From the Editor

by George Buehler

For me, transplanting season is in full swing for my deciduous trees.  However, due to the weather, I still have them in the garage. I have been bringing them out slowly and putting them on an enclosed porch to get some sun. This is the most enjoyable time in the bonsai season. Watching the trees come back to life from their winter’s nap is a great satisfaction. Knowing that they are ready to go through another growing season, and that they have made it through the winter, is exciting.



About 10 years ago, I purchased starts of a plum, apricot, and cherry from a grower in California. Last year, the cherry bloomed for the first time. This year, the plum has already started blooming, also for the first time. The apricot has never bloomed – perhaps next year. I always enjoy seeing the azalea bloom, but, when I see the fruit trees bloom, it gives me a different feeling. I was about to give up on the fruit trees but now I will continue on with them. I doubt that these trees will ever be specimens, but, as long as I can get them to bloom every so often, I will continue working on them. The trunks are not very big, probably because they have been in a bonsai pot for most of their lives. I probably will plant them in the ground for a few years to see if I can get the trunks to have some size. One thing I have learned is that there is little trunk growth when the trees are planted in a bonsai pot. However, when planted in the ground, the trunks of bonsai grow in size. They only need to be in the ground for a couple of years to see a big difference.



Because I don’t have a lot of space available to plant my trees directly in the ground, I have found that I can plant them in florist pots and get similar results. I typically use two gallon pots, using a potting soil like ProMix, not bonsai soil.  I also apply plenty of a balanced fertilizer through out the growing season. I try to stay away from a high nitrogen fertilizer because I don’t want to get a lot of “green” growth, just trunk growth. For me this has seemed to work fairly well. The biggest problem with using a potting soil is watching the water content of the soil. I use a moisture meter to monitor the water levels in the ProMix.



We have two new contributors this month. The first is Ross Scott. Ross lives in Berea and recently joined the GLBS. When I first met him, I found he was a botanist so I asked if he could write some articles for this newsletter. Within a few weeks of asking him, he submitted two articles. The first, starting on page 2, is sort of an introduction of his experience and the second, starting on page 3, is a nice introduction to bonsai provenance. Ross has promised to send in more articles several times a year.



Our second new contributor is Brian Schanding. He also has a space problem but wanted to plant some trees in the ground. Read about his solution starting on page 4.  Brian has promised to send in follow-up articles on what he finds using his raised bed. It always amazes me that other bonsai artists have found ways to enhance their bonsai in novel ways.



We also have another fact and care sheet prepared by Randy Davis, starting on page 6. I hope the readers are keeping copies of his fact sheets, since they give complete information on species upkeep.



I hope you are finding the newsletter informative and with the help of some our members, worth showing it to non-GLBS members with the hope of getting them to join. Always, at this time of year, we have some members who choose not to renew. If you know of some members who have chosen not to renew, ask them why and let us know. Perhaps we are not giving them what they need to stay club members..

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