bonsai – Page 2 – The Bonsai Blog of Hans van Meer

BROUGHT IN MY BONSAI FOR THE NOELANDERS TROPHY XIX IN BELGIUM.

Hi everybody,

yesterday I proudly brought in my Ilex verticillata (urban) Yamadori Kabudachi (five trunks) for the international Bonsai show Noelanders XIX that is staged on 3-4 February in Genk Belgium. I had loaded my Bonsai, wooden slab and accent plant early in the morning and secured everything really good to prevent small incidents that could have big consequences for my Bonsai! And left around 12 for the 2.5-hour boring drive to the enormous Limburg hall in Genk Belgium where the show is staged. I luckily and surprisingly had no traffic jams around Antwerpen and arrived around 3 and went straight in to get a trolly for my stuff and to enter my Bonsai officially and get and sign all the paperwork that goes along with such a big show! I was number 5 or 6 in line to get my Bonsai photographed for the commemorative Noelanders Trophy book by old Bonsai friend Willy Evenepoel so in the meanwhile I could admire all the wonderful Bonsai from all around Europe that was standing all around me on trolleys waiting just like me to be photographed. Luckily there was coffee to warm ourselves up because it was really cold and draughty in this enormous hall where the big doors were constantly opened so that Bonsai merchants and artists alike could bring in their merchandise and Bonsai!

Below: here my Bonsai is waiting to be photographed.

After more than 1,5 hours of waiting and a lot of coffee, it was finally my turn to have my Bonsai photographed so I drove inside the makeshift but very professional studio and prepared my composition in between all the lights. It is always amazing to see just how good your own and others’ Bonsai look on the computer screens after it is lit out properly by Willy. He will adjust everything painstakingly until everything is to his professional eye just perfect…only then will he be satisfied with the result! He even noticed a tinny spider wire hidden between two very small branch tips and made a new picture after it was removed…such a professional! After he was finished I lifted the tree and slab back onto the trolly and drove it, and this was a long walk through this enormous complex, to the exposition area where I had to walk past endless rows of long tables to find my spot to make my composition. As usual, I had lost my map with my precise spot on it! And as always in these cases was it in the last row where I looked! 😉

Below: My composition in place and a bid lost in that still empty enormous hall.

noelanders 2018 011 hans van meer org

Preparing my composition is always a trill and over before I know it! That’s why I nowadays always take my time to enjoy it more and soak in the positive energy of this great honour! Because even after all those years and many shows it is still a very uplifting and humbling experience to be able to show your creations among so many great Bonsai from other artists to so many Bonsai friends from all around Europe and even the world! I am a blessed man in that way! I made a video of it all and I will shoot some more footage next Sunday when I am there the whole day to meet up with old and new Bonsai friends from all around Europe and to watch all the amazing Bonsai on display in this great event! I will post this video as soon as possible…so watch this space!!!

Cheers,

Hans van Meer

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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PRUNED AND WIRED MY SMALL PUNICA GRANATUM YAMADORI.

Hi everybody, A few days ago I brought my small Punica granatum indoors to give it its winter pruning and to wire the tiny branches where necessary. This little Bonsai is a Yamadori from France and is 27cm/10.7 Inch high and has been in my care for more than 20 years now. In all these years it has grown from being a small Shohin to its present size and has developed most of its branches new and an amazing Nebari for such a small Bonsai! I think it has a very natural and mature image for such a tinny tree and that’s why I want to show it to you all! The pot is by John Pitt (UK).

I hope you enjoyed this little post?!

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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SOME INDOOR WINTER PRUNNING AND WIRING.

Hi everybody,

all my Bonsai luckily made it safely through yesterday’s uniquely heavy Western storm that took several lives and caused 90+ million in damages to houses and buildings and tipped over more than 70 trucks causing huge day-long traffic jams and paralysing almost all plane and train traffic for most of the day! These tragic things seem to happen more and more worldwide and more frequently… it almost looks like somebody is trying to tell us something ?! Anyhow… even though today (the day after) was a sunny day, I still decided to do the work that I planned indoors where there is EDM on the radio and a coffee machine close by! The first one I worked on was my old Prunus spinosa Yamadori Shohin from Wales. Too long branches were shortened or removed and some branches that were alright but misplaced were wired and repositioned. A long time ago this little tree was painstakingly styled by me as a Moyo-gi and was enjoyed in that style for several years… but I always felt that there was a better option hidden inside that style, but that meant that I had to completely restyle the tree and remove some of its major beautiful old branches! So I made a drawing (that I can’t find somehow) and came to the conclusion that it was well worth the risk to restyle it completely… so I did it! Now many years later it is growing better and better into that design that I envisioned all those years ago and I have not regretted that decision for a minute. The pot was given to me as a present when I was touring the US and was made by an obviously talented local potter…but I sadly can’t remember who it was and I can’t find it anywhere in my older posts?! Sorry for that!

Next, the little Hawthorn that I collected in November 2006 in Wales with Tony Tickle was brought inside for some correctional pruning and wiring!

Below: this is how it looked in February 2008 after I had removed all but a few branches from it, revealing its beautiful and uniquely tapered movement! In February 2016 it was proudly shown at the prestigious Noelanders trophy in Belgium.

Below: this is how she looks after the pruning and wiring session. All the badly placed and too thick branch tips were cut back to be replaced by a tinner one creating tapering in almost all the branches! And some branches were wired to reposition them in the desired position. It has grown so hard last two seasons that it has pushed itself out of this beautiful custom-made pot by John Pitt (UK) so it needs to be repotted in a few months’ time. This also means that there are now more than enough small roots to safely give me the chance to finally be able to remove a large stone from in between its old tick roots, creating more room to grow for the finner roots! And to pot the tree much deeper in its pot! On May 26, it will be shown at the second edition of the “KEI BONSAI KAI” ten and the ten “DANNY USE & FRIENDS in the famous “GINKGO” Bonsai centre in Laarne Belgium! It is the first time that it will be shown with its foliage so it has to look at its very best!

I hope you enjoyed this little story?!

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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RESTYLING MY LITTLE SYLVESTRIS “PEE PINE” YAMADORI.

Hi, everybody,

this is how this little “PEE PINE” that I found and collected In Austria in May 2004 looked after one of its first styling way back in April 2008. 35cm/14inch. It is named “PEE PINE” because it grew well hidden between the high grass and I almost accidentally peed on it during a walk through the mountains! 🙂

“PEE PINE”

Below: This was taken in Spring 2009 in its new Tokoname pot.

9-9-2009 pi pine 2 010 Hans van Meer

And yesterday still in that same pot, while rain, hail and a storm were torturing my garden, I took her indoors for yet another restyling. She now measures 41 cm/16 Inches and has matured a lot! Below:

Below: before the work started.

Below: left side view after wiring and styling.

Below: right side view.

Below: backside view.

Below: and the finished front side view. I am really happy with just how mature this tinny Pine looks right now! If it is not yet sold next Spring, it will be repotted as soon as the buds start to swell back into the same pot. But a little bit more tilted to the left! And as soon as the weather clears I will clean the Shari section and Jin’s and treat them with lime sulfur.

I hope you like this little story?!

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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Winterbomenpresentatie / Nieuwjaarsreceptie Bonsai Café NL / Deshima Bonsai Studio.

My Ilex verticillata at the show.
Pic. Ed van der Reek.

Hallo allemaal en de beste wensen nog,

Zaterdag 6 jan. jongleden was het alweer tijd voor de jaarlijkse Winterboom presentatie en Nieuwjaars borrel in Teunis Jan Klein zijn geweldige Bonsai studio “Deshima” in Nieuwerkerk a/d IJssel. Hij had samen met de vrijwilligers van zijn Bonsai Café NL weer enorm veel werk verricht om er weer een geweldige Bonsai dag van te maken voor de vele bezoekers! Ik was door Teunis ook uitgenodigd om een Bonsai ten toon te komen stellen dus ik moest die dag weer eens vroeg uit de veren om mijn Ilex verticullata om 9 uur s’ochtens op te kunnen stellen voor dat de deuren open gingen om 10 uur! In de grote voor de gelegenheid om gebouwde open buiten kas was rond om een mooie ruimte gecreëerd met zwarte tafels en zwarte achterwanden zodat de winterbomen nog beter tot hun recht konden komen. Het opbouwen van je presentatie is altijd leuk en spannend om te doen en het is altijd weer een mooi moment om te zien hoe je Bonsai na al die jaren van werk er uit ziet op zijn Paas best! Na heel wat handjes schudden en de nodige praatjes was het alweer 10 uur en tijd voor Teunis Jan om namens Deshima Bonsai Studio en Bonsai Café NL iedereen van harte welkom te heten en om de Winterbomen presentatie 2018 te openen. Waarna iedereen zijn eigen weg ging om de tentoongestelde Bonsai te bewonderen of om gezellig wat aan de bar te drinken onder het genot van de gratis krentenbollen of om tussen de collectie top kwaliteit potten en binnen en buiten Bonsai te zoeken naar iets moois om te kopen! Om 11 uur begon de zeer interessante PowerPoint presentatie door Dominique Bosch over zijn leer periode in Japan. Tussen 12 en 1 uur werd de demo ruimte voor Dominique demonstratie ingericht terwijl er een digitale presentatie was van Bonsai Empire over uiteenlopende Bonsai tentoonstellingen van over de hele wereld. Om 1 uur werd onder het genot van een heerlijk glas bubbels met onze gastheer het glas op het komende schitterende bonsai jaar geheven. En een kwartiertje later begon de geslaagde demonstratie van Dominique op een niet zo voor de hand legende Jeneverbes, die later verloot werd onder de mensen die lootjes gekocht hadden. De boom ging uit eindelijk naar mijn student en vriend Diederick. 😊 De rest van de middag genoten we van al het moois in dit mooie Bonsai center en van de Winterbomenpresentatie met Bonsai die we elkaar willen laten zien en vertelden welke plannen we met onze bomen hebben voor het nieuwe jaar. Rond 5 uur ging iedereen weer met zijn eigen bomen of met hun nieuw aanwinsten moe maar voldaan weer op huis aan. Ik wil hierbij Teunis Jan en alle vrijwilligers van het Bonsai Café bedanken voor al hun werk dat deze zeer hartverwarmende Bonsai dag mogelijk maakte! Helaas heb ik geen foto’s gemaakt maar binnen kort zet ik een door mij geschoten korte video van deze mooie dag op YouTube!

Tot volgend jaar in goede gezondheid dan maar weer!

MVG,

Hans van Meer.

PS: De hier boven door mij getoonde Ilex heeft het gelukkig door de voor sellectie van de Noelanders Trophy 2018 gehaald en zal daar in Februari tussen al dat Bonsai geweld te zien zijn! 🙂 Dus mijn Bonsai jaar is al goed begonnen dus!!! 😉

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Deshima Bonsai Studio.

Ir Leleystraat 44

Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel 2912 CH

0180-633319

www.deshimabonsai.nl

www.bonsaishop.nl

LINK TO THE AMAZING VIDEO BY RYAN NEAL “HOW TO MAKE A BONSAI” .

Hi, everybody,

I would like to share with you all this LINK to Ryan Neal’s super video “HOW TO MAKE A BONSAI”!!! It is by far the best tutorial Bonsai video that I have come across on the internet and a must-see for all beginners and intermediate Bonsai enthusiasts alike! Ryan takes us along to a nursery to find with us a potted Christmas tree that he can use to create an amazing Bonsai! He then shows us what to look for in nursery material, how to find the front, the inclination of the trunk, what branches to choose, how and why to prune, how to wire and how to bring all branches into place etc. etc. !!! He is by far the best online Bonsai teacher I know of and he truly inspired me to go that extra mile with my own student group! Bravo and thank you, Ryan, and everybody else from “MIRAI” for all your good work for the worldwide Bonsai community! And a happy New Year from me to you all!

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hi everybody,

I like to wish all my Bonsai friends from around this world a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Joyful and Healthy New Year!!!

**Above my Ilex verticilatta. Urban Yamadori. 5 trunk/ Kabudachi/Gokan. Pot: Isabelia.**

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

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The Video Of “THE FIRST STYLING OF DIEDERICK HIS PINUS SYLVESTRIS YAMADORI” Is Posted On YOUTUBE!

Hi, everybody,

I have just posted the video of

“THE FIRST STYLING OF DIEDERICK HIS PINUS SYLVESTRIS YAMADORI” on YouTube! This is the story of the two fun sessions that we did to style this tall and unique Yamadori that I collected some 5 years ago. My friend and student Diederick and his wife fall in love with this tree when they visited my garden for the first time and they were happy to buy it from me and we then made an appointment to style it together at his place and film it all! This Yamadori is a tall formal upright uniquely shaped Pine with a long first branch that somewhere in its distant past was almost completely broken off by either snow or falling rocks! Somehow this almost fatally cracked branch stayed alive and healthy over with a beautiful Shari and was now all those years later the reason why I fell in love with it that day on that mountain…I just had to save this old guardian from falling into the closing dept just in front of him! It might be a bit controversial as a Bonsai, but we both really loved the story this tree had to tell because of this branch and would not thick off removing it! Thanks to Diederick and his lovely wife for their trust and for taking good care of me and the “Guardian”. I hope you all enjoy this little story of this pre-Bonsai?!

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

Link To The Amazing Online BSOP Series: Spring Fundamentals By Ryan Neal From Mirai Live.

First here is the link to Ryan Neal’s BONSAI MIRAI LIVE website where you can find lots of wonderful Bonsai related video’s! And HERE is the link to the amazing video about Winter Preparation on Ryan Neal’s Bonsai Mirai Live! Thanks Ryan for helping so many Bonsai enthusiasts around the world!

Promo: Early Spring and days are getting longer, the weather is warming – spring is a pivotal time to maximize your bonsai’s development. Use this video to learn what to prioritize and where you should be placing your efforts in the month of April. Join us as Ryan covers different reasons for pruning, whether or not to repot, and how to approach fertilization at this point in the season.

This is what I wrote on YouTube after seeing this amazingly helpful video late yesterday night.

Wow! I have watched this 2-hour video totally captivated in one go until 3 in the morning! It is by far the best educational video around because Ryan has a way of teaching, explaining and showing that makes it all logical, understandable and stick! I have always been a big fan of his work….but his teaching easily equals his artistry. I will post a link on to my blog so that even more students of Bonsai can find their way to this uniquely valuable source of Bonsai information. Thanks, Ryan and all who made this Video possible! I can’t wait for the next edition!

I know of no other video or book that covers all the basics of Spring Fundamentals like this 2-hour video from Ryan, so please do your self and your Bonsai a favour and watch it!

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

MY BONSAI DISCUSSION AT THE “KOYA” BONSAI CLUB (NL). MIJN BONSAI BESPREKING BIJ DE “KOYA” BONSAI VERENIGING.

Hi, everybody,

yesterday I did a Bonsai discussion at my first Bonsai club “KOYA” which is located in Rijswijk the Netherlands. I became a member there way back in 1991 and stayed there for 6 or 7 years. During those years there I organized with Farrand Blog en Rene Rooswinkel (now from BonsaiFocus) en many volunteers from KOYA one of the first big Bonsai exhibitions in Holland! And I was head of the activity committee for a while. And last but not least, I gave there my first and second demonstration ever! That first demo tree was a garden centre “Chamaecyparis nana” that a few years later won the “Dutch Bonsai days” and was later shown at the very first “Ginkgo Awards” and the “Crespy Cup”! I have fun memories of this club so it was great to go back there after all these years to help and teach the new and old club members with their questions and to give advice about maintenance and styling. I was welcomed at the door by a beautiful (portable) Tokonoma with a very mature delicate Holm (Quercus Ilex) that you don’t see as often as Bonsai in our part of the world. It was accompanieth by a nice scroll with a winter image and a suiseki. I had a great afternoon and the day was over before we knew it! The reactions were very positive and we agreed that I would come back early next year to give a workshop! After all the hearty goodbyes I drove back home…tired but very happy! Thanks to all the members of “KOYA” for their warm welcome and trust! I hope to see you all soon again?!

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

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Hallo allemaal,

gisteren heb ik een Boom bespreking gehouden bij mijn eerste Bonsai vereniging “KOYA” in Rijswijk. Ik ben daar lid geworden in de begin jaren negentig en ben er zo’n 6 a 7 jaar gebleven. Gedurende die tijd heb ik met Farrand Bloch en Rene Rooswinkel (van BonsaiFocus) en veel vrijwilligers van KOYA een van de eerste grote Nederelandse Bonsai shows georganiseerd. Tevens was ik een tijd hoofd van de activiteiten commisie en ik gaf er mijn eerste en tweede domonstratie ooit! Die eerste demo boom een tuin centrum “Chamaecyparis nana” won een paar jaar later de land dagen en heeft nog op de “Ginkgo Awards” en de “Crespy Cup” gestaan. Onnodig om te zegen dat ik leuke herrineringen heb aan mijn tijd by KOYA, dus het was fijn om eindelijk weer eens terug te kunnen gaan om de leden te helpen met al hun vragen over de verzorging en het stijlen van hun Bonsai. Ik werd bij de ingang verwelkomt door een hele mooie portable “Tokonoma” met een hele mooie en volwassen Steeneik (Quercus Ilex) en een prachtige scroll met een winter motief en een goed bij passende Suiseki. Ik had een fantastische dag en hij was voorbij voor dat we er erg in hadden! De reacties waren erg positief en we zijn overeen gekomen dat ik begin volgend jaar terug kom om een workshop te geven. Na een erg hartelijk afscheid ging ik moe maar voldaan weer op huis aan. Bedankt “KOYA” voor jullie vertrouwen en warm welkom en hopenlijk tot volgend jaar maar weer?!

Cheers,

Hans van Meer.

Info: karamottobonsai@hotmail.com

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