LAST MONTH'S MEETING:Our holiday party was a great success. The stroganoff was excellent, and all who attended had a good time. Special thanks to Bob and Judy Johnston for another great meal. Special thanks also to all the members that came early to help set up or stayed late to help with clean-up. George Michel had a wonderful idea and brought in one of his trees all dressed up for the party. Next year, we'II have to remind our members that their trees are always welcome.
THIS MONTH'S MEETING: The January meeting will be held on Wednesday, Jan 15 at 7:00 at the Pittsburgh Civic Garden Center. Don Gould will present a lecture/slide show on the history of bonsai pots, emphasizing choosing the correct pot for the tree. He will explain how bonsai styles emerged from pot shapes, why pots look the way they do, and how to use bonsai pot history in choosing a pot to make a stronger presentation. Join us for an informative and enjoyable evening.
SPOTLIGHT TREES: Trees in unusual or rare pots.
1997 SLATE OF OFFICERS:
PRESIDENT Bob Grealish
VICE PRESIDENT Keith Scott
TREASURER Ralph Dukstein
RECORDING SECRETARY Linda Veltri
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY Rose Grealish
NEXT MONTH'S MEETING: The February meeting will be held on Wed, Feb 19. We will again attempt "bonsai by committee" and work on club trees. These meetings have been popular in the past, as small groups of experienced and novice members work on trees together, exchanging ideas and techniques with each while they begin to shape a masterpiece.
CARVING YOUR TREES: In November we had a demonstration of carving dead wood on trees by Bob Grealish and Keith Scott. Here's a little summary:
Who: The best trees for deadwood are probably junipers because they
tend to have dead wood in nature and because they are very good at "walling
off' the dead wood without rotting or damaging the rest of the tree. Also good
are pines, cypress and other conifers. Dead wood on deciduous trees tends to
rot, so any deadwood is often carved as a hollow trunk style.
What: Branches or one side of a trunk can be carved. Try to leave the
callous collar on jin (deadwood branches,) and try not to carve below
the soil line on the trunk. If you have dead wood, it looks best to have
several branches with jin and/or dead wood on the trunk
(shari). One jin on an otherwise healthy looking tree is out of
place.
When: Carving already dead wood can be done anytime.
Removing bark should be done whenever you would prune the tree heavily. That
is, do it in the late winter or in summer when the tree is actively growing.
This is so the tree has energy to wall off the wounds. Don't do it when the
tree is budding (spring) or when it is storing energy from the branches
(fall).
How: Carved branches should look naturally weathered. They
should be flattened as though partially rotted or sand blasted by the wind.
It often looks good to make them curve or twist. As with other visual
elements, they should be larger at the bottom of the tree and should have
movement in keeping with the rest of the tree (no twisty trees with jin
"pipes" sticking out of them.) Dead wood is often the focal point of the
tree, so you may create it with the idea of styling the rest of the bonsai to
match.
Why: Why not?
DUES ARE DUE...DUES ARE DUE...DUES ARE DUE...DUES ARE DUE
Annual dues for the PBS are $18.00 (single), $32.00 (family), payable before April 1, 1997. Please make checks payable to "Pittsburgh Bonsai Society" and send with the following form to Rose Grealish or bring both to the next meeting.