I’ll show you What I’ll be working on It is one day before the Toronto Bonsai Society’s fall show and sale So my Greenhouse is full it was a cool Night last night so you can see the Floor of the greenhouse in here is Covered in trees I’ve got my show trees In here So today I’m going to be working on my Ficus Religiosa over there I’m going to be defoliating it and Pruning it up I’m also going to be working on my Penelope statue today my Nick Lance Tribute Bonsai planting So I’ll be removing all the supports From the 3D print and Gluing it together so there’s all my Pieces All right so I’ll see if I can get that Assembled today also I’ll be taking the Matrix to the Toronto Show so I’ve already started loading it Up here The more I do today the less I have to Do tomorrow morning so I’ve got all the Stands I need for the show in here There’s four stands I kind of stacked them on top of each Other I put
A piece of uh I don’t know a foam board Between them so they don’t get scratched And I still have lots of room in here For the trees I was kind of worried These stamps take up a lot of space but It looks like I’ll fit all the trees in No problem I’m also loading up the front of the car With some items I’m bringing to the show David Easterbrook will be at the show And I first heard of David Easter book Brook from this book here And let me see when it was published Does it even say in here Oh yes it does 1985. So it’s it’s an old book and in the back I believe there’s a picture of them There he is Uh so it says Mr Chang Uh say John Uh founding president of the Hong Kong Uh artist pot plant Association and Mr David Easterbrook president of the Montreal but Bonsai Society so there’s David Easterbrook there When he was a young lad So That’s where I first heard of David Easterbrook was from this book So he eventually became the curator of The Montreal botanical gardens Bonsai Collection So I’m bringing this book because
If I can get David to sign the book that Would be awesome I also have my other Book from the Bonsai panjing Uh collections the Montreal Botanical Gardens And David from our Toronto Club has a tree In this collection So I wanted to get David to sign the Picture of History a sign beside his tree which Is in here I’ll uh oh there it was I Just saw it Here Hold on There it is so there there’s Uh David’s tree in the Montreal Botanical gardens Bonsai collection So yeah I was going to get David to sign This page of the book too I love having signatures in that in Books I think it’s cool I’m going to remove the support on this Statue Using pliers and a knife so I can cut Away a lot I can pull some of it away so Let me get those tools and I’ll begin Work today on the statue There’s a lot of supports in here I may have to Pry some of it apart You can see this is the sculpture in Here and this is all supports on the
Outside here So I have a lot of [Music] A lot of work to go I’m doing this first because it’s a very Cool day out today it’s a high of 12 Degrees Celsius which is I’m guessing 10 degrees Celsius is 50 Fahrenheit so 12 would be maybe 54 Degrees Fahrenheit somewhere around There cool You know So I don’t want to bring the Tropicals Out too early I don’t want to Chill them off too much [Applause] [Music] Here is a look at the model So yeah it’s a really good accurate Representation of the original Sculpture Very very nice So I still haven’t picked a tree to Plant over it it’s got to be something Very miniature uh one with good kind of Flexible roots that I can position all Around the sculpture I think there’s one Root root that goes between the arm and The body here There’s one that goes I think between The hand and the Shoulder there So yeah it’ll be Quite a challenge finding a good tree to
Do this with and it may be a juniper Um yeah I don’t know We will see I’ve got a selection of Jewelers files here that I can work away At the sculpture getting into all those Little Hard to get at spots So this sculpture you can see all the Little Fine Lines from 3D printing each Layer So I have to I’ll have to Prime the Sculpture with Um like a sandable primer and then Smooth it out the Sandpaper getting a Really nice smooth surface for the You know for the model so when I cast it I won’t have a lot of rough surfaces So the face is quite good on the front Side here But if I rotate it around you can see It’s a little bit strange on this side The geometry is correct but Kind of the 3D printing Isn’t so good on this side so I think You know I’ll have to put a smear of Body filler on it and do a bit of Sculpting some facial reconstructive Surgery on this the side to make it look A little better But everything else is coming out pretty Good Yeah it’s Not bad Using this fancy squirter thing where
You squeeze the sides in so I’ll put a Bead kind of all the way around it Even though you know you technically Only need a few drops but I don’t want it to fall apart or Anything Okay so I gotta beat around I’ll just Put some in the middle here too Because you never know where this is Going to make contact Okay and now I’m going to glue them together so Here I go lining it up the best I can I’ve let the first two pieces dry so now I’m ready to attach piece number three Here So here I go let’s get out the super Glue Start Applying the glue to the perimeter Here is a look at the Statue all joined Together in the three pieces as one now I’ll have a lot of filler work to do I Tried to line it up the best I could and You know I’m a little proud on this Surface So there’s going to have to be a bit of Body filler some sanding and filing to Go My first step I’m going to unify the Whole statue with a coating of gray Primer And then I’ll work on you know sanding That all down
And smoothing it out and then I’ll add Body filler and You know try and make the Original mold here the best I can I didn’t have any primer so I went to The store with Canadian Tire and I got a Spray can of gray primer they didn’t Have any paint on stuff I also found a portula carrier Afra the One with the really small leaves So that’s just awesome to find that I’m Really happy to find that that was It was 5.99 And I got some rough sandpaper some 220 Grit The roughest I had was 800 which is really fine so that was No good for the you know finishing my 3D Print and I got some spot putty I do have some Spot putties somewhere But I can’t find it I’m going to put the coat of primer on The Statue now I’ll do all the filling And finishing work in a separate video All right here I go with the primer Start with a lust oh Start with a light dusting coat Spin it around I should have this on the turntable but I better not get my turntable all Painted Here’s a look at the sculpture now Looking quite nice I can see there’s Going to be a fair amount of cleanup
Work to do on it It’s Ficus Friday today so let’s Get Out The Ficus religiosa and begin the work I’m going to have to clear away a lot of The trees on the floor here so I can get Access to The Ficus religiosa so I’ll Have to put these outside in the cold For a little bit Here is a look at my Ficus religiosis so This is the current front which I’ve decided to go for more of uh How about there is the front So the main reason I want to prune it Today is there’s this large Branch here Which is really vigorous this one trunk Line is getting a little thick So I want to cut this one back severely I’ve also got some beautiful hanging Branches over here that I really really Like so I just want to make the tree Bear strip all the leaves off it have a Look at the structure and then do the Pruning There is a fig on it here I’ll show you the Fig So right in here if you see it Right there That is I think the very first fig I’ve Ever had on this tree So that’s pretty exciting Just looking at the scale I think I’m going to give it a spray Before I start any work on it All right here I go with the soap and
Water I’ll just spray it all over the trunk The branches So that won’t kill the scale blisters But it will kill any crawling insects Which eventually form those scale Blisters So it’ll uh Do the tree some good that’s for sure And then any scale blisters I see after The pruning I’ll remove by hand I’ve let it sit for a few minutes so now I’m ready to rinse it off with rain Water So here I go Start at the top Rinse it all down Washing away all that Soap and water Okay and now I will rinse out the soil Give it a good thorough watering Get all that soap and water out I’m going to begin the pruning now and You can see of all the multiple trunks That form the crown or the canopy of This tree this one is the thickest I probably let this one develop a little Too much so I’m going to prune it back Um Taking some Vigor out of this one and Letting the other ones catch up So this branch is really nice this is my New front you’re looking in at it’s got
Good move and good taper until kind of This section it kind of has a bit of a Curve but not much so I do have a a leaf That was in the inside here I’m sure There’s some more back here so I think For a good pruning point would be Somewhere about here Yeah I can’t see another point I could Go back closer but then I’m kind of Guessing I know I have a leaf Bud a Dormant one here at the base of this Previous Leaf so I’m going to go off put It right here So here I go I’m using the pruners that Tom Sent Me From Growing club Bonsai for seniors they’re Really really sharp so Should be good for pruning today so that Shortens that one now If I go up this Branch you know I have a Branch here and then it divides from one Into three here so I’ve got to pick Which of the two I want to keep there This leader here is kind of growing Above right above this other Branch here So I’m thinking maybe that’s the one to Come off I’m going to have a look at it From the front here I think so Um I kind of like this one it kind of Goes up the middle here So eventually You’ve got all your branches spreading Out eventually you want something coming
Up the middle to fill in the canopy you Don’t want a big empty hole at the top Of the canopy so you can see some of These branches are coming they’re not All spraying out they’re starting to go Vertical and eventually they’ll fill in The canopy up here you still want your Primary structure down here The fan out work so so yeah I’m leaning Towards taking that one off because it’s Directly above here and because it kind Of creates a straight line From the trunk up here and up here I Would rather this one fills in a nice Empty hole here in the canopy and this One is kind of growing up the middle or Vertical and it looks quite nice so I’m Going to take this one off So I’ll rough prune it off for at first With the pruners here Big step here I go And then I don’t think I need to do any cleanup There it’s actually a very smooth cut And then I want to prune these ones back Also And I’ve kind of got a long straight Section here I could prune it back quite Hard here and I will so right back to Here Like that and this one too Um Some movement here but I think I want to prune that back a
Little further to here Like that keeping it very compact That’s quite a bit of vigor uh I do have A I can see a butt on the here I’m Wondering if I should prune this one Back further Um Maybe not Maybe I’ll let it develop see what comes In and then maybe decide to prune it Back At a later time It is quite thick this whole branch is Quite thick for being up in the canopy Here it’s way thicker than any other Branches And it’s not a trunk line It’s a beautiful Branch I I hate to Remove it I hate to remove the whole thing but I’m Wondering if I need to prune it back Further I think I do I’m going to go Back to here here I go Like that So now you can If you’re looking at the front I still have some interference here Um Which is a problem This is a very nice branch Everything flows nicely This one’s still bugging me it’s so Thick for being up high in the canopy Like that
I’m very worried about it you know it Should be This thickness it’s Getting close to a third or maybe even Twice the thickness it should be Do I prune it right off Then this branch is kind of straight Without much branching on it Oh dear Let’s think about it Um this one’s quite nice it arches Upwards I’ve got I got it dividing into two here and then I have a new Branch here coming out Again you know three branches from one Spot it’s not a problem at the moment But it will become a problem I think it’s got to go Even though you know again I don’t have Much going in this direction this is a Nice Direction but it’s just in the Wrong spot The junction of these two branches and I Wouldn’t want to prune this upper one Off it’s a pretty cool branch So it’s got to come off and you know Maybe I can grow Branch coming out down Lower so it’s not three in one spot in The future but for now it’s got to come Off So that’s off now I’ve got this new Hanging Branch happened this year and I kept it on because you know it’s very Unusual to have a vertical Branch
Hanging down like that these are kind of Normal cascading branches they look Really nice Maybe I just print it off a little Shorter so it kind of continues to grow Out here sort of the same level as this One I think that’s an answer I think if it Goes to To far down like it was it was almost Down to the soil level and I pruned it Off shorter but I’m thinking if this is My front this would be a nice leader Growing out here and then it’d probably Start growing up again Like that I do like these two branches the one at The back is fine that looks good This one is getting a little long it Doesn’t have any change of movement or Taper so I’ve got to prune that one back Something coming out before the front Here Um These two branches kind of interfere With each other I think I’m going to take it off right To here So I’ve got a bud coming out the front Here And this other one I think I’ve got to take it off shorter to Something coming out the back Well that solved my problem maybe not
Um Maybe I’ve got to take this up A leaf here so I could develop this one Out shorter and towards the front I think that’s the solution is maybe Prune it off to here Like that I think that’ll work The rest of these Um This one I could prune off shorter Here Like that this one to here This one Here And the tip off this one So I think that’s pretty good for this Branch Up top here I can bring that shorter It’s kind of getting out of the rounded Profile Um I’ll just take it off to here for now And this one to here Maybe even lower because this one’s kind Of Not much change of direction or taper or Anything so I think I’ll keep it as more Of a Either this or this one will be my new Leader to the branch and I’m going to Decide which I take the upper one let’s Take it off there Like that Yeah
Okay I Don’t know about this one I think I’ve got to go shorter I’m going To go back here Like that yes that looks better Um let’s keep going around here so I’ve Got one on the back here It’s going a good direction To change anything on that that branch Once it starts growing here I will prune The tip off and then a butter will come Out more horizontal but for now I think That one’s all It’s it’s good that Branch I will take I will take this one back to here though Like that There’s always hard decisions on these Trees So now that brings me to this trunk line Which is Getting nicely developed I’ll take this One off the tip here Tip off here Yeah There’s one This one Is crossing across the other structure There I’ve got to take that out it’s Just not Not Fanning out if we look at it from The front it grows across all the other Branches so that that’s got to be Removed totally
So here I go It’s just in a bad bad Direction Okay so From this one coming up here we prune That one off I’m going to shorten this One back to here Like that This one I’m going to take the tip off Here Tip off here And Yes the tip off here This one Here This one This one is kind of going across over Top of these other two branches Um let me see it from the front It kind of goes out the back so I I Think a redirection Back to here Solve that This one I think I’m going to go shorter Here And this one I want it Fanning outward so I’ll just Take the tip off Like that Like that That’s looking good I think that branch Is sorted One down below [Music] It’s already been pruned there’s a bud
Forming there I’ll just leave that one This one it’s getting a little tall I See a little bit of scale insect there Get rid of that I’ll just spray that again Was it Right here there okay Uh I think I need that one shorter So I’m going to redirect it here Like that that’ll get that going in a Good direction now I don’t know from the front this one Kind of crosses behind the structure Here Ah I better prune it off shorter hoping to Get something growing more out radially Out the back There Maybe even that one could be dropped Down lower Yeah Jacob’s there This little Branch here is looking Pretty good there’s a stub I can remove From the last time I pruned it Like that Um It’s kind of it’d be nice to bring it Out this direction so I’ll turn it back To here Like that this trunk line it’s looking Good
The front here Let me position the camera because the Tree is much shorter now Uh I think I was here I did this Branch I did this oh I was Here Uh this one’s being pruned oh there’s Another scale insect there Um Yeah I was looking at this Branch here So From the front Where’s the front gone over here Well that’s looking good I This one’s kind of growing back in Towards the center of the tree I think I’m going to prune it off to This This little Branch here give me a change Of Direction and a change of taper So here I go To there This one I can take the tip off here And also here Get the tip off [Music] As far as flow It all looks good and flowing I’m Very happy with all that There’s a stub here I’ve got a cut back Like that And one here just cleaning up some old Pruning stubs Here
Yeah Okay so I still Very close here with this branch I’m wondering if I need it If I didn’t have this Branch I would Definitely keep it If I got rid of this one I could keep This one but again is it too thick I Know it is too thick I better get rid of it I hate doing it It was such a beautiful Branch but it’s Just too thick up here I could let all these catch up but this One It’s going to be really hard keeping This whole trunk line under control I’ve got to take it off Do I Ah this trunk wouldn’t look good without It Was such a tough decision Well I’ll leave it on I’ll have to remove this one I I think That’s the solution and then as I say Try and let the other ones catch up keep The Vigor down on the thick trunk here See how that goes Yeah this one doesn’t really flow the Best anyway so off it comes That is the solution it’s a tough Decision but It’s what
That’s what we do in bonsai Make tough decisions Okay so the front view is looking good I’m just Taking another look at it all This stub you know eventually this will Thicken up and taper in better and I may Have to do some Cleanup in this area Because it was just putting a flat I wonder if now is the time because I Took this Branch off here so I can maybe Take a cut there I think I will I think it’ll speed the healing up for The future Is the Dead part of this stuff It’s a shame it’s kind of on the front Of the tree but Okay But some of the uh the glue on there Just as a cut paste I think that’ll help Because it’s a large wound it’s not Really bleeding much I better protect it With something Okay I’ve got my Titan all-purpose glue which is a rubber Cement Stays flexible Clear And dries quickly so I’ll just spread it On the wound Like that And that should protect it Here is a look at my Ficus religio so
All pruned up so the next step for this Tree will be to repot it and I’ll Probably do that over the winter so I’ll Rotate it around so you can see it from All angles so here I go So this is sort of the new front Somewhere in here Here I go rotating it around Yeah it’s got a lot of good stuff Happening with this tree And the front could change in the future It all depends how it develops I really Really like this kind of hanging brand Structure I think that looks so cool This one’s nice here there’s a lot of Good stuff happening on this tree [Music] And I think when I repot it I’ll be able To expose The Roots a little more too I Think there’s a good root system under Here that’s just totally hidden with Moss right now so yeah that’ll be coming So I’m sure the neighbor is cleaning off All these pine needles that have blown Down it’s really thick That’s just been in the last few days I’ll show you what I’m doing with them Here’s what I’ve been doing with all These pine needles that rain down I kind of built up Padded them on top of my soil surface on My 60th birthday Scott’s Pine here I think that’ll hold the moisture in the
Soil stop weeds coming up Bit of insulation from the heat in the Summer and the colder in the winter I Think it’ll be quite good for the tree I’ll put the Ficus religiosa back in the Greenhouse now keeping it nice and warm For tonight I put together a Bare Bones tool kit for The show in Toronto so I’ve got a spray Bottle full of rain water I’ve got a Toothbrush for cleaning off trunks Tweezers for picking out debris in that From the Moss Scissors to do any last minute pruning And some oil for the pots with a little Rag to apply it with I think that’s all I’ll need I’m going to leave my three tropical Show trees in the greenhouse tonight I’ll load those in the car tomorrow Morning but I will take my Cedar Forest Out of here and put it in the car Overnight Now I just gotta get to it I’ve also got to fill my Barrel back Here full of rain water So tomorrow when I come home late at Night from the show I can just turn the water on and water Everything in here And then I’ll head back for the show on Sunday And then Sunday night when I get home I Can do the same thing so I need I need a
Full barrel of water I’ll load the cedar Forest Into the car now The Moss is definitely greened up it’s Looking really really nice I’ve got the Water barrel filled in my greenhouse and I’ve moved the trees around so all the Ones I’m taking to the show Will be in front here and all my accent Plants are right here so I can just open The door pull them out tomorrow morning Load them in the car And off I go to Toronto I always get nervous before a bonsai Show I don’t know why I just do Ficus Friday help take my mind off the show For a while today While I was working on Penelope here the Statue and my Ficus religiosa so it was Kind of a nice break from the stress and Rushing about getting ready for the show So I think I’m already I’ve just got to Load the three trees in the car tomorrow Morning I got my tools ready my water Everything I need to take to the show So that’s all for today I’m Nigel Saunders thanks for joining me in the Bonsai Zone [Music]
