Roy Nagatoshi

Recently bonsai professional, Roy Nagatoshi, stopped by the Museum while he was in the area teaching . Roy has been coming out to the DC area to teach bonsai for over 15 years.

From left to right, PBA President Chuck Croft, Museum Curator Jack Sustic, Roy Nagatoshi, and myself.

When he is not traveling Roy can be found at his nursery, Fuji Bonsai, in Sylmar California. Fuji Bonsai Nursery was started in 1965 by Roy’s father Shigeru . Roy is one of the few second generation bonsai nurserymen still operating in the U.S.

In 2007 I spent several days working with Roy at his nursery and admiring some of his amazing trees.

The front of the nursery contains numerous mature bonsai specimens including many collected trees.  The back of the nursery is comprised of mature bonsai, trees under development…

… and a lot of propagated stock.

This massive Pomegranate was one of many very large trees at the nursery.

Here is a close up of the trunk with my hand for reference.

Oriental Sweetgum,Liquidambar orientalis

Narley nebari.

Roy has an in depth knowledge of many California species like this Cork Bark Oak.

Perhaps the thing he is best known for is changing Juniper foliage with his approach graft technique. Approach grafts are different from scion grafting because the graft has its own root system which sustains the graft until it has fused with the stock plant. Roy grafts Shimpaku Juniper whips onto collected California Juipers because Shimpaku foliage is much finer and more compact than the plants natural leaves. This process of replacing a plants foliage with a different cultivar is known as “changing cloths”.

Here is a close up of an approach graft with the Shimpaku whip on top of the stock plant.

The results of this technique can only be fully appreciated in person.

For more information on Roy’s grafting technique visit’s Bonsai Bark’s post “Roy Nagatoshi Grafts Shimpaku Branches and Foliage onto a California Juniper“

D.C. Gigs: The Bonsai Curator

Check out an interview by Washington D.C.’s NPR station, WAMU 88.5, with Museum Curator Jack Sustic as he talks about the commitment needed to care for our National Collection.

Upcoming Bonsai Workshops

The 2012 Potomac Bonsai Festival will be coming to the Arboretum this May 4th – 6th. Among the many free activities that weekend, there will also be a variety of workshops.

Previous workshops have been taught by bonsai artists such as Cheryl Manning, David DeGroot, and Steve Tolley.

This years featured bonsai artists will be Harry Hirao, and Suthin Sukolosovisit.

For more details and a complete list of workshops available click here.

Be sure to register online as these workshops will fill up fast.

Hope to see you in May.

Repotting Demo’s this weekend (Mar 24 & 25)

If you are in the D.C. area this weekend we are having a free repotting demo on Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. in the Museum’s Yoshimura Center.

From right to left, the Museum's first Curator Bob Drechsler, current Curator Jack Sustic and myself repotting a large Japanese White Pine.

Ryan Neil @ Nature’s Way Nursery

I first became aware of Ryan Neil in 2006 through Lindsay Farr’s World of Bonsai video series. At that time he was 2 years into his apprentice with Masahiko Kimura. At the close of the video, Mr. Farr said he ” will be watching Ryan’s career with great interest.”

The interest in Ryan has grown considerably since he finished his apprenticeship in 2010. He has become a headliner at European and U.S. bonsai shows and has also started his own garden, International Bonsai Mirai, where he is developing some of the nicest collected material I’ve seen in a long time.

This interest has also created a demand for him as a teacher which is why a few bonsai buddies and I traveled from DC to Harrisburg, PA, to attend a design workshop with Ryan at Nature’s Way Nursery.

Nature’s Way Nursery is owned and operated by Jim Doyle and his wife Mary Kay. In my opinion Nature’s Way is one of the best bonsai nurseries in the Mid-Atlantic region.

There you can find a variety of quality collected material…

… as well as more refined trees, like this Japanese Black Pine…

and a great selection of imported and custom pots.

The all day workshop was a B.Y.O.T. (bring your own tree) with 10 participants and a handful of silent observers. When it is a B.Y.O.T. workshop there is always a chance the material won’t be that good. Thankfully everyone brought some great trees. There was Ponderosa Pine, Douglas Fir, Japanese Black Pine, and three different species of Juniper

Having taught workshops myself,  I’m aware of the challenges when working with a large group like we had. Ryan did a great job of managing his time between everyone while including the group when he was working with each person.

I was amazed by the quantity of knowledge Ryan was able to communicate to the group.  For 8 hours he simultaneously worked on trees while also discussing almost any aspect of bonsai you could imagine.

For me, the most refreshing thing about working with Ryan was his humility. He worked with each student and did not present his ideas as ultimate.He also did something I’ve never seen from a bonsai professional and that was to asked for the owner’s permission before he did anything with the tree.  Here he is showing Ben two possible design’s for his Douglas Fir.

Ben decided to go with the more naturalistic style for his amazing Doug Fir which he collected himself.

The tree I brought was an Itoigawa Juniper. I felt like the design was okay but I wanted to see if I could take it to the next level. Sometimes when you look at one of your trees for a long time you need a fresh perspective to see the potential that’s already there.

Here is my tree after the workshop. The front was rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise and the tree was slightly angled toward the viewer. We connected some of the existing jin’s with a shari, then continued it up the trunk. Ryan said I should wait for the freshly exposed wood to dry a little before applying lime sulfur. The foliage was thinned and the branches were arranged into smaller pads.

I purchased a new pot for the tree while at the Nursery and repotted it when I got home.The pot is by Nick Lenz and is a little smaller than the previous pot which makes the tree appear larger. The oval shape also complements the soft curves in the trunk. I was very please with how the tree turned out.

That night the drive back to D.C. went quick as my friends and I talked about all we learned and how great an experience it was.

As Ryan’s reputation continues to grow, the demand to work with him will become even greater. I recommend that if you have the opportunity to work with him you should take it. This November Ryan will be returning to Nature’s Way for another series of workshops and I am already planning my return trip.

Repotting a Kokufu Kaede

With repotting season in full swing, I thought I would give an overview of how I repot a tree using a Trident Maple (Kaede) that was once displayed at the Kokufu-ten.

The Trident Maple as it appeared in 1972 at the 46th Kokufu show. 1972 was the first time the album was printed in color.

The same tree as it appears today, 40 years after the first picture was taken.

The buds are swelling and have turned green, but the leaves have not yet emerged, perfect time to repot.

The first thing I do is make sure I have all the tools I need. The goal is to minimize the amount of time the tree is out of the pot, so having everything you need will allow you to work more efficiently.

In addition to tools, my soil is mixed and on standby. I will be using a 1:1 ratio of akadama and a porous aggregate.

I cut the anchor wires and wire clips that stick out of the drainage holes.

Next, I take a sickle and use long, smooth, shallow strokes along the length of the pot edge and slowly work my way down. I’ve found this more efficient than trying to get the blade all the way down into the soil and then yanking the tool toward you. Anything I can do to save energy helps me later, especially when repotting multiple trees during the day.

Once the tree is loose I lean the tree back and pull the pot down. This is an easy was to remove the tree from the pot. When handling the tree, never grab the trunk, this will damage and discolor the bark. Try to lift the tree by the root ball or at a strong branch junction .

The bonsai is going back into the same pot so I set the tree aside and prepare the pot. If you are changing pots, have the new pot ready before you start.

Its been two years since this tree was repotted and the roots have completely  filled the pot.

I use a root rake to comb out the roots and cut them back with scissors.

For larger roots I use root pruners.

I notice some older soil near the center of the root ball. As soil breaks down it needs to be replaced with new soil so that the roots stay healthy in that area of the root ball.

You can see the difference in the older core soil on the right and soil that was around the edges of the root ball on the left.

I’ve removed as much of the old soil that I feel comfortable with and have cut back some of the larger roots.

With the bottom done I comb out the sides of the root ball

There is a long root that emerges from the nebari and needs to be cut back.

Fortunately there is a better root underneath the long one that  I can cut back to allowing me to improve the nebari.

The root work is finished for now.The tree is tied to the pot using the 4 point tie down method.

The soil is worked into the roots with a chopstick and tamped down. Tamping the soil may seem like an unnecessary task, however it is important because it firms up the soil so that when you water the tree the soil doesn’t wash out. I begin at the trunk and work toward the rim of the pot keeping the tamper at a slight angle which pushes the soil against the pot wall. When I get to the edge of the pot I use my fingers to press down on the tamper and “set the edge” which results in a crisp, clean soil line.The last thing is to water the tree. Make sure to water the tree until the water coming out of the pot is clear, indicating that all the fine dust has been washed out of the pot.

Juniper twig girdler

The Juniper twig girdler, Periploca nigra, is a small moth whose larvae can significantly damage a bonsai. The adult moth appears in late spring to lay its eggs among Juniper branches, typically at branch junctions. The larvae burrow into the branch and begins to eat away at the cambium.

While a general pesticide can be used to control the adult moths it is difficult to time the spray when the moths are present because they are nocturnal. The larvae are protected under the bark and must be found and removed manually. It is critical to regularly scout for these hidden insects through out the year. As spring approaches, the larvae are bigger and easier to find but could have already done significant damage. Once they pupate you have lost your chance to stop the cycle because the moths will return to the same plant to lay their eggs.

When scouting for the larvae have some type of magnifying lens and a metal picking tool.  You are looking for signs of insect activity like frass, and a bulge in the branch from a wound that is trying to heal.

This branch is from a different tree than the one above. Several callousing wounds on the branch are a sign that something is not right.  There is also frass near the opening.

Pulling back the bark reveals the culprit, a larvae that is a little smaller than a grain of rice…

…with a face only a mother could love.

Further exploration reveals the branch has been completely girdled by that one larvae.

As you can see the Juniper twig girdler lives up to its name. In bonsai every branch is important, and a few twig girdlers can decimate a once beautiful bonsai. Now that you know what these tiny tree terrorists look like you’ll be able to protect your junipers for years to come.