by Lee Squires

I hope everyone is surviving the old cliché, “Hot enough for ya?” It has been a scorcher, and our bonsai know it best when 95 degrees heats up the pots around 3:00 P.M., makes our beloved trees wince in horticultural pain. What can we do? Try to provide some shade one way or another and move your more sensitive trees into afternoon shade. There are excellent shade cloths on the market, but you will need to construct a frame to hold the fabric. That’s the hard part and it’s difficult to make it look professional without some skilled help or advice. Water twice a day if possible. I prefer to water in the evening when the sun is down. The cooler temperature and lack of sun reduces evaporation and water stays in the pots longer. If you water in the morning, the water is sucked out and evaporated by the sun by 1:00 and your trees don’t get full use out of your watering. If possible, water again around 1:00 to cool down the pots. However, us workers out there can’t be home from work to take care of the afternoon watering chore. Put in an irrigation system with a timer. Several of our members have them and they work well. Downside? Generally, your trees have to be placed in close proximity for efficient system design and you may lose the artistic individual stand display of your trees and resort to “bench life” for your bonsai. Check out the various options out there and consider providing some solutions to the summer heat issues.

July & August is a great time to apply lime sulfur to the deadwood on your bonsai. It is necessary to preserve the stripped wood and will whiten it for accent. I have been using a 1” foam throw-away paint brush for easy application. Dip it in the solution and gently wipe the deadwood. More pressure on the foam releases more solution. If it runs to the bottom of the branch and pools, just simply place the tip of the brush on the drop and it sucks back into the foam, avoiding a stained trunk. It is best to wet the areas with water first. This opens the pores in the wood and helps the wood receive and absorb the solution and avoids a rapid runoff down the trunk. Apply lime sulfur once a year in a full sun environment for quick drying.

I hope you all can attend our outing on August 7th. We will be going to Dave & Barbara Bogan’s home and bonsai nursery in Lynnville, Indiana. They have a great collection and many plants, pots, tools and related items for sale. Bring plenty of spending money with you. Please see information elsewhere in this newsletter for all of the details. See you all at Bogan’s.