NEWSLETTER                                                                             April 2004

TIME:            Every third Wednesday of the month, 7:30 pm (except July, Aug. and Dec.)

PLACE:       Adult Recreation Centre - Corner of King and Allen Sts., Waterloo

SUBJECT: Bonsai Potting                                                                                                                              

President’s Message

With the weather getting better almost every weekend, it's time to think about re-potting your trees. Re-potting is essential for the long-term health and appearance of a tree in a container. If trees are kept container bound without changing the soil and root pruning, they can quickly weaken and eventually die. Some signs that your tree needs re-potting are:

1. Your tree is hard to water, the water just runs off the top of the soil
and doesn't soak in easily.
2. The tree is rising out of the pot. This indicates a root bound tree, the
roots have filled the pot and are pushing the tree out.
3. Poor health. Your tree gets very small and new growth is weak.
4. Weed and insect problems in the soil.

Re-potting should be done before the tree becomes active with new growth.
The ideal time is in April. At this month's workshop, I will be demonstrating the basics of re-potting and root-pruning a tree. For this re-potting workshop you will need:

1. Plastic for your table
2. A pot
3. Screens to cover your drainage holes.
4. Sifted gravel for a drainage layer
5. Mixed and sifted bonsai soil
6. Root pruners
7. Wire to hold the tree in place
8. A watering can
9. A root rake
10. A root bound tree, this should be easy to find!

We are holding a soil-making workshop on April 17th at 1:00 pm in the parking lot at Velmon's and Alexander’s business. See the map for details on how to get there. Rain date will be April 24th.

Soil Workshop -33 Dupont Street East, Waterloo- see map below

Everyone is welcome. You can mix just enough soil for yourself, or if you are feeling energetic,
you can mix extra to sell at the next club meeting. Mixing your own soil will allow you to customize your mixture to your own trees.


Please bring:
-soil sifters
-dust mask
-plastic tote boxes.... one for fine waste soil, one for coarse waste soil and one for finished soil, the more the better.
-good strong plastic bags for finished soil
-gardening gloves if required
-soil scoops

A basic recipe is 1/3 haydite or crushed granite or fine gravel (Co-op crushed granite is used for chickens, make sure you get medium or course)(see Leszek for Haydite), 1/3 staydry or oil dregs, this is a fired
clay particle used for cleaning up oil spills (TSC, Canadian Tire, Home Hardware) and1/3 composted sheep or cow manure (garden store).

For coniferous trees substitute the 1/3 manure for 1/6 peat moss and 1/6 manure.

The raw soil material will not be supplied by the club. This has caused too much storage and transportation problems in the past. Hope to see you there!

A great idea for your tropical trees is to buy a boot tray and place it underneath your indoor pots. The ridges on the boot tray raise the pot off the bottom for good drainage. When watering, the water will run off
Into the boot tray and provide some extra humidity for your tree, without running all over your bench!

Special thanks to Leszek for getting the haydite and Velmon and Alexander for lending us their parking lot.

Our website has been registered as www.kwbonsai.com and is up and running.
Thanks to all who helped with this task. Special thanks to Jimi and his
son who designed and registered the site.

Nigel Saunders

Thanks go out to Tony and Aida Costa of Sheffield Nursery for providing us with a fun evening of grafting experience. The hands were quick and the knives were sharp; hope I was the only one who sliced and diced their own fingers. …. Velmon suggested that we organize a field trip to Sheffield Nursery. Perhaps we could do this at the next meeting.

Upcoming Events

1. April meeting- potting workshop-don’t forget to bring plastic to cover the tables with.
2. Soil making Workshop- April 17 at 33 Dupont Street E. Waterloo
3. June 12-13, Toronto Bonsai Society’s Spring Show at the Civic Garden Centre in Toronto. Corner of Lawrence and Leslie Avenues. More details to come.
4. September 25-26. Guelph Bonsai Society fall Show in the University Centre at the University of Guelph. KW members are encouraged to exhibit their trees at this show. Please contact June Brett before the end of August if you wish to participate. (519-836-4487).

Reminders

*Society dues for 2004
*Please return library materials
*Bring plastic to cover the table if you are going to be working on a plant.
*Please clean up your sitting/work area before you leave. Don’t forget the floor- Eldon knows where the broom hides.


Cheers, Lynn Howlett