Bonsai Northwest Melbourne Established: 1973 April 2019 Newsletter A-19332L In this Issue: Next Meeting – 1 April 2019 - Demonstration • Next meeting This month we are looking forward to our own member, Matt Ball, sharing his knowledge of Japanese black pines. Matt will demonstrate his Autumn work regime and • Bend-em twist-em Japanese black pines discuss his techniques for the rest of the year. Matt has been growing Bonsai for around 16 years and has twice trained and worked • AABC Convention at Taisho-en Bonsai Nursery in Shizuoka, Japan. • Bend-em twist-em Shimpaku Matt is a talented Bonsai Artist and we are fortunate to have him demonstrate as a member of Bonsai Northwest. • Coming events • Seasonal notes – Autumn

• Lessons from Japanese Garden Design Part 3 • Wound sealant

Club Details www.bonsainorthwest.com.au [email protected] PO Box 1091 Niddrie Victoria 3042

President: David Nassar Contact: Barry 0422 619 641

Meetings are held at the Aberfeldie Community Club, 7B Batman St Essendon at 7:30pm on the first Monday of the month (no meeting in January) Bend-em Twist-em Japanese black pines For the people who participated in Hahn's Bend-em session last year, bring your tree Social Media along for the next stage of creating your Bonsai. This will be an early session before our demonstration. A table will be setup to work around. Special time- 7:00pm to Click on icon to access: 7:20pm. Hope you can make it!

AABC Bonsai Convention 19-20 May 2019

We've mentioned a number of times there is a great opportunity to enjoy a weekend of Bonsai demonstrations by US Bonsai artist, Ryan Neil and various Australian Artists at Bell City, Preston. Registrations are closing soon so please consider being a part of it. Go to vicnativebonsai.com.au. If you have any questions, contact VNBC or see Quentin or Barry at the April meeting.

Greg Thomas is our lucky member selected to attend the Convention sponsored by BNW. Greg has agreed to come back to the club to share what he had learnt.

bonsai_northwest Bend-em Twist-em Shimpaku workshop We still have young Shimpaku for sale to be used in Hahn's workshop at our June meeting. This will be a great opportunity to style some very interesting future Bonsai. Trees are $15. Don’t miss out- we won’t be getting any more.

Coming Events BSV Sale Day, Saturday 13 April, East Kew Uniting Church, 142 Normanby Road, East Kew 3102. Entry $2.00

Mornington Peninsula Bonsai Society 40th Easter Bonsai Exhibition, Saturday 20 April 9:00am to 5:00pm & Sunday 21 April 10:00am to 4:00pm, at the Balcombe Grammar 389 Nepean Highway, Mt. Martha. Admission $5.

Bendigo Bonsai Society Easter Exhibition, Saturday 20 April & Sunday 21 April, 10:00am - 5:00pm, Monday 22 April, 10:00AM - 4:00PM at Uniting Church Hall, Forest St, Bendigo Seasonal Notes - Autumn There are relatively few pressing jobs in Autumn, so much of the time can be spent enjoying your trees and the beauty of the season.

Repotting: Autumn is the second best time for repotting and is ideal for Olives, Junipers and fruit trees. If repotting Pines, don’t root or branch prune as drastically as in Spring. It is also a good time to repot Australian Natives. Deciduous trees should be left until “bud swell’ in Spring.

Pruning: Pruning and trimming is not a major job at this time. Generally, prune only the essential and unruly parts of your trees, (ie, “pinch prune” foliage to maintain shape). You can prune Pines and Junipers; avoid pruning deciduous trees. Towards the end of the season, remove fruit, berries or seed from trees so as not to deplete the tree’s energy.

Wiring: Wood can thicken rapidly in Autumn with a late burst of growth. Check wire is not cutting in. Generally, remove wire to give trees a rest during Winter.

Watering: Most tree varieties dry out more slowly in Autumn, so water less frequently. Trees moving into Autumn colour need less watering. Native trees are probably still growing quite well, so they may require more regular watering. Pines and Junipers don’t like wet feet.

Fertilising: Feed with low nitrogen organic fertiliser at ½ strength every 2-3 weeks. Fertiliser high in potassium and phosphorus helps to discourage Winter die back in flowering trees, Elms and Maples and promotes healthy growth in Spring, (note, Natives are very potassium sensitive). Nitrogen-free fertiliser can be given to harden off the current year’s growth and provide protection for Winter.

Tidy Up: Remove dead leaves and needles from evergreens to allow more circulation of air and light. After deciduous leaf-fall, clean up the bonsai area. Remove old, rotting leaves from benches and soil, as they encourage pests and diseases. Keep trunks and branches clean and free from all algae and moss, (use a tooth brush). After leaf-fall, varieties prone to mildew and fungal problems may be sprayed with a solution of lime sulphur, (3% lime sulphur to 97% water).

Last month Shane Boyce from Tasmania visited our club for a triple demonstration night. Three of our members worked on cedars under the guidance and direction of Shane. Shane is part of the AABC Visiting Tutor programme.

Thank you to Shane and his three helpers, Mark, Luke and Michael on an entertaining night.

Sponsors:

Ology.net.au - Damian 0412 698 259

Lessons from Japanese Garden Design by Ian Barnes Part 3

Gardening in Japan has long been a form of artistic expression, using nature imagery as a vehicle. Like painting or sculpture (or indeed, bonsai), gardening is a means of giving physical, sensory form to emotional or spiritual matters.

Garden design in Japan evolved over a long history. The important periods are the Heian period (794-1185), Kamakura period (1185-1333), Muromachi period (1333-1568), Momoyama period (1568-1600) and the Edo period (1600-1868). Complex changes in society gave rise to new forms of gardens and new ways of perceiving what a garden is – perceptions from which we can draw inspiration for our own creative works in bonsai.

Japanese Garden Categories There are 8 broad categories of Japanese garden. In Part 1, we looked at the typical elements and identifying features of the Heian estate garden, the paradise garden, the dry landscape garden, and the contemplation garden. In Part 2 we looked at the tea garden and the courtyard garden. In Part 3, we will examine the stroll garden and the hermitage garden of the Edo period, and also discuss the design principles and techniques that underpin Japanese garden design.

(As you read the following descriptions, think about the various underlying design principles and how they may be applied to your bonsai).

The Stroll Garden The stroll garden reached its zenith in the Tokugawa era (1600-1868), in the vast secular estates owned by the Daimyo, who were forced by the Tokugawa shogunate to maintain lavish residences in both Edo (modern-day Tokyo) and the castle towns of their home provinces. These gardens featured large, central ponds, extensive networks of paths, rolling artificial hills, and miniature representations of famous scenes. Very elaborate gardens often added agricultural motifs, ornamental orchards, a geometric style of topiary art, extensive ranges of exotic and domestic flora, rolling lawns, garden pavilions, and tea huts surrounded by tea gardens. All of these diverse elements are linked together through a vast web of pathways, which not only lead the visitor to specific vantage points, but also control the sequence in which they are encountered. In other words, the stroll garden is a carefully orchestrated venue, a technique known as miegakure (“seen/hidden”).

We follow the main path, turning right at the …where we first see the stone bridge. We lose sight of the bridge as we proceed Y-junction… straight along the stepping stones…

Example of miegakure. … until the path bends sharply to the left, Finally, we can enjoy the view of the pond and we are confronted with the two massive from the bridge-span itself. stone slabs laid before us. Large stroll gardens were not only symbols of social status, but also offered the daimyo the opportunity to showcase cultural awareness. These gardens are often physically impressive and visually stunning. Of particular interest in the stroll garden is the manner in which designers incorporated aspects of several earlier prototypes. From the Heian- period (794-1185) estate garden came the large boating ponds with central islands, long winding streams and perimeter paths; from the Kamakura (1185-1333) and Muromachi periods (1333-1568) came the artificial hills; from the later Muromachi contemplation gardens came the fixed viewing-points from within adjacent architecture; and from the Momoyama period (1568-1600) tea gardens came the wabi elements of garden architecture and stone ornaments. The ponds are generally shallow and inviting, and their banks, less rocky than Momoyama period prototypes, usually blend seamlessly into the surrounding garden or wash up on a stony beach. Islands tend to be smaller and less dramatic, with fewer rocks, but are linked to the shoreline by impressive, gently curving bridges.

Such gardens often recreated scenes of faraway places and spots of outstanding natural beauty (China’s West Lake and Japan’s own Ama-no-Hashidate and Mount Fuji were extremely popular) in scaled-down representations, known as shukkei (“shrunken scenery”). Designs also drew from mythology, classical literature and well-known poems, and religious pilgrimages.

One notable stroll garden is Koishikawa-kōraku-en, in Tokyo:

1. In (Yin) Stone 2 Lotus Pond 3. Yō (Yang) Stone 4. Chinese-style Gate 5. Horai Island 6. Boat Dock 7. Pine Meadow 8. Teahouse 9. Paddies 10. Arbour 11. Yatsuhashi (Iris & Wisteria) 12. Plum Orchard 13. Pagoda 14. Engetsu-kyo 15. Teahouses 16. Tsutenbashi 17. Kannon 18. Little Lu-shan 19. Oi River 20. Folding-screen Rock 21. Togetsu-kyo 22. Dike The Hermitage Garden The English term “hermitage garden” is usually applied to the private rustic retreats created by samurai and other high-ranking officials who chose to forego worldly affairs during the Tokugawa period (1600-1868). Such retreats were constructed to provide a secluded or isolated venue for the pursuit of scholarship, literature and tea culture.

Tokugawa-era hermitage gardens typically combine elements of the stroll garden, the dry landscape garden, and tea garden within a much-restricted domestic scale. Borrowed scenery can also play a dominant role in the design. Peculiar to the hermitage garden, however, is the unusually convoluted approach, which can take up most of the available land in the form of sophisticated, narrow paths with several corners and bends. The purpose of such an approach is to ensure that the visitor is in a suitably calm and meditative mood when he finally arrives at the garden. Much as the tea garden does for the guests at a tea ceremony, the approach to the hermitage garden serves to create an illusion of space through the recreation of a journey, and to induce within the visitor a stillness in preparation for meditation.

A famous example of the hermitage garden is Shisen-dō (the “House of Poet-Hermits”) in Kyoto, built in 1641:

Shisen-do is originally a villa built in 1641 by Jozan Ishikawa (1583-1672), a samurai and a literary man, for his retirement. It is now a Buddhist temple of the Soto school, one of three sects of Japanese Zen Buddhism. "Shisen" means "masters of poem". Jozan set up in a room, the portraits of 36 Chinese poets drawn by Tan'yu Kano (1602-1674), a talented painter. The garden is designed to enjoy the changing seasons. Dwarf azaleas in late May and red maples in late November are especially beautiful.

The original site of Shisen-do isn’t physically expansive; however the experience of its entrance passageway creates an impression of deep space. From the street a small entrance gate invites departure from public space (A). We feel as if we are bowing to enter Shisen-do. This is a technique to enlarge one’s experience of a small space.

We are led down a “tunnel” - a long narrow path framed by a bamboo fence and densely planted trees. It is dark, cool and moist (B). The end of the tunnel is blocked with trees and bushes. In this tunnel we are speeded up (greater speed unconsciously suggests greater distance covered over a given time) and boredom is experienced (time is perceived to be longer than clock-time).

A zig-zag turn is introduced near the end of the “tunnel.” With a consciously created detour, the beginning and the end of our journey seem farther apart. We are enticed to move on by a few rough steps upwards, and by an oblique view of a second gate (C).

A. The “mouse-hole experience” created B. The “space-tunnel experience” created C. The “zigzag-progression experience” by moving from open fields into a small by following a dark, overshadowed engendered by negotiating several entrance gate. tunnel-like path. turns, bends or zigzags. Moving up the steps, we enter a small, lighter open space in front of a rustic gate. We find ourselves in a small stopping space where we are invited to rest (the more stops on our journey, the longer it seems to take) (D).

Passing through this second gate we enter the semi-private realm with a dry landscape front-garden and open sky. There is also a first view of our destination, the Shisen-do building itself (E). We follow a slightly S-curved path, made of natural stepping stones, to the genkan (entrance space). It is a very small, dark, cave-like space. Paved by cut stones in a geometric pattern, the surface quality is quite different from the ground in the front garden. Here we remove our shoes, and step up onto tatami flooring. (Stepping up on entering enlarges our perception of space. The direct contact of the soles of our feet with the gentle ripples of the straw mats is a completely new sensation, and also enriches our experience of space).

We walk into the destination of our journey, the sacred place. We have arrived, we are inside, and all we do initially is look outside. This view is special; we face a magnificent three dimensional “picture” (F). A finely raked sand surface in glaring light is bounded by mountain-shaped azalea bushes in the foreground. Real mountain scenery with maple and persimmon trees can be seen in the distance. The “picture” is framed by the wooden planks of the verandah on the bottom, the roof overhang on top, and on the right by a large sasanqua tree.

D. The “stopping-space experience” E. The “Snakes and Ladders” effect F. The “shukkei experience” when a visitor emerges suddenly before when the visitor finds himself confronted in which the visitor enjoys scenery an open, brighter space with a tall gate. with yet another gate, and must borrowed from beyond the garden’s “enter” the garden again. parameters, often framed by the architecture of the shoin itself.

Along our journey, physical contrasts have been alternated in carefully considered doses and proportions - openness and enclosure, length and breadth, light and shade, moisture and dryness. At our destination we are physically induced to pause, to be still… to meditate. We become aware of awareness, which is empty, the ultimate extension of space.

Edo Aesthetics The Edo garden is a secularised garden which aims at a selective realistic imitation of the outer forms of nature.

Spatial organisation ~ the unification of various elements of previous garden prototypes (the pond garden, the dry landscape garden) by means of a new principle of spatial organisation. A path around the stroll garden takes the visitor past a succession of changing landscapes, a sequence of images and scenes. Sui ~ worldly. Iki ~ “chic” stylishness, with an erotic undertone. Share ~ sophistication, sense of humour. Shibumi ~ taste, refinement. Tsu ~ informedness, professionalism. Asobi ~ playfulness. Tanoshimi ~ fun. Gōsō ~ splendour, grandeur. Karei ~ magnificent, gorgeous.

Edo gardens stressed aesthetics rather than religious matters. The sensual took precedence over the spiritual. Nature no longer contains a divine, cosmic or mystic message for the artist to discover and then express through garden scenery. The garden is simply a stage set, artfully decorated with the latest in sophisticated and fashionable props. Japanese Garden Design Garden design can be broken down into 3 components: design principles, design techniques and design elements – ie, why design a garden, how to design a garden and what to design a garden with.

The elements – moss and twisted pines, rocks and white sand, stone lanterns and stepping stones – are the best known and most often associated with the Japanese garden. However, there is something more essential to the Japanese garden than the materials it is made of – the essence of the garden lies in the way it is designed, not in what it is designed of. An understanding of Japanese design principles should lead us to the true Japanese spirit and the harmony and subdued beauty that is most attractive in Japanese gardens. This, in turn, may well help to inform our approach to bonsai.

Design Principles 1. Learn from Nature. The gardens of Japan are works of art that use nature as a material of creation. The complementary principle is: do not copy nature, interpret it. In a Japanese garden, nature is reinterpreted, rarefied and abstracted to create an idealised vision of nature or the essence of nature – its rhythms and forms. The garden is a work of art through which the designer (artist) attempts to create beauty or express emotional or spiritual values.

2. Wildness and control. Nature images in the garden are expressed through the controlling hand of the gardener, striking a harmonic balance between wildness and control of that wildness; between the beauty of nature and that of man-made things.

3. The seasons. The acceptance of change as intrinsic to the nature of existence in this world is a principle in many Japanese arts. The change of seasons is an apt vehicle for visualising this concept and is a standard motif in poetry, painting and gardening.

4. Utopia. The garden design aims to create paradise on earth or a utopian vision of man’s relationship with nature.

5. Personal expression in tradition. Japanese artists build upon previous styles rather than replace them – succession rather than superposition. “Do not seek to emulate the old masters. Seek what they sought.” Matsuo Basho, (17th century poet). Art not only reflects social and cultural values, but can also be a vehicle for individual expression. Any emotion or spiritual feeling can be represented in the garden. There is no limit to the things that can be expressed within the confines of the garden.

6. Maintenance. A great deal of the elegance and dignity of Japanese Gardens is developed over time by the caring hand that nurtures it. This patina evolves over years of care.

Design Techniques Japanese garden design requires an understanding of design techniques – how to frame a garden, or how to compose and balance the design.

1. Enclosure and entry. Spatial development is fundamental to the Japanese garden. Designers create spaces in gardens through enclosure. Most Japanese gardens are clearly enclosed. This enclosure is used as a frame to control how the garden will be viewed. The enclosure allows the garden to be viewed as an independent work of art. Enclosure necessitates entries – gates connect the garden to the outside world and also divide the garden into a series of layered spaces.

2. Void and accent. The design of expressive spatial voids called ma. Ma can be a physical space experienced when moving through the garden; a visual space in a contemplation garden that is only entered with the mind; or a pause that is created in movement through the garden to enhance one’s appreciation of it.

3. Balance. Balance in Japanese garden design can be described as being asymmetric, off-centred and based on triangles. Asymmetry: Forms are arranged such that no single one is absolutely dominant. Even with a hierarchy of forms, the eye is not meant to stop at the top, but instead is always drawn back to a source to begin meandering again. Off-centredness: No single, dominant focal point. Centring is considered undynamic and overbearing. Triangles: Without symmetry or central focal points, the Japanese garden achieves visual stability through the use of triangular shapes, eg, the arrangement of rocks into groups and the way those groups relate to one another. Another triangle used in garden design is the interplay of vertical, horizontal and diagonal elements, which have the symbolic meaning of heaven, earth and man.

4. Planes and volumes. Balance is achieved through the relationship between 2-D planar elements and 3-D or volumetric elements. The horizontal plane (or ground plane) provides a stillness that lends a peacefulness to the design. Other planar elements (eg, fences, walls, hedges) are used as frames for the garden – acting as a clean background for the details of the garden, or they are interjected in between visually complex elements (eg, plantings and earthwork “mountains”) to add depth to the garden through layering.

5. Symbology. Deeper meaning is achieved by interweaving symbolic images (eg, allusions to religious, philosophical or cultural ideas) to create a metaphorical artwork. An understanding of the symbols gives insight into the meaning of the gardens.

6. Borrowed scenery. A technique for enlarging the visual scale of the garden beyond its physical boundaries by incorporating a distant view as an integral part of the garden.

7. Mitate (pronounced “me-tah-teh”). The process of finding a new use for an old object, eg, reusing old stone objects as paving materials.

8. The path. Created as a guide to the garden, revealing it in a succession of layers, while regulating the timing of the experience.

Design Elements The various elements the Japanese garden is made of – rocks, white sand, water, plants, bridges, sculptural ornaments – have become so well known that they are now representative of the gardens themselves. However, a “Japanese garden” is not created simply through the use of these elements by themselves. As we have seen, it is the “design principles” and “design techniques” that create a garden in the true Japanese spirit.

Conclusion From following the “request” (listen to your tree, it will tell you what it wants to become), through styling that creates asymmetrical balance, movement and rhythm, proportion and perspective, uses negative space, guides the viewer’s eye on a journey, etcetera, etcetera, to reducing the tree and its context to the essential, there are many bonsai lessons to be learned from Japanese garden design.

I am sure that if you think deeply about Japanese garden design, you will find many principles that you can relate to your bonsai endeavours. Hopefully, you will be able to take the lessons learned from these brief descriptions of prototypical Japanese gardens and apply them positively to your bonsai art. Last month Shane Boyce mentioned he did not use Sealant for cuts on Bonsai. This is always a topic experts are divided by. Here is an earlier article that may be of interest written by Ian Barnes.

Wound Sealant by Ian Barnes

When trees are wounded, many organisms, including fungi, infect the wood at different times and in different ways. When you cut a branch from your bonsai, do you use a wound sealant? Is the cut paste you use the best? Do you think that cut paste allows the wound to heal underneath and contains anti-fungal and anti-bacterial agents that protect the open wound?

This assumes that trees need outside help in order to accelerate and assure healthy healing, just as we or animals do. When an animal is injured the response is the creation of new, healthy cells; when a plant is injured the response is to cover the injured area with callus tissue. Tree wounds don’t heal, they seal over. A tree just isolates the damage through the formation of suberin in the cells, making them impermeable and forming “walls” around the wound, compartmentalising it and preventing the spread of disease and decay to the rest of the tree. Callus develops at the edge of the wound and gradually expands toward the centre. This wound wood remains for the life of the tree.

When a tree is wounded cells undergo changes to form "walls" around the wound, slowing or preventing the spread of disease and decay to the rest of the tree.  Wall 1. The first wall is formed by plugging up normally porous vascular tissue above and below the wound. This tissue runs up and down the length of the stem, so plugging it slows the vertical spread of decay. Tissues are plugged in various ways, such as with tylosis. This wall is the weakest.  Wall 2. The second wall is formed by the cells of the growth ring interior to the wound, thus slowing the inward spread of decay. This wall is the second weakest, and is continuous except where intersected by ray cells (see next section).  Wall 3. The third wall is formed by ray cells, which are groups of cells oriented perpendicularly to the stem axis, dividing the stem into sections not entirely unlike the slices of a pie. These groups of cells are not continuous and vary in length, height and thickness, forming a maze-like barrier to lateral growth of decay. After wounding, some ray cells are also altered chemically, becoming poisonous to some micro-organisms. This is the strongest wall at the time of wounding, prior to the growth of the fourth wall.  Wall 4. The fourth wall is created by new growth on the exterior of the tree, isolating tissue present at the time of infection from that which will grow after. This is the strongest wall, and often the only one which will completely halt the spread of infection. Dr Alex Shigo (widely considered the father of modern arboriculture in USA) debunked the myth of wound dressing decades ago, but the myth still persists and is still spread around, especially by retailers. His methodical examination of decay patterns in the woody tissues of trees revealed the mechanism of wound responses, indicating biochemical processes which isolate the invading organisms. Dr Shigo’s conclusions have been confirmed by other researchers.

While many horticultural books recommend the use of paints or sealants on tree wounds, Dr. Shigo’s research shows that such treatments have no long-term value. Provided pruning is done properly by cutting as closely as possible to the branch collar, there is no need to paint wounds regardless of their size.

Trees are not like human beings to whom poultices and ointments must be applied to assist and encourage healing. Wound sealants are nothing more than placebos whose only function is cosmetic.

Respected experts in horticulture agree on what wound sealants do and do not do. Wound dressings do:  Seal in moisture and decay,  Sometimes serve as a food source for pathogens,  Prevent wound wood from forming,  Inhibit compartmentalisation,  Eventually crack, exposing the tree to pathogens. Wound dressings do not:  Prevent entrance of decay organisms,  Stop rot.

Wound sealant, of any kind, is not needed on a tree. Trees have evolved without dependency on artificial sealants of any type. They have a natural ability to deal with damage, be it by lightning, wind, insects, disease, or the concave branch-cutters of a bonsai artist.

The fact is that applying any sort of dressing to a wound on a tree can be detrimental at best and damaging at the worst. Trees should be left to their own innate devices when damaged; there is no need for cut paste. All that will be done is to prolong the process of recovery. It may well make us feel better to think we are helping the tree, but in fact, all we are doing is adding to the chances of further damage.

Based on professional horticulturist and arborist findings on the subject, as well as studies from major universities, the only logical conclusion is that applying wound sealant is ineffective, a waste of time and resources, and could hinder the recovery process and be damaging to the tree. All claims to the validity of using wound sealants are false.

The truth is that wounds do not need dressings and wound sealants may well cause more harm than good to the tree.

So, let’s relate this back to bonsai.

When you do big cuts make sure that the wound is not regular. There will be a callus and with very big wounds there will always be a hole. With smaller wounds there will always be a scar. To ensure that the hollow or the scar looks natural, (not round like made with a knob-cutter) make crude indentations on the edges of a wound on purpose.

In deciduous trees you may want the hole to rot. Some people like big natural looking hollows in their bonsai. So you could well use sealant to make the hole rot. But since we now know that sealant is superfluous, just don't use any.

And, sometimes you might want to “hide” obviously fresh wounds by putting some sealant onto them, but purely for aesthetic reasons, to camouflage them.