It has been some time since I posted here. Life just seems to be very busy despite Covid restrictions I have been busier than usual. Work continues and bonsai orders have increased as people look for things to do.

Winter has now arrived at Shibui Bonsai and most of the deciduous trees are bare so it is time to tackle the winter pruning. Winter trim can be done any time when the trees have no leaves but I like to get on with it as soon as possible because soon I’ll be occupied with digging the trees in the grow beds. Then those will need to be potted up and by then it will be repotting time. Now is definitely the best for me.

After bud selecting and needle pulling on the pines I decided that some of them could do with a bit more refinement.

That meant wiring. It meant wiring almost every branch and twig on the trees. On trees like this that means quite a bit of time and a lot of wire.

I have finally stopped procrastinating and updated the catalogs showing the advanced trees still available this season.

Some trees that missed the original post have been added and the ones that have been sold up to March 29 are now marked.

Shibui Bonsai catalog page – https://shibuibonsai.com.au/?page_id=215

It is Autumn here at Shibui Bonsai. There is also a partial business shutdown response to COVID 19 virus pandemic so I’m doing my bit by not going out too much. That allows me to get on with some of the autumn bonsai tasks like needle pulling and reducing the new shoots on some pines.

For those who are new to pines as bonsai there are some specific strategies to control the growth that differ from most other species.

My local club is Albury Wodonga Bonsai Society. For a few years now we have put on a non competitive display of our trees at the Wodonga show held in March each year. It is a good opportunity to show what we do and lift the profile of bonsai in our community.

I’ve posted before about wiring up very young shimpaku cuttings to get good bends into the trunks before they harden up. Here’s one that was wired and bent earlier in summer.

The top of one of my shimpaku junipers got more and more pale over the past month or so. I was pretty sure there was nothing I could do to halt this. Once a juniper starts to change colour like this it is way too late to reverse the problem so I just watched and waited to see what would happen.

I started this bonsai as an entry in an Ausbonsai shohin competition in 2016. You can follow the original development in this Ausbonsai thread but you will need to log in to view the pictures. – https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=158&t=22305

Banksias are a great Australian native species for bonsai. Not only are they an iconic Aussie plant but they also respond well to bonsai culture and techniques.

Regular readers will have seen this callistemon before. It was started many years ago to replicate the river callistemons that grow in and along the creeks and rivers in my area.

This spring it has been wilting badly most days so I decided it was time to repot to give the roots more room.