As a newbie in the bonsai world there are some seasons in which you can’t work on trees, as in full summer when the temperatures are the hottest as well as in winter when is below minus (C° Celsius to be clear). Well that is not quite accurate: conifers can be worked especially juniperus (junipers), pinus are ok, abies can be wired and also larix tolerate pretty well wiring to and some small pruning. I will not recommend to work on deciduous because the lymph went back and the branches cab be very brittle and ruin years of work in just a “crack”, belive me, you don’t want that kind of noise when working on deciduous trees.
But what about all the rest?
Well, first let’s define “all the rest”. Cleaning the greenhouse or
sharpening your tools, sorting out the wires or ordering some more, sifting the
soil and purchasing some, rearranging the pots and buying more of them.
In short: everything around the tree has to be ready for the re-potting in
spring, for the pruning and wiring but not only that, there’s more than
that and it may be as important if not more so these days. Did you take pictures of your work in the fall? If not, it’s high time! So grab your camera, place your plant with a plain background an take some fotos.
Take note of your work
work in a page, or with Facebook being so “invasive” nowadays, it’s
absolutely a must to share your work even if it’s not finished. To be
honest I am glad to have so many “experts” on the social media side,
they have always ALWAYS, something constructive to say to a new enthusiast.
For all those who don’t have internet or dislike social medias make sure to takenotes of your work. For a newbie as myself that has only up to 30-35
plants (they are not yet bonsai in my eyes) it’s not a big deal, however
I like to report the work done on my plants and see the progress.
Should I really create an excel/word sheet for my bonsai?
work, those who have been doing bonsai for decades, do you really
remember each single step of the styling process of every single tree?
If yes, lucky you! You have the memory of an elephant! But wouldn’t it be
better to note this kind of work on a sheet rather than risking making a mess of it in your
mind? I am quite forgetful but with such affordable
technology at my fingertips, why should I? Apps, Programs, PC,
Cellphones and other gadgets can faithfully store all the work for me!
Bonsai works 2.0
order, if not, it can soon became a sort of hording of stuff and not a hobby any
more. On the other hand someone will say that doing bonsai is more of an
art than a hobby and artists are mostly chaotic rather than clean
and neat. But still, they have their own method, I still have to figure
what kind of method, but it seems to work for them. For all other
hobbyists like me who don’t consider themselves an artist, I find
it very handy to have something that tracks my work, see the
transformation and reports the season’s changes.So winter work is PC work as well. No matter what you choose, making pictures of your bonsai in each season not only give you a nice feeling when looking at them, but also shows the progress of the plant which in the end reflects your progress.