a show in order to exhibit the tree without leaves or to show the tree with a fresh set of small leaves.

Heres a Cedar elm I defoliated a couple of weeks ago.
View attachment 495072

If you have a branch that you’d like to strengthen, defoliation is an excellent opportunity for that as well. Just leave more (or all) the leaves on that branch. Here’s an example with a different Cedar elm where I’m trying to strengthen the lower branches.
View attachment 495075
Click to expand...
Someone should post a thread in the deciduous section or better yet a tutorial about defoliating bonsai.

I know for example trident can handle defoliating better than a Japanese maple. I've seen trident maples get almost full defoliation and do fine. Some people don't realize this does not apply to a Japanese maple, they do it and their maple dies as a result.

Would be nice to have some comprehensive info to demystify the practice so people can learn to do it correctly.
 
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