September 2013 – IBA News & Muse
What a brutally hot finish to August! I watered daily and misted at least once again later in the day. It looks like my trees made it through alright. Hope yours did as well. My trees have slowed their growth to a crawl, but the doggone weeds have continued to grow like – well, like […]
MORE >>
2013 Iowa State Fair
Judge Lionel Flood – Minneapolis Minnesota Best Of Show Ron Heinen, Ames Novice Class: First Place – David Miller, Norwalk – 1 blue ribbon Second Place – David Miller, Norwalk – 1 red ribbon Third Place – David Miller, Norwalk – 1 white ribbon Open Class: First Place – Ron Heinen, Ames – 1 blue […]
MORE >>
August 2013 – IBA News & Muse
PLEASE NOTE: there is no meeting in August. Have you noticed how cool it has been this July and August? This means you may have to actually reduce watering. I noticed a Japanese quince that is showing signs of slowed water uptake. The leaves had changed their appearance, so I stuck my finger into the soil. It was still wet […]
MORE >>
July 2013 – IBA News & Muse
Recall last year at this time? We were locked into a month long blast furnace during July. That was tough on trees. I know many good bonsai people who lost trees over winter. I suspect the increased winter loss was due in part to such high heat stress in July… July13–DOWNLOAD THE NEWSLETTER
MORE >>
June 2013 – IBA News & Muse
Things are growing this time of year, so much that we need to begin managing growth of our new foliage. In our area, it is time to decandle pines (black and red pines mainly). We decandle in order to balance apical dominance with lower growth on the tree, to shorten needles, to create ramification, and to shorten the length of […]
MORE >>
May 2013 – IBA News & Muse
I am often asked questions about fertilizing in spring time. Mostly I answer, “It depends on…”. Fill in the blank. Things vary with species, whether a tree was recently repotted, etc. However, with the help of information from Michael Hagedorn, I will give some guidelines… May13–DOWNLOAD NEWSLETTER
MORE >>
