Club News - September 2022
Jonas Dupuich – “Evaluating Junipers” @ 7PM
September 16 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
This is the first in a series of three programs devoted to Junipers over the next year.
Bonsai is an art but one with recognized criteria for what makes a good bonsai. Understanding those criteria are important. When working on one of your trees you need to know what changes are needed to improve the tree. When buying a bonsai you want to identify flaws that can’t be corrected. When buying nursery stock you hope to develop you want to know what to look for and what to avoid.
Areas to be considered –
- Trunk – the most important part of a bonsai, it conveys age and defines the main character of the tree
- Branches – branches and foliage reveal how well developed a tree is and whether or not it is healthy
- Surface Roots – also called nebari, these ground the tree and must be in proportion to the trunk
- Pot – the pot you grow your tree in may not the the pot you show it in. When showing a tree the the pot needs to be the appropriate style, color, etc.
Before the meeting we encourage you to look at this article - Identifying suitable material for bonsai. it’s in five parts:
Monthly Tasks
Each month there are a number of tasks you need to do to your bonsai – from repotting, to fertilizing to spraying for pests. We have put together a checklist, customized for the San Francisco Bay Area to help you. This checklist is adapted from earlier work by Mitsuo Umehara.
This month: September Tasks
Recommended Bonsai Videos
This is a new feature where we will recommend videos worth watching. The ones we’re recommending this month are all related to styling young and small Juniper bonsai.
Shohin Juniper Bonsai from Cuttings
Bjorn Bjorhorn | Eisei-en Bonsai
Part 1 16 minutes February 6, 2020
Part 2 32 minutes February 20, 2020
Part 3 25 minutes Progress two years later, June 15, 2022
This is an excellent instructional video in four parts: cleaning and selection of front, creation of deadwood, setting structure, and detail wiring. Ryan usually works on really large material but here he is in top form making styling decisions on much smaller stock.
How to Make a Juniper Bonsai
Ryan Neal | Bonsai Mirai
34 minutes Jan 12, 2022
Video Link
Mauro Stemberger works on a number of species native to Europe and the Western United States. His videos on large Sabina and Rocky Mountain Junipers are extraordinary. This link sends you to his video on the first styling of a shohin juniper, so you see in miniature his reading of a tree in early development: cleaning, visualizing design, removing unnecessary branching, creating some jins, wiring and positioning branches. His explanations, as in all his videos, are clear and focused.
Beginning Workshop Update - Sunday, September 18
There will NOT be a beginning workshop in August. The next scheduled date is Sunday, September 18. There will be two sessions: Morning from 9:30AM - 12:30PM and Afternoon from 1:00PM - 4:00PM at the home of Richard and Barbara Phillips
Stay tuned for more details about the Beginning Workshop in next month’s newsletter. But mark your calendar for the September 18 date.
Future Series of Meetings
In the survey club members also expressed interest in doing a series of meetings focused on junipers and Maples - so we’re going to start that as well. After the September meeting there will be two more juniper-focused meetings over the next year. We’re also planning a series on maples, probably starting in March next year. More details to come.
Recap of Our August Special Event
On Saturday, August 22, nineteen members of Kusamura visited with Jonas Dupuich at his bonsai garden in Alameda and with Gordon Deeg at the Lake Merritt Bonsai Garden. It was a delight to see Jonas in his element, among his trees, many of which he has featured on his weekly blog Bonsai Tonight. It was especially gratifying to observe his exposed root pines in progress (so many of them!) and many other trees he has developed and styled.
As always he was welcoming and gracious and responsive to our questions. Both his garden and his father’s nursery are impressive and we wandered around for quite a while studying and marveling at the varieties of species. Several of us bought soil and other products. At Hal Jerman’s recommendation, more than a few of us purchased aluminum root picks for piercing holes in hardened soil of a bonsai pot - to aerate, improve watering, and insert fertilizer. Jonas has done a number of demonstrations for our club, and we were happy to appreciate him as a friend and bonsai professional at his home digs.
We then went to the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt where Gordon Deeg was holding court. He reminded us that because Kusamura is a member of the Golden State Bonsai Federation the Lake Merritt garden is our garden and encouraged us to volunteer. We ate our lunches around the big work table as Gordon regaled us with stories about the history and current status of the garden which is run entirely by volunteers.
His stories about his times with Kathy Shaner in Japan were especially amusing and Gordon seemed to relish an audience who could fully appreciate them. He gave us a tour of some of the trees, and then at our request he offered to show us the area where trees that need work are held. Many of these will be offered for sale at Bonsai Rendezvous in Santa Nella in October.
We are grateful to Jonas and Gordon for their hospitality and their gift of time and expertise. It was a pleasure to be with them both.
A Closer Look - Juniper Scale
Most people have never heard of juniper scale but it has become a growing problem in the Bay Area since we had all the forest fires nearby. I never had a problem with any of our bonsai junipers at home until after the fires. In fact, Maryann Hinden recognized I had juniper scale on one of my trees and that’s how I first became aware that there was such a pest.
The juniper scale insect, Carulaspis juniperi, is a very small (up to 3/32 inch wide) armored scale insect. The armor of females is circular to oval and is white and parchmentlike. In the center is a light yellow cast skin of the earlier female nymph stages so the armor more or less resembles a tiny fried egg. Because they are so small juniper scales are easily overlooked. This species overwinters as mature fertilized females. Around May, females lay an average of 40 eggs inside their armor and then die. Crawlers hatch about two weeks later. Once a female crawler inserts its thread-like mouthparts, it does not move again.
Excerpt from North Carolina State Extension article on Juniper Scale
The scale sucks the liquids from the needle until the needle dries out and dies. If there are enough scale in any given area the entire branch is affected.
Here are a couple of photos of the female juniper scale.
Susceptible Species - This pest infects all junipers, including the misnamed Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) and Cypres varieties.
Treatment - To treat scale apply a horticultural oil as soon as you see the insect and then two weeks later. As preventative, you may horticultural oil to all your junipers during May and June as a preventative measure. I like using Indoor Pharm rosemary oil - or making my own. Note, do not use Neem oil on junipers!
Preventing transmutation - Because the immature scale, called crawlies are so small they can migrate in the wind, on the feet of birds - or on tools. That's why it's important to clean tools properly. I like using Hexol brand disinfectant a general purpose pine oil based cleaner.
Sources - Hexol can be found at CVS and other pharmacies. Indoor Pharm Organic Insecticida Miticide and Fungicide, with Pure Rosemary Oil can be found online via Home Depot but they only carry a concentrated one-gallon size. To find a size appropriate for bonsai use, you can purchase it online from Gilly’s Garden
Newsletter Editor: Rita Curbow