FROM THE YKS ARCHIVE
Roy Hicks Bonsai tips
Roy has found the following tips which he would just like to share with club members Roy would
also like to make the following comment
"Can I add that the Bonsai tips section is not all my own work & that I cant credit the original
author as I do not know who it was.
The tips are from some information sheets I have had for many years & which I have altered / added
to as new practices come along"
ROY Hicks
April
Many of the operations carried out in March can still be done in April if the weather continues to be rather
cool. However, it is probably safer to discontinue all repotting from the middle of April onwards for deciduous trees and from the end of April for evergreen trees.
Continue with stratification and seed sowing. Start air-layering evergreens such as junipers, Japanese Black
and White pines, cryptomeria etc. Deciduous trees that have not been repotted this year should be fertilized
from now until the end of summer. Fertilize once a fortnight starting with a weak fertilizer. Never fertilize
newly repotted trees until they are well established and growing. This normally takes a couple of months
from the time they are repotted.
If fertilizer is applied to a freshly repotted tree, the roots can rot. During spring and early summer, a high nitrogen fertilizer is recommended as this promotes leaf growth. Do not fertilize flowering trees until a couple of months after the flower has fallen. Immediate application of fertilizer will prevent fruit from
developing. This is the best time for taking cuttings of evergreen trees using the previous season’s wood.
When trimming or thinning out evergreen bonsai such as Hinoki and Sawara cypress, Yezo spruce and
most of the junipers, use the thinning's which have a hard-wood heel for making cuttings. April is the traditional time for spring cleaning the house, and this should be extended to bonsai as well. Disinfect the
greenhouse after having removed all the plants. The area under the bonsai staging should also be disinfected. If the staging is made of wood, it should be treated with wood preservative. If you use a creosote based preservative, do not bring plants near the treated wood for at least a fortnight because the fumes will
poison the trees.
Start grooming those trees, which you wish to show in the summer. By the end of April, spring is very
much in the air. All the trees should be putting out new leaves and spring-flowering trees should be starting
to bloom.
Tony