Clinton's Jobs

December/January

* Summer - one of the more trickier seasons for Bonsai - has arrived. So many people blame the excessive heat for the loss of their plants at this time of year. Yet what kills plants is a lack of water, not the heat. If you know how much water certain Bonsai in your collection require and are also organised to get the required amounts of water to them, then you should have minimal damage to your Bonsai collection through the Summer. On those excessive days of hot temperatures most of your Bonsai will have to be watered twice a day. Some compositions such as rock plantings can be almost impossible to keep moist on days of excessive heat and should be moved to a shady position until the excesses of Summer diminish. The same also goes for miniatures. It's impossible to keep something with so little soil moist on days of high 30 degrees to 40 degree days. To also aid in keeping the humidity up to these little wonders, you can place them in a tray and fill it up with sand and bury the pots in the sand up to the rim. When you water them, water will be retained in the sand and therefore keep them moist for longer periods of time. You can also place sphagnum moss over the top of the pots which will also help to keep the soil surface cooler and retain moisture longer. Other plants to give extra attention to in the Summer include Australian Natives, pot bound trees, forest settings and root over rock compositions. Why root over rock compositions? Well, they are generally planted in shallow trays for one, and secondly the heat that builds up on the rock during a Summers day can be tremendous, and this radiating heat can scorch the roots on the rock. So it's a good idea to wrap a cloth around the rock to provide a cooling buffer for these exposed roots.

* Another thing to consider is to have some coverings such as moss or pebbles over the soil surface of your Bonsai. This acts as a mulch and helps retain moisture longer. You can add coarser and more traditional type mulches to your plants in plastic pots. Also try to hand water as much as possible. Things such as low water pressure and excessive wind can play havoc with the accuracy of fixed sprinklers. Accurate watering is crucial, misses are fatal during the Summer. December/January is a time of the year when people take short breaks away or extended holidays. If you instruct someone to water your Bonsai for you whilst your away and they haven't had any experience in watering Bonsai, then make sure you show them what’s required. It's amazing what some people call watering! They may also have some misconceptions on how much water Bonsai require. So set them straight to avoid extreme disappointment upon your return.

* Towards the end of January is an ideal time to defoliate some of your deciduous trees. A lot of people think defoliation is just for Figs in order to get the leaf size down. But defoliation has even more benefits than this. Pinching out the growth tips and removing the remaining foliage forces back budding in your trees. So it is a big help in aiding ramification in your trees. We all know how impressive those Winter silhouettes can look in your deciduous Bonsai to really give that fill of refinement of a tree you would see in nature. The other benefit of defoliation in deciduous trees this time of year is the production of fresh leaves to provide optimum Autumn colour in the proceeding months. Summer can really batter the leaves of broad leaf deciduous trees such as Japanese Maples. If the Powdery Mildew doesn't discolour them, then the scorching Westerly winds can burn the tips and distort the leaves no end. Leaving a mangled mess with little hope of attractive Autumn colour being produced. Remember proper aftercare of defoliated deciduous trees is crucial. If you have some days of very excessive temperatures whilst a tree is still bare of foliage and they are left out in a full sun position the bare branches or trunk could get burnt. So a semi shade area should be provided for them on any days of extreme temperatures.

* Don't feel you have to wait till after Christmas to remove larger leaves on some deciduous trees. You can and it is advised to continually remove larger leaves from trees that are notorious of blocking a lot of light to lower branches with their broad umbrella canopies. Liquidambars, Oaks and Japanese Maples are just some of the more common trees that are guilty of this.

* Something that you will also have to keep up with is fertilising. With extra watering fertilisers leach at a faster rate so make sure you are maintaining a steady organic liquid fertilising programme right through the Summer.

* Avoid trimming Crepe Myrtles this time of year. They are due to flower in the Summer and pruning now will mean the end of possible flowers.

* Most Leptospermum (Tee Tree) and Callistemon (Bottle Brush) species have ceased flowering and will now produce a seed capsule. Now is an optimum time to give these two species a good pruning back and the removal of any spent flowers so no energy is wasted in producing a seed capsule. Baeckea virgata which is currently in flower can also be pruned back straight after flowering late in the Summer and re potted.

* Keep up with monthly spraying of your azalea's for Lace Bug. This pest that distorts the leaves and weakens the plant from sucking the sap from the leaves should be prevented at all cost.

* Weeds have been in abundance after some favourable conditions and should be removed on sight. They rob nutrients and moisture from the soil of your plants and therefore restrict their development.

* Gardenias will have finished flowering after Christmas. Straight after flowering they can be pruned back and re potted. Place some slow release fertiliser in the potting mix as these abundant flowerers have used up a lot of energy in the past couple of months. Gardenias can quite often get strong growth at the tips of branches and poor/weak back budding. To help encourage back budding Gardenias can be defoliated after flowering as well. It is also very important to place them in full sun as just like Figs they really thrive in that position.

* Finally, I hope you have found these notes of help this year. If there is any particular species of plant or issue in Bonsai you would like to see covered in these notes, feel free to let me know by whatever means. I wish everyone a productive, relaxing and safe Christmas!

Clinton Nesci - - - (Ray Nesci Bonsai Nursery)