No free lunch: Part II

Last year, I did a couple of posts on Tang Dynasty poetry quotes suitable for bonsai pot decoration (see http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/no-free-lunch.html and http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/lower-your-expectations.html). Image above shows a Chinese proverb or cheng-yu with the meaning “nothing good is ever simple” also known to me as “there is no such thing as free lunch”. Could I also interpret it as “good bonsai is never easy”?

My residence at Fujikawa Kouka-en, Osaka

This June, I have undergone a one-month residence at Fujikawa Kouka-en bonsai nursery in Osaka. People asked me what I actually did there and this post is the answer to that. In a nut shell, I was learning on the job in a relaxed and peaceful environment. It was like going to work, nine-to-five, six days a week. I was given trees and told what to do with them. Every time I wasn’t sure about something the staff of Kouka-en consisting of bonsai master Keiichi Fujikawa and apprentices Naoki Maeoka, Bjorn Bjorholm and Yuri Hayama taught me the technique in question.

The trees that were given to me to work on were not so much as trees with promising future, but just trees that are kept at the nursery for training short-term overseas students. Although, some of them look completely unimpressive I learned a great deal from each of them and think of them with fondness.

The first tree was a shimpaku juniper. I was asked to prune, wire and style it. When finished, it was 15.5 cm tall (see before and after images below).

The next tree was a needle juniper. I had to pull out old needles (see images below) 

When finished, it was 18 cm tall (see before and after images below). 

Next was another shimpaku. When finished, it was 18.5 cm tall (see before and after images below).

After that I was given a Japanese Black Pine. When finished, it was 46 cm tall (see before and after images below).

Following that I was put on a pulling out old pine needles. The first tree was 64 cm tall. I wasn’t allowed to prune or de-candle it (even though it was the start of de-candling period for black pines). All I was asked is to pull out old needles one-by-one with a pair of tweezers until there were only 8 pairs of this year’s needles left at the tip of each branch. Before-and-after images shown below look almost the same.

However, viewing the branches from above reveals a visible reduction in the amount of foliage (see before and after images below). 

This was followed by another pine with the same task. This time however I was asked to leave only 6 pairs of needles, therefore the difference between before-and-after images shown below is more obvious. This tree was 50 cm tall.

After that I was back to styling. Black pine again, when finished, it was 48 cm tall (see before and after images below).

The last tree I worked on was a black pine too, when finished, it was 59 cm tall (see before and after images below).

Some of the things these trees taught me:

• Respect the work done on the tree previously.
• Follow what the tree is “telling” you, its movement, ect.
• Plan for a long-term future of the tree.
• Never do anything in a hurry. Slow is good.
• Pay attention to minute details.

Pest of the month: The Giant Conifer Aphid

I have written about aphids on bonsai before (see http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/pest-of-month-asian-woolly-hackberry.html  and http://lomov.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/pests-of-month-rose-aphid-and-brown.html). This time, it’s about two aphid species I found at Fujikawa Kouka-en Bonsai Nursery in Osaka.

I found the first one on a Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii) while pulling out old needles. It turned out to be the Giant Conifer Aphid (Cinara piniformosana, Japanese: matsu-oo-aburamushi). Image 'A' shows this aphid after it’s been soaked in acid and squashed for examination under the microscope. When alive, it’s blackish-brown dusted with grey and can be with or without wings. Japanese Black and Red Pines are its main host plants. In spring, you may find this aphid near the bases of new candles. Later in the year, they move on to one or two-year-old branches (exactly where I found it). They pierce needles and stems of the pine with their stiletto-shaped mouth parts and feed on pine sap (what a treat!). This aphid is native to the Far East and so far has been introduced only to Brazil.

The second aphid was collected on one of the deciduous trees at the nursery. It was the Oriental Citrus Aphid (Toxoptera citricida, Japanese: mikan-kuro-aburamushi, see image 'B'). It is a pest of citrus in Australia. I’ve written about a similar species, the Black Citrus Aphid (Toxoptera aurantii), in one of the blog posts mentioned above.

I fully understand that blog posts like this amuse only myself and are dreadfully boring to everyone else. So, here is something to make it a little more bearable. On one of the cloudy days at Fujikawa Kouka-en, this gorgeous damselfly flew into our workshop (see images below). It’s the Haguro Damselfly (Atrocalopteryx atrata, Japanese: haguro tonbo). It preys on aphids among other insects, so it’s beautiful and beneficial to bonsai trees.