The shimpaku junipers I dug from the grow beds last winter have finally decided they are going to survive the trauma and have plenty of new roots and good growth on top. Continue reading
Category Archives: Uncategorized
shibuibonsai.com.au has moved
We recently moved shibuibonsai.com.au to a new server. It appears that not all the images I have used in the posts have survived the move. It will take me some time to replace the missing files. In the meanwhile you will just have to use your imaginations to fill out the visual details of some of the posts. Please let me know if you have found a post that is vital to you and desperately needs the images to make sense and I’ll see if I can fast track replacing those files.
Apologies for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience.
Neil
Banksia and fertiliser
For many years there has been a myth that ‘normal’ fertiliser will kill Australian plants.
The truth is that most Aussie natives don’t care. Many actually grow way better when they have access to reasonable levels of P so they grow better when fertilised with standard fertilisers. I have actually come to the conclusion that many of my early failures with Australian native plants can be attributed to starvation because I was too frightened to fertilise. Continue reading
Repotting natives
I usually repot any native plants in November or December. There were plenty that needed doing this season because I had not repotted for a couple of years. I find that many native plants grow lots of fine roots in the pots and quickly get to the stage where there is no room in the potting mix for water or air to penetrate. This mans that it becomes increasingly difficult to keep the mix hydrated and I have lost quite a few trees because I have not repotted often enough. Continue reading
2016-17 Catalogue
Spring has been very busy for Shibui Bonsai. We had a trade table at Canberra Bonsai Society show and supplied more stock for Bonsai North West spring show in Melbourne at the start of November. Our local Albury Wodonga Bonsai Society staged exhibitions at both Albury Show and Myrtleford show.
Now that spring is over I have finally managed to find time to take photos of the trees on the sales tables and get them up on the Catalogue page. No descriptions yet this time but I think you can probably get a pretty good idea of the trees from the pictures. Just email neil@shibuibonsai.com.au if you need more info on any of the trees featured.
Spring flowering – Crab Apple
Spring seems to have started slowly here at Shibui Bonsai. Lots of rain keeping temps a little lower than usual but the trees have responded to the warmth and started to grow. Continue reading
Springtime!
After a wet winter the longer, warmer days of Spring are welcome. It is always magical to see the new leaves start to open and flower buds swelling so I thought I’d share some photos with you. Continue reading
Spring
Late winter is typically busy at Shibui Bonsai. Trees in the grow beds must be dug, pruned and assessed. The best are potted up for you to purchase. Others are replanted to continue developing. A few that don’t look like measuring up are consigned to the scrapheap. Continue reading
Digging new stock
It is mid winter at Shibui Bonsai. July and August are the months I usually dig all the stock from the grow beds and assess them. Continue reading
more bend, less snap
Sooner or later all bonsai growers need to bend parts of a bonsai. Whether the bend is in the trunk or just moving a branch slightly there is always some fear that the tree will break instead of bending the way you want it. Continue reading