AllShapes Bonsai Blog

Anyone interested in building  there own coldframe? This would be a “from scratch” project  with an easy to follow plan.

Wednesday night is predicted to be cold, in the upper 30’s.  At this time forecasters aren’t predicting  frost but  you may want to take the time now to get tender bonsai and trees inside or under cover before it’s too late.

If you haven’t done so already, start planning where your trees will spend the winter months.  As a rule, tropicals should be inside a warm house by the end of September and, I always though you should know where your hardy trees will spend the winter by Thanksgiving.

Time: 9:30am – 1:00pm

Our last workshop of the season although, is also in perfect time for the gift giving holidays. The class is designed for the beginner or amateur wishing to get involved, or stay involved in bonsai, and a perfect opportunity for creating a bonsai for a special individual interested in having a tree. Get hands on experience in making your own bonsai from start to finish that when complete you can take home (or store at the nursery till December).

The plant material we have chosen to use is called “Buxus midget” Boxwood Ver. Boxwood’s are slow growing plants with white grainy trunk and branches supporting dark green miniature leaves lending themselves as a good bonsai subject. Receive expert advice and guidance within a group setting as you learn what’s involved in making bonsai while perhaps gifting it to a friend interested in bonsai.

Whether you are new to bonsai or simply looking for reinforcement of your
current skills, this is a chance to help build your confidence.

Here is what you can expect.

• Help in choosing your subject plant
• Balance and Form
• Pruning or Styling Techniques
• Wiring
• Root Pruning
• Pottery Selecting
• Care and maintenance

Cost $ 90.00 (plus tax) includes all materials and use of tools

You must register before attending classes and all classes are limited due to seating, space and plant material on hand.

Time: 9:30am – 1:00pm

Here is a workshop allowing you to bring-in and work on your own trees or bonsai potentials in need of attention before winter. Weather in need of help or routine maintenance and repotting, its important bonsai receive proper care tomaintain good health and vigor. Get expert advice in repotting, pruning, wiring and shaping your bonsai inside a small group setting.

Cost-$55.00 (plus tax)

Includes one gallon of soil, wire and use of tools PLUS students receive 20% off pottery purchases

Time: 9:30am – 1:00pm

Here is a class designed for the beginner or amateur wishing to get into bonsai and for current hobbyist wishing to get more involved. Get hands on experience in making your own bonsai from start to finish that when complete you can take home.

The plant material we have chosen to use is called “Chamaecyparis Obtusa Nana” Ver. Hinoki’s are slow growing cold hardy plants with dark green fern like foliage. Receive expert advice and guidance within a group setting as you learn what’s involved in making bonsai.  Whether you are new to bonsai or simply looking for reinforcement of your current skills, this is a chance to help build your confidence.

Here is what you can expect:

• Help in choosing your subject plant
• Balance and Form
• Pruning or Styling Techniques
• Wiring
• Root Pruning
• Pottery Selecting
• Care and maintenance

Cost $ 90.00 (plus tax) includes all materials and use of tools

You must register before attending classes and all classes are limited due to seating, space and plant material on hand.

Time: 9:30am – 1:00pm

Here is a class designed for the beginner or amateur wishing to get into bonsai and for current hobbyist wishing to get more involved. Get hands on experience in making your own bonsai from start to finish that when complete you can take home.

The plant material we have chosen to use is called “Serissa foe.” Ver. Serissa’s are fast growing plants producing flowers (pink or white) with small dark green leaves some with white edges.  Receive expert advice and guidance within a group setting as you learn what’s involved in making bonsai.

Whether you are new to bonsai or simply looking for reinforcement of your current skills, this is a chance to help build your confidence.  Here is what you can expect.

• Help in choosing your subject plant
• Balance and Form
• Pruning or Styling Techniques
• Wiring
• Root Pruning
• Pottery Selecting
• Care and maintenance

Cost $ 90.00 (plus tax) includes all materials and use of tools

You must register before attending classes and all classes are limited due to seating, space and plant material on hand.

Fall Classes for 2009!  In case you didn’t catch it on the front page of our website we have a few classes coming up for the fall season.  We will be offering a class on making a tropical bonsai, one for the wonderful Hinoki Cypress, a “Bring Your Own Tree Day, and one for Boxwood.  The schedule is as follows:

Oct. 3 “Making a Tropical Bonsai”
Oct. 10 “Hinoki Cypress Bonsai”
Oct. 17 “Bring Your Own Tree”
Oct. 24 “Making a Boxwood Bonsai”

Registration is limited so if you are interested please register soon.

You have stumbled upon a fantastic place, dear reader!  It’s almost as good as being at our nursery in person!  Here you will be able to read posts about the happenings at our nursery, about growing bonsai in New Jersey and the rest of the tri-state area, and we’ll share some tips and tricks along the way, just to keep things educational.  This will be an entirely new adventure for us and we appreciate your feedback as we go.  We encourage active discussion and peer help!  We have just one ground-rule, that you be respectful to everyone in our community and keep the insults to the absolute minimum necessary   We hope that this will be an area where our great community of AllShapes patrons can meet to share ideas and we can all become better bonsai artists and growers as a result.

With the trees that we all love to grow, we do the fertilizing, pruning, watering, and wiring, yet at the end of the day the tree does what it will.  A blog is a living community, and while we will set the general direction and give it everything it needs to grow, ultimately this blog is for you, by you, and where it goes will be directed by you, dear reader.  Just as with bonsai, we look forward to seeing how this blog will look down the road as it grows.  If you have any feedback on the site, the blog, or the nursery, or even if you just have a question about your particular plant, drop us a line, post a comment, or give us a call.  If you’re in the area just stop on by our nursery.

So with that, we welcome you to the blog of AllShapes Bonsai!