We here at Dallas Bonsai Garden wish you and yours
a very happy holiday season and hope for a beautiful
and bountiful New Year!
As time grows closer to making those Holiday Gift Giving
Decisions we have tried to help those who want Bonsai
stuff and help those who want to give Bonsai Stuff.
Our 2004
Gift Guide has been revamped to assist the
giver and getter.
We've categorized our items:
First - By what we have come to realize over these
39 years in the Bonsai business as great gifts
of thoughtful items that Bonsai hobbyists will
surely appreciate and enjoy not just for the moment,
but for years to come.
Second - By separating the items into price categories
to present the giver an easy time of selecting a
price range and then an easy selection of great gifts
within that price category.
We do hope you agree that this will make it an easier
time of Gift Selections.
And … lest we forget our beautiful
Bonsai children, they are what we appreciate daily.
As to what we should be doing with them during this
mostly dormant period:
1. |
Water as needed - which means checking your
Bonsai soil daily to see or feel if your soil
is drying out. A lot of this will depend on the
humidity of the surroundings and how active your
Bonsai's growth is this time of year. |
2. |
Check
for insects or disease continuously. This comment
is not meant to cause paranoia. Its focus is
for you to be observant to the overall health
and well being of your Bonsai. You can tell
if there is a yellowing and falling off of
leaves. You can tell if there is a change in
the color of the foliage or needles. These
are indications that something is changing … some
of this is natural and some of this can be from
spider mites or other critters. Just be mindful
that, as with us, when there
is a change in appearance it can be a normal
thing or a thing that is the first indication
of a larger problem that is just in the formative
stages. |
3. |
As
to light - For deciduous Bonsai: this is not
a problem as there are bare of leaves this
time of year. For evergreen Bonsai - this is
a problem. December 21 is the shortest day of
the year. Meaning there is little natural light
during the month of December. For some Bonsai
with few leaves this will not be a problem. But
for most evergreen Bonsai this is a problem.
You may need to give your Bonsai some artificial
light to help it through this low light period.
Plant lights can be purchased at most large Grocery
stores in their light bulb departments or at
the large box home improvement warehouses in
either incandescent or fluorescent. Fluorescent
or incandescent lights will both do the same
basic work for your Bonsai. You need a light
fixture for either and that may make
your mind up as to which one. Just remember incandescent
(or light bulbs) do emit a lot of heat. Fluorescents
do not, but have larger fixtures to contend with. |
Our
goal is to provide you with the best bonsai information
there is! At this time of year, however, there isn't
much to do really except to keep your babies from
freezing. The best info we can give you now is to
start thinking toward spring and what you might need
to enhance your bonsai tool collection. So, this
email will act somewhat like a hand out to your gift
givers who need some help on just what to purchase
for you this Gift Giving Season.
We hardcore Bonsai people know what a pruner is while
a "normal" person would think of it as
a 12 inch long saw on a long pole for whacking off
tree limbs way up in a large tree. Pruning compound
to that "normal" person is that black bitulithic
stuff that is quite odiferous – (it smells!).
Well - we Bonsai Hobbyist know better don't we? A
pruner is a 7", 8" or 11" concave
cutter and pruning
compound comes in tube or small
vials that is for little old branches and none of
it smells.
So to make it easier and add a little grease to their
task of getting just the right item we will mention
to you some of our easiest gifts for them to purchase
for you.
First - of course the gift certificate. These come
in whatever denomination the gift giver wishes. From
$20.00 on up to whatever. ( call 1-800-982-1223 1pm-5pm
M-F CST )
Second - Books. Eventually the Bonsai Hobbyist will
have every book in print. Why? Because each and every
author may impart to you the same ideas, but he will
use different words and mental images. Some of these
ideas will stick with you and some just get lost
in translation. I can well remember reading Paul
Samuelson's Principals of Economics the second, third
and fourth time and then Zingo! It finally hit me
as to what this brilliant man was saying. The same
things can be said of Bonsai books. You need to read
different person's views of the same detailing to
have the idea finally become a picture in your head.
Pictures are a very important learning tool with
the Bonsai Hobby. By viewing Masterpiece Bonsai Trees
you can see just what you might need to do with your
young specimens*. The Kokufu series of Japanese picture
books are the premier source to viewing the best
of the best.
*Note: That's also why we set up the Bonsai
Gallery for you!
Third - Tools
and tool sets. Please remind the gift
giver that there is a difference in the quality of
Bonsai Tools. There is no better tool than a Japanese
Bonsai Tool. ( And there is no better place to purchase
Japanese bonsai tools than here at Dallas Bonsai Garden.)
For the newcomer the addition to the first semblances
of a tool set might be only the simple inclusion of
a concave cutter. This along with the scissor/shear
are the first and second tools needed for a tool set.
For the person who has been in the hobby for a few
years and has these tools the next items are usually
a wire cutter, a second pair of shear/scissors that
are for a specific trimming job, a good quality tweezer
or other specific task tools. All the Bonsai tools
we handle were developed as "special tools for
special tasks." It might also be that this person
is upgrading into Stainless Steel tools and is doing
this much like a family adds to their sterling silver
dinner sets of knives and forks.
Fourth - Bonsai
Instructional Videos. We have some
very excellent videos which will help everyone along
with their Bonsai Hobby. We have the beginning videos
and the Japanese videos at the top of the line in instruction.
Although the Japanese videos are pricy, it would cost
you thousands of dollars to get this information from
these persons on a one on one basis. These are the
Bonsai Masters in action and on tape for you to view
over and over.
Again, I do hope this will give you a start on a check
list of items to ask for or to give.
Bonsai Expert
Thomas J. Gives some thoughts on
Winter Bonsai
Thanks again to Thomas J. for sending in yet another awesome article. This one makes
you think about your trees appearance in the winter. I can't wait to take a hard look at my trees!
Click Here to read the article.
Remember, If
you would like to submit an article for reproduction
here in our newsletter and on our site, please
contact dallasbonsai@comcast.net.
We here at Dallas Bonsai Garden wish you and yours
a very happy holiday season and hope for a beautiful
and bountiful New Year!
We thank you for shopping dallasbonsai.com
and making us the largest Bonsai Supply in the world!
Because of you, we are your Bonsai Supply Superstore.
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