Yesterday, in the middle of a wet miserable night, we had our November meeting. About 16 brave souls ventured out in the wet and wind to meet up and play with trees and talk about bonsai.

We managed to get the bigger hall again and therefore had space to spread out.

A few of the group had brought trees to work on and got stuck in with a little help.

Billy with his Evergreen Oak.

Hugh brought a Scots Pine that needed a little preparation before wiring. Phil gave him a hand removing some old needles.

Some of the members took time to look at a few of the trees brought just for display.

We even had a group project on the go to keep everyone there thinking about bonsai. Phil had brought along a triple trunk Squamata Juniper that had been prewired. Everyone had to discuss the tree and pick what they thought was the best front and explain why. When all had had there say Phil styled the tree along the lines that everyone suggested.

Working on this Juniper resulted a rather in depth talk about Junipers in general and how to prune them. Hugh had brought another Juniper along for advice. This tree was in dire need of a major thinning out. It has been pinched for many years with no attention given to the actual structure of the tree. Phil gave Hugh a few points on how to thin the branches and work his way through the tree. This will take a while and is one for another day!

Hugh, keen to learn, or just keen on Phil, you decide :-)

Billy and Roy catching up.

Funny how it’s always the same suspects who make it to the tea pot first :-)

Well done to those who braved the weather and made it out. Slightly down on the usual numbers but still a very enjoyable meeting with a lot achieved on the night.