Last weekend, I saw a demonstration by Hiroyoshi Yamaji at the annual exhibition of Bonsai Society of Sydney. Hiroyoshi Yamaji is a bonsai grower from Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture. This prefecture is Japan’s largest producer of pine bonsai and they have been doing that for more than 200 years. Hiroyoshi Yamaji specialises in field grown Japanese Black Pine, Nishiki cultivar of Black Pine, Red Pine and Trident Maples. The pine trees are grown in the soil with lots of granite rock. It provides very good drainage. The pines in the field are dug out and root pruned every three years. The main finished products are two, five and ten-year-old pine trees. He also grows young miniature pines in pots, which are increasingly popular at the moment in Japan.
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So, what’s a guy like Hiroyoshi Yamaji doing at the exhibition of Bonsai Society of Sydney? Well, the purpose of his demonstration was to promote the 11th Asia-Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki Convention and Exhibition held in November this year in Takamatsu, Japan. He was doing it on behalf of the government of Kagawa prefecture and the exhibition of Bonsai Society of Sydney was a suitable marketing opportunity.
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So, what’s a guy like Hiroyoshi Yamaji doing at the exhibition of Bonsai Society of Sydney? Well, the purpose of his demonstration was to promote the 11th Asia-Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki Convention and Exhibition held in November this year in Takamatsu, Japan. He was doing it on behalf of the government of Kagawa prefecture and the exhibition of Bonsai Society of Sydney was a suitable marketing opportunity.
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Anyway, it was a lucky opportunity for a Sydney bonsai community too. He was asked to style an awkward looking procumbent juniper grown in a pot for about 25-30 years. He started with assertive ‘blind pruning’ to unclutter the foliage. It allowed him to see the branch structure and decide on the tree design. After that he wired and positioned main branches. One of the less common techniques he used was branch splitting. It involved splitting a 20 mm thick branch along its length into two equal halfs and wiring them in two different positions. The exposed wood was sealed with cut paste. While styling the tree, he was also quite conscious of propagating bonsai stock. For example, instead of cutting a branch he would wire it to the ground for a chance to take root and creating another tree.
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The demonstration was only two hours and Mr. Yamaji has done quite well by producing a well-designed bonsai-in-training from material with limited potential (see the photos above).
Anyway, it was a lucky opportunity for a Sydney bonsai community too. He was asked to style an awkward looking procumbent juniper grown in a pot for about 25-30 years. He started with assertive ‘blind pruning’ to unclutter the foliage. It allowed him to see the branch structure and decide on the tree design. After that he wired and positioned main branches. One of the less common techniques he used was branch splitting. It involved splitting a 20 mm thick branch along its length into two equal halfs and wiring them in two different positions. The exposed wood was sealed with cut paste. While styling the tree, he was also quite conscious of propagating bonsai stock. For example, instead of cutting a branch he would wire it to the ground for a chance to take root and creating another tree.
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The demonstration was only two hours and Mr. Yamaji has done quite well by producing a well-designed bonsai-in-training from material with limited potential (see the photos above).
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