Bonsai Notebook
Dennis Makishima will be our guest demonstrator at the November meeting. As a reminder, the meeting will begin at 6:00pm at the home of Peter and Marissa Macasieb. It will be a regular meeting with scheduled refreshments and no potluck.
Dennis had his first bonsai lesson in 1982. Since then he has been very involved in the bonsai community. He is a past president of the Golden State Bonsai Federation. While involved with GSBF, Dennis established the Bonsai Basics teaching program. In 1990, he travelled to Japan and studied with Yasuo Mitsuya. He has several hundred bonsai trees in his collection and has a landscaping business specializing in artistic pruning.
Join us in November for a very instructional evening with Dennis.
Meeting Time and Place:
Nov 10, 2018 at 6pm at the home of Peter & Marissa Macasieb in West Covina
Directions to the Macasieb residence
President’s Corner
Paraphrasing from Marty Mann’s book, Bonsai Ideas: New plant growth should be ending in November. We can think about reducing our watering while also watching out for warm Santa Ana winds that can dry out roots very quickly. Many people cut back on fertilizing now or continue with fertilizer low in nitrogen.
The design of your trees is more evident in the winter months. You can refine your trees with pruning and wiring, but be careful of brittle branches during this season.
~Dave
SABS Announcement
Our November meeting marks the end of the current office terms for our club officers. The Board is looking for new nominees to fill Officer and Board positions. Please consider volunteering to help the club in one of these categories. If you would like more information about all the available positions please contact Dave anytime. We will ask for nominees at the Nov. meeting. If none are forthcoming, we will rely on existing Board members to graciously continue to serve.
October Meeting Highlights
We learned a lot about ficus training and care from Ken Fuentes in October. He brought several narrow-leaf ficus trees to use as examples of his training techniques. He showed us a “pressing” technique he uses on branches instead of wire. Ken trains a branch down by pressing it down gently and firmly until white tree sap starts seeping, which is a sign of branch damage. At this point he releases the branch, and it will stay in place as if wired. Ken has seen this technique used on fruit and vegetable trees and plants to position branches, and he has used it successfully on his ficus bonsai. He uses “pressing” because it avoids a wire cutting problem that can be prevalent with the quick-growing nature of ficus trees.
Ken also showed us a method he uses to promote clean healing of branch cut scars. He makes a diamond-shaped cut around the scar by cutting one triangle shape pointing up and one pointing down from the middle of the scar. He said the resulting scar heals very evenly and disappears over time.
Ken cuts his ficus trees back hard each year to encourage growth in trunk size. He sometimes leaves a sacrificial branch on the backside of the trunk, also for trunk growth. One of the trees Ken used to demonstrate “pressing” was donated to the raffle. Y. S. Farn was the winner of the tree, and Ken gave him a hands-on lesson in pressing for future use.
Members Corner
We’re trying something new for our January Annual Potluck. In addition to great food and large raffle table provided by our members, Louis Camerota a long time SABS member and well-known bonsai artist will be providing a demonstration about Azaleas. Many of us have seen his remarkable trees in our show. Save the Date: Jan 12, 2019 and look for more information our next newsletter.
In Memorium
It is with sadness that we share the passing of Sarah Gyer last month. Sarah was a long-time member of Santa Anita Bonsai Society and a student of Jim Barrett.
Newsletter Update
If you have a knack for writing, a story to tell, a photo or something you would like to share in our newsletter please submit it to Lorraine & Dave prior to the 20th of any month at: [email protected]
Thank You to our October Meeting Raffle Donors:
Jerry Banuelos, Gabriel Gonzalez, Y.S. Farn, Dave Miles, Jim Pelling, Dick Ryerson, Frank Yee
New Members
Susan & Huong Dao
Upcoming Events
Jan. 19-20
Baikoen Bonsai Kenkyukai 54 Annual Winter Silhouettes Show
Arboretum, 10a-4:30pm, Sat. reception
Come Join Us
Next Meeting
Date: November 10, 2018
Time: 6pm
Location: At the home of Peter & Marissa Maciasieb, West Covina, Ca.
No Board Meeting Nov.
2018 Monthly Meeting Dates
Nov 10 —- Dennis Makishima, meeting at the home of Peter & Marissa
Dec —- NO MEETING
Jan 12, 2019 —- Holiday Potluck & Raffle, Demonstration by Louis Camerota
Refreshment Schedule
Nov — W&O Chin, L&G Gonzalez, M&P Macasieb, D&L Miles
Dec — Happy Holidays, no meeting
Jan 2019 — Potluck, bring a favorite dish: a side, salad or dessert
