Bonsai Art

Autumn is now upon us and is a time when most of your bonsai will start to lose their leaves. Some people can be quite disappointed with this season because it means to them that the bonsai will lose a lot of it’s beauty. Although they will lose their leaves, it should not be seen as a bad thing.

Bonsai can look very beautiful if not even more so when they start to drop their leaves. First the leaves will change colour becoming lovely red, yellow, orange or brown colours. Now your work for the full year will become easy to see showing off the shape and beauty of the tree at it’s utmost.

Some people like to pick off old dying leaves but I like to keep them on the bonsai for as long as they want to stay there because they can give the tree a full new look and colour. This should be savoured because it only comes by once a year.

When the leaves drop off completely in the Winter, you will be able to see the branch structure of the tree. This is the time when you can have a little think about what direction you want to take it in when the new season starts in Spring.

I like to look around to see which trees lose their leaves first in Autumn. The first one I’ve spotted to lose leaves is the ‘Rowan’ or ‘Mountain Ash’ whose leaves died a few weeks ago already at the end of August. Second in turn has been the ‘Horse Chestnut’

Have a look around your area to see which ones die back first.

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Wind can be a dangerous mistress for your bonsai! Today in the UK we are experiencing severe gales of up to 70mph. This can be bad news where your bonsai are concerned.

- If you have monkey poles you should make sure that the pots are either tied down or place them on the floor while it is windy.

- Try to place exposed trees in more sheltered areas to minimize the risk of damage

- Look above for rotted branches in full sized trees. These can easily snap off in high winds and crush a poor bonsai!

- Resist the temptation to bring the trees indoors as this can do more harm than good with the extreme change in climate.

- Finally… Go and find a big open field and fly a kite in it.

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It’s suddenly gone very hot here in (usually rainy) Wales. The last week or so has brought on temperatures of 26C (80F). It’s been a bit of a shock because it’s normally a little chilly in the mornings here all year round. My bonsai have also been a bit shocked at the sudden heat increase!

I was away this weekend when it got hot so I wasn’t able to water my trees. Worse still I forgot about it Monday night so they’ve had to go until Tuesday night without a watering. The last time it rained was Saturday morning I think. One or two of them are looking a little wilted but they will be ok.

The main part to remember is to always water your bonsai when the weather gets hot and they are in the sun all day. The best time to water your bonsai is at dusk when the sun is starting to set. If you have to water them in the day time try not to get any on the leaves because they can easily burn in the sun.

They burn because the water droplets on the leaves act as a sort of magnifying glass which scorches the leaves. Because of this it is always better to try to wait until dusk if at all possible.

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Every year the oak and the ash have a race to see who can open it’s leaves first.
The oak and ash are both completely different in that they respond to different factors to whether they open their leaves or not. The oak responds to warmth. Periods of more warmth in early spring will cause it to open it’s buds and come into leaf.
The ash responds to daylight length which is the same each year.

The saying goes as follows:
“Oak before ash, there’ll be a splash.
Ash before oak, there’ll be a soak!”

It could be considered a a bit of a wives tale

The bad news is… ash has started to leaf first in this area meaning that we could be in for a wet one this year!

There is another reasoning behind the saying:
In warmer springs oaks will leaf first and in colder ones they will take longer to leaf so the ash will beat them to it. Apparently 70% of the time the trend continues into the rest of the year.
So if an oak leafs first it should be a warm summer but if an ash leafs first it will be cold.

Only time will tell if it’s going to be a cold wet summer but one things for certain… The ash has won this year.

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We had some snow last night here in Wales which left the garden looking very pure and white. I was considering covering up the trees which have come into leaf last night but I prefer to let things happen naturally, plus I was feeling ill. They might have a little bit of frost damage as a result but it shouldn’t last too long until new leaves appear again. Quite a lot of the bonsai have not sprouted leaves yet anyway, it’s mainly only the smaller more eager shrubs such as berberis, hawthorn and cherry. Hazel is starting to come into leaf also but this late snow might knock it back a bit.

Here are some pictures of my snow covered trees for you:

Juniper

Hinoki Cypress

2 junipers and a japanese maple

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