On Saturday 14th August NI Bonsai Society members are invited along to the garden of Ian Young in Newtownards.
Starting at 1pm those attending can drop in during the day and walk the garden and check out Ian’s collection of bonsai. Ian will be giving mini tours of the benches talking about the trees, accents and elements of the gardens design.
There will be a basic BBQ for those who want to grab ma burger or hotdog and beer for those how can and wish to partake.
For further details please contact Ian via email bonsaieejitATgmail.com
Better late than Never, some photos from our club wood walk back in July. This turned out to be a poplar event and a very enjoyable walk with friends studying trees in nature and seeing how we can bring these elements into our bonsai.
Now for something a little different. On Saturday 17th July at 10am the club will be meeting at the carpark at Cairn Wood for a guided walk into the old growth forest to study the characteristics of old trees and discuss how we can emulate this in our bonsai.
The wood has some stunning Beech, Oak, Sycamore, Birch and Scots Pine showing great deadwood and growing in many styles such as raft, multi-trunk etc.
Some stunning views from the top of the wood overlooking Strangford Lough.
We plan to walk at a slow pace with frequent stops over a 4-5 km loop. Nothing too strenuous but we will be leaving the hardcore path for roughly half the walk and the trails are uneven with a lot of trip hazards. Please dress appropriately.
We will also be looking at the forest floor and seeing what we can use for inspiration for accents and kusamono.
There is also a small chance that we might get a sighting of the elusive Cairn Wood Yeti!
Interested in joining us? We start the walk at 10am sharp. As there’s a take away coffee van in the car park I would suggest arrival between 9.30 and 10am allowing us to grab a coffee before we start the walk.
The location for Satnav for those who don’t know the area is 21 Craigantlet Road BT23 4TE. For more info or advice please contact us on info@nibonsai.co.uk
For anyone in the South Down, Armagh areas and are free next Saturday between 1-5pm, why not pop in to Mahon Garden Centre in Portadown. We have a pop up bonsai display there and are available chat all thing bonsai. We’re looking for new members especially beginners. Give yourself a new passion to indulge during the next lockdown :-)
The Northern Ireland Bonsai Society is back in business. Its been a long year in Covid limbo and we have waited it out, but we now have our usual venue back in operation, although we have a few restrictions to comply with.
In light of this we are requesting anyone not already booked in to attend on our Club Whatsapp group should get in contact via info@nibonsai.co.uk or Whatsapp us on Zero7795263569.
Our next meeting will be this Friday 8 pm at the Cregagh Youth and Community Centre. You will need a mask or you’ll be refused entry unless you have a proven medical exemption. You will also need to fill out a track and Trace.
The meeting will be a socially distanced affair as you’d expect and we will be looking at post flowering work on Satsuki Azaleas as well as some defoliation techniques for bonsai.
If possible bring a tree for show and tell, even better if its a satsuki azalea or Japanese Maple.
Plans are being made for July and August in a more open environment. In July we will be hosting a tour of a local woods looking at ancient trees and how we can use them to inspire our bonsai design. In August we will be visiting the home of Ian Young for a garden visit, BBq and maybe even a few beers. A social occasion to bring us all back together hopefully post covid restrictions. Lets be optimistic.
