Aug 15 2015

Kusamono & Accent Workshop

In an effort to further the knowledge and interest in kusamono I’m holding a workshop on Saturday 29th August starting at 1pm.

The session will look at accents in general and specifically kusamono, shitakusa and kokedama (mossballs). We will look at examples of kusamono, how they are displayed and how plantings work when displayed with bonsai. Participants will be able to select their own plants on the day, indeed the workshop cost of £25 includes 4 plants (to a max value of £20) from a large selection available! Can’t do better that that!! Feel free to bring your own plants to supplement your options and any pots you want to try. I will also have a selection of Magic Ceramic Pots available for anyone keen to add to their collection.

Workshop open to all, tea and coffee available all afternoon, sign up via bonsaieejit@gmail.com for a fun informal session and walk away on the day with your own special creation.

Some of the plantings on display

Shitakusa: Hosta ‘Surprised by Joy’

Kusamono created at recent demo at Greenmount.

Kusamono created Spring 2015

Kokedama Ferns

A small selection of the plants available at the workshop, selected for their suitability for this type of planting and in most cases hard to find at run of the mill garden centres.

Aug 6 2015

August Group Workshop

Back by popular demand! Myself and Phil will be hosting a group Bonsai Workshop on Saturday 22nd August 10am to 5pm for 6-8 people.

Cost is £30 for the day including a snack lunch tea and coffee etc.

This is a great opportunity to do some seasonal work on your trees under instruction.

Bookings taken on a first come first served basis. This is not a club event and is open to all.

Some images below of previous workshops and a link to the last one here in March

Jun 30 2015

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Taiga Workshop

Jun 29 2015

The Next Generation

I’m still recovering from our clubs event on Saturday. We were looking to promote bonsai to the public and seek new members but also give our current members a good day out. We sought funding from Belfast City Council and their Parks department. If you hold a stand alone event in one of their parks they will offer grants to fund this. We applied and were successful. We called the event ‘The Bonsai Experience 2015’

One of the aspects we hoped to address was getting young people into bonsai. We offered out 20 free children’s workshop places on the day for ages between 5 and 16 years. We added this to our promotion of the event and received bookings for half the places prior to Saturday. The rest of the places we filled in the first hour or so. Kids and parents alike just loved this! So did we 🙂 It was my favourite part of the day seeing young people absolutely engrossed in what they were being told and then transferring that to their own tree which they got to keep at the end.

I know other clubs have done a little of this around the world, I’ve seen it on the net but honestly, I feel that this should be good practice for any club looking to grow. Not easy to run, health and Safety is always a concern but kids remain under parental supervision throughout and I think the parents get as much out of it as the kids! We are lucky to have a school teacher on our committee who ran the sessions and as I have experience working with children in my own job, I was able to help out at busy times.

Worth noting that posters and flyers have a limited use in this era of social media. By far the most effective means of promoting an event these days is via Twitter and Facebook, especially if you are seeking new younger members!

All the photos from the event are on multiple posts on the club website www.nibonsai.co.uk but just look at this selection below and tell me how it made you smile 🙂

Jun 25 2015

One to One: Hawthorn

Had a long one to one session today with the main focus being on the Hawthorn species and a few Maples thrown in for good measure.

This one is really coming on since being worked in a session last July.

This was the tree in July last year. Coming along nicely.

Jun 22 2015

Beginnings…..

Well, perhaps not new beginnings as the Munster Bonsai Club will reach it’s 2nd birthday in a few months time, but our visit to Bunratty and Bud Garden Centre was certainly the start of something good. Ray, the co-owner of the Garden Centre is one of the original Club members and has been a keen supporter of all their efforts to drive bonsai forward in Munster. We suggested that Bud Garden Centre, newly opened in March, might be a good location for a workshop, helping to spread the club over the whole Province so at not to become Cork-centric. Ray embraced the idea and Saturday saw us deliver a successful workshop in Bunratty not just to the regulars, but also three new faces. Great to see Steven, Lottie and Harry joining in for the first time. It was a busy session with lots of trees and we also had the public popping in to see what we were doing.

A big thank you to Ray and Andrew, Bud Owners, for making us so welcome, we look forward to another visit soon.

A few photos that capture the venue and the day. Not many of the trees sadly as I didn’t have much time to play with a camera on the day. First up some of the team, sorry to have missed out Lottie and Harry from this one, but it was taken at the end of the day. The others show the day and the amazing location in Bunratty.

Jun 19 2015

Bunratty or Bust

This is probably the longest I’ve gone without updating the blog (a whole 10 days!) Life’s been busy.

Today I’m packing up a few trees and accents to take along to a workshop with the Munster Bonsai Club being held tomorrow in Bunratty. A new location for us as we usually end up in the Cork area but we our being hosted by Bud Garden Centre in the beautiful town of Bunratty. This gives folk from the West coast a chance to come along on the day and take part in the workshop or just watch for a while and see what it’s all about.

Looking forward to catching up with the Munster guys and having some craic in the land of Father Ted. Reading this and live nearby? Come join us. I then have The Bonsai Experience to look forward to next weekend!

May 13 2015

Sitka Spruce – Picea sitchensis

Just about recovered from the weekend of bonsai workshops, not just as a participant, but also a host, which has it added drawbacks but also benefits.

Great to hear the great feedback from club members, who are also friends, makes it all the more worthwhile. I didn’t get many photos on the day I worked with with Peter, a bit busy, but I do have some to share.

I opted to work on a Sitka Spruce collected a few years back. I have been clipping it back to induce back budding with pretty good success. I had left a few options for design but I wanted Peter’s direction as to the best course of action. This is the tree before.

As you can see it has a heavy base with a decent root spread, however the branches are still long and further back budding will be required. Peter sees this as being a chuhin sized tree as an end game. The only work needed on Saturday was to get the primary branches placed and open to the light. The foliage on the tree will ultimately all be replaced with new inner growth.

A rare photo of me in a workshop. Not sure who lifted my camera to take it but thank you 🙂

This is it after the branches had been placed. The two remaining branches are starting to back bud a few inches up which is just where I need growth, therefore these will be left for a year until there is enough growth there to chop back too. This can be seen below as can the back budding from last year on the branch to the left. A long term project but material worth the effort I think.

Last years back budding

Buds sitting ready to swell

I also got Peter to look through a few other trees for me with suggestions for their future. This was every bit as important as actually working on trees and has left me with some tasks to preform.

I had recently wired and styled the pine and juniper below to refine the images further. I asked Peter to tweak them to see what changes he made. Nothing major but it’s amazing the difference those few alterations can make. Again this is a great way to learn how to improve your own skills and of course, the tree.

Thank you Peter for a great weekend. You are probably the easiest house guest I’ve ever had, all you need is a comfy sofa and a bottle of red 😉

May 11 2015

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The Bonsai Experience – Belfast 2015

Apr 24 2015

Workshop County Clare

In efforts to spread the bonsai word to all of Ireland, we now venture to Bunratty in County Clare. This time we add a new partnership to the mix with the newly opened Bud Garden Centre. The Munster Bonsai Club guys, as usual, are pushing to spread the art of bonsai and this time around we move from County Cork, right up to Clare. This gives a great opportunity to any bonsai interested folk in the west to take part. On the edge of Connaught, we open up a new portion of Ireland to wee trees. If you are reading this and are thinking of taking the plunge, be assured that none of us take ourselves to seriously, and that the main aim of the day will be to play with wee trees, make new friends and learn in an enjoyable friendly atmosphere. As a wise woman once said, “Go on, ya will, ya will, ya will” 😉