Australian Native Bonsai Symposium

Posted on 13-Mar-2015 by Neil Padbury

The 2015 national syposium will be held for the first time in Melbourne. Registrations for the seminar have closed but there is also a display of Australian Natives as Bonsai which will be open to the public. http://www.vicnativebonsai.com.au/p/blog-page.html

I will be in Melbourne April 11 and 12 to attend this symposium. Already some clients have asked me to bring down stock for sale or delivery. If you’ve been looking at some of the trees in the catalogue and wondering what they really look like here’s a good opportunity. I’m happy to bring down trees for you to inspect – no obligation to purchase if you’re not completely satisfied. Just let me know which trees you are interested in. I currently have a few larger azaleas in poly boxes and 30 cm pots that were collected prior to garden renovations.

For the native bonsai enthusiasts I have a range of banksias, callistemon and other natives species in 10 and 15 cm pots and a few larger trees either field grown or collected. Please email if you think you might be interested. neil@shibuibonsai.com.au

Looking for something different?

Posted on 30-Jan-2015 by Neil Padbury

I know some bonsai growers stick to the tried and true traditional bonsai species but here at Shibui Bonsai I am always trying new species and varieties. I have had some success propagating some less well known species that should be suitable as bonsai. If anyone else would like to try I have smaller starters only available. Continue reading →

Triple trunk trident

Posted on 14-Jan-2015 by Neil Padbury

This trident maple featured in this post was grown from 3 separate seedlings. They were planted close and held together until the separate trunks grafted themselves into a single trunk at the base. Multi trunk bonsai are not particularly common because every extra trunk adds complexity and the possibility of faults that would make the whole tree unattractive. Continue reading →

Callistemon follow up

Posted on 11-Jan-2015 by Neil Padbury

The callistemon I pruned a couple of weeks ago has new buds emerging from the leaf axils. You can see them at the base of the leaves in this picture. You can also see a smaller, red bud on the bare wood of the branch to the left in the photo.

natives for bonsai

Posted on 29-Dec-2014 by Neil Padbury

Late Spring and Summer is when I prune and re-pot most of my native bonsai at Shibui Bonsai. Continue reading →

Callistemon pruning

Posted on 22-Dec-2014 by Neil Padbury

The flowers have finished on the Callistemon so it is time to prune. Follow this link to an article about how and why to prune Callistemon bonsai.

Callistemon pruning

Callistemon sieberi – flowering

Posted on 21-Nov-2014 by Neil Padbury

This year’s flowers have just started to open on this tree during the week so I thought I should share it with you.

Callistemon sieberi ‘waterswept’

The branches look a bit untidy at the moment. Callistemon flower on the tips of the shoots that grew last year. For many years I kept it well trimmed but, of course, was cutting off all the potential flowers every time I pinched the shoots. With advice from Derek, a master with Aussie plants as bonsai, I learned to allow the shoots to grow and mature so it can produce flowers. After flowering it is pruned quite hard then new shoots are again allowed to grow and mature for the following year’s flowers.

You will note that the flowers on this species are rather less impressive than many we see in gardens but I think the pale pink blush is nice on this bonsai. Flowers are also smaller than many which fits in well for a bonsai sized tree.

Starting a new generation of bonsai

Posted on 14-Nov-2014 by Neil Padbury

Spring is propagation time at Shibui Bonsai. I try to start plenty of new trees every year to allow for plenty of choice for you the customer. It can take quite a few years to achieve a good bonsai but we need to always have new trees coming through to keep up supply. Continue reading →

Open day

Posted on 31-Oct-2014 by Neil Padbury

While Shibui Bonsai is not normally open to the public we do try to be available at least once a year.

This year visitors are invited to come along and view our bonsai collection, browse through the trees available for sale or just check out how we go about preparing trees for bonsai.

Sunday November 9th

9am – 2 pm

If you haven’t been here before email neil@shibuibonsai.com.au for our address and/or directions on how to find us.

Closed for a few weeks

Posted on 22-Aug-2014 by Neil Padbury

If you’ve browsed our catalogues you will note that stocks of Shibui Bonsai Field grown prebonsai are quite low. Late winter and early spring is also our busiest time so I have decided to close our sales for a few weeks. We also won’t have time for nursery visits during the next few weeks either.

By mid October the new trees should be well enough established to be transported and I should be able to find time to attend to new orders.

Hoping this is not too much of an inconvenience to our loyal customers. Thank you for your patience,

Neil