North Devon Bonsai Society

North Devon Bonsai Society Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from North Devon Bonsai Society, Visual Arts, Sticklepath Methodist Church Hall, Barnstaple.

18/05/2026

Report from Club Meeting 11th May 2026

Good turn out this month with 16 attending, apologies from Alan Craddock as he was on holiday.

One of the intentions this month was to see any potential submissions for the Exmouth Bonsai by the Sea show but sadly only a few members brought trees to offer. We have one more meet before the show so if anyone wish to submit trees please bring them along for viewing, we are not neccesarily asking for specimen quality, but just trained enough to represent our society and our style. We need to see the trees to help plan the space and materials needed to exhibit them properly and plan its transport to Exmouth. Roy is keen to show new trees this year to stop our stand being repetitive. So if any of your trees are unusual species or in flower, or have special features, have suitable pots and tidy trimming. Even if they are wired as long as it is tidy they can all be brought along, for consideration for exhibit. Don’t forget this is a chance to see the other south West club exhibits and view all manner of ideas for bonsai and also see some specimen trees from the area. Roy has offered a Scots pine and a neat small juniper. Alan has submitted an Elm raft with hollow trunk features and a Sumo style trunk Trident maple. I believe Jon has offered a couple of good Larches but we still need more to make a viable display so the society needs your help. I have seen some presentable trees turn up so please give it a go and exhibit a tree.

We had a few nice trees turn up for advice this month:
Darren had a slanting style windswept Scots pine with candles extending well.
Mick had a hawthorn, small birch which he thought was a Downey variety but after examination found it was likely common birch. also a small Euonymus.
Dave had a nice blackthorn that was forming nicely.
Berice came with a Lacey leaf maple
It was nice to welcome Onsin who came along with the Blue Cedar he was asking advice about and we were able to settle his nerves and confirm that it was not sick but only having a summer needle shed after its change of environment, he also came with a large Korean hornbeam that had been neglected before he acquired it and Roy and I were able to show him how to start to get it under control again.
Nigel came with a cascade Cotoneaster in flower a small leaf maple which he believed to be the variety “Phoenix” suffering from an attack of black fly.
Rob had a Field maple and a quince
Mat had a spike juniper that is now beginning to look very respectful and in good health with full of potential. Also a larch.

Be aware we can still have a few cold nights and deep drops in temperature so you may have to protect newly leafed Maples and others with fleece or cold green house.
See you all next meeting
Kev

17/04/2026

Report from Club Meeting 13th April 2026

Hi All,
Ten members attended, it was a less well supported meeting this month as a few of us had gone away on short holidays, as Berice wasn’t at the meeting David kindly stepped in to supply refreshments and nice chocky biscuits.
Alan and Roy started the evening off with an overview of the Bonsai Expo 7 at the K2 Sports Centre Crawley. The quality of the trees and other exhibits is exceptional and if you want to find inspiration or like me just look in awe at the unachievable these exhibitions are the place to go. There was also a few dozen traders present from starter trees to rarer species and some very expensive trained examples from collectors.
As material in pots and collected Yamadori from British hills/mountains are very expensive now Roy showed us three Blaauws Juniper air layers he had taken from an old stock plant, and had produced some very nice potential shohin size trees. He did explain they take a lot of manipulating and in his descriptive way had to wire the SH-T out of them to give them character but they looked very healthy and would be potentially £100-£150 each if purchased from a nursery so propogating your own is a very economic way of producing stock for training.

I was asked by Bob what the Japanese terms for collected trees from towns and gardens were so here is a full definition these words are modern variants of course:

The word for "urban yamadori,” dosing actually exist, as yamadori (山採り) literally means "mountain-collected.” Yama- mountain and Dori- collected or picked. However, in the context of modern bonsai, urban yamadori is sometimes referred to using the following terms:
Key Concepts for Urban Yamadori:
Yamadori (山採り): Literally "mountain-picked," it refers to trees collected from the wild.
Context: While traditional yamadori comes from harsh, mountainous, or wild locations, "urban yamadori" has emerged to describe rescuing neglected trees from, for example, construction sites, old landscapes, or abandoned properties.
Definition: It is a tree that has been developed in a built environment rather than in nature, but which has nonetheless developed age, character, and artistic form from the environment, similar to natural yamadori.
Toshidori (都市採り - City-collected): This is a direct, descriptive term often used to mean "urban yamadori" (city-collected trees).
Machi-yamadori (街山採り): A compound term combining machi (town/street) and yamadori (mountain-collected), specifically referencing collecting from urban environments.
Niwa-kikori (庭木樵り): While less common, this implies collecting from private gardens, often used for older, mature garden trees ("repurposed" plants).
I distributed a pamphlet on choosing pots for those that find the theory and colour selection difficult, if you did not attend don’t worry I will have a few for next meeting.

Going around the room;
Alan brought along his Hawthorn raft and appears to still be trying to decide which new pot to transfer it to. He also had a Trident Maple with a very stout wide trunk and nebari which Roy likes to refer to as a Sumo trunk maple but it was a great looking tree.
James had a Blackthorn with an excellent shaped and proportioned trunk planted in a dark red clay tray style pot A nice tree in my opinion and although the flowers had faded you could see how grand it must of looked. James spent most of the evening carefully removing the faded flowers.
David had brought a nice slender upright larch which Alan and Roy helped with explaining how to keep the apex from becoming too dominant.
Bob came along with an old Deshojo Maple which due to has mobility had got rather out of control so I spent a few minutes with him showing what trimming was needed to get it back under control. Unfortunately you have only got to turn your back of Maples in the spring and they are away causing long internodes and the trees profile and ramification is soon lost.
Richard came with his cascade pine and also a Berberis that needed a good trim.
Rob had a collected Sycamore with a funny story of how it had suffered damage from a farmers Flail but he rescued it and it is now thriving in his collection, he also had a Ficus Retusa on Ginsing roots which he gave a light trim and asked some advice about repotting it.
Matt came with a larch that he had remodeled a few times which was doing well and a Crab apple in flower which we had a look at and tried to find a pleasing front and style for it.
I brought along two acquisitions from the Expo a Scots pine from Cris Thomas which he collected from the New forest and a Kishu Juniper from Greenwood bonsai which needs a full clean out and styling but I could see it had good potential as a shohin size tree.

That's it for now see you next time,
Kev

17/04/2026

Report from Club Workshop 21st March 2026

Hi All,
the workshop this spring was extremely well attended with 14 members bringing a fantastic variety of material to work or get advice on. It was great to see some members that don’t often make regular meetings come along and help out or take the opportunity to spend a few hours working on their trees with us.
This year's Spring workshop was funded by the society, so was a free event. It was very busy and we almost didn’t have enough space on tables for the amount of material that turned up, it was a pleasure to see a full meeting hall.

Roy had brought a large semi cascade Juniper with him and was seeking any new ideas on improving its styling and image. I believe he had a few suggestions and might remove the very lowest branch step of the cascade to lighten and improve the overall image. We look forward to seeing if he took the challenge or not in a future visit.
Alan Craddock came with a tall literati Scots pine that he had previously asked for ideas on, in our WhatsApp group and he eventually made his mind up and restyled the placement of some of the lower branches into the design that many suggested could be a possible outcome. I think he was happy with the final placement but that could all change of course.
Jon came with several nice trees for us to view, I noticed a particularly well styled upright Larch he had designed. I liked the compact branch arrangement, to me it gave the impression of a tall mature spruce image, nice job Jon. I'm not sure he had much time to for his own work as he spent the majority of the day helping and advising other members on styling ideas as he always does, thanks Jon.
Alan Chappell had an old Oak and a Hawthorn to work on. I watched him completely tease every scrap of old soil out of his oak roots and repot it in a new mix, thats dedication for you.
Berice had a couple of Chinese elms that needed a tidy up and I helped her restyle an awkward larch into a more convincing windswept style. The neglected Itoigawa Juniper she was minding for her Nephew was going home with Roy for a few days of study and rewiring into shape, can’t wait to see the final results of that one as it should make a great small tree for display.
Alan had a couple of problem trees a Scots pine that hadn’t found a style yet and juniper I believe that Alan Craddock and Roy tackled these between them, but I think they went home much more reduced than when they came in but on their way to a better design.
Paul usually known for his Mame trees, had asked for advice on a larch that he needed some confirmation on removing part of an upper branch to improve its design. After some deliberation with him we decided it was the correct course of action, so he was pleased with the idea and will carry out the operation later. He also brought along a nicely shaped Cotoneaster and a small maple.
Bob had an old established white pine and also a 13 year old cutting from a Juniper I had purchased from Alexander Kennedy and sold to Bob back in 2012. He wanted advice and ideas on a style for it. By the end of the day he had at least 3 or 4 suggested ideas including the idea of turning the whole tree into a raft from Roy or taking cuttings for future stock.
Nigel came along with a few trees Beech, Blackthorn and a Box so plenty of work for him.
Richard had two trees for a full repot as the soil in the original pots was compacted and had poor drainage, Both his upright Beech with great Nebari and a twin trunk Box will benefit from the open texture new soil mix.
Darren brought a San Jose Juniper in a semi cascade style that needed quite a bit of refinement, but between us he gathered lots of ideas and advice then began by removing an unnecessary thick branch that just interfered with the new profile and also began forming the foliage pads for a better neater design. Another tree that had good potential for future display.
Rob was in repot mode with a Ficus that had been in the pot so long its trunk had formed the same shape as the pot and exhausted all of its soil, so that was repotted into a larger pot with nice fresh soil. Then Rob tackled an Ash tree that was suffering in poor soil so that was also repotted and he had a clear plan of its new orientation in the pot and some style changes later in the season. Rob admitted he had gained more knowledge and understanding by coming to the meetings and workshop so he is feeling much happier about caring for his Bonsai.
There was lots of repotting going on and advice given about styling ideas it seemed a very busy and industrious day. I feel I might have left some one out so I apologise in advance but if you were missed and wish to add to the report you are very welcome or send any pictures in of final work done to trees.

Mike asked if I would like to make a summary of which pot top use for bonsai, so next meeting I will distribute a pamphlet aid on pot choices see you all then.

Have fun
Kev Denney

12/03/2026

Report from Club Meeting 9th March 2026

Hi All,
firstly I need to apologise to Rob as I called him Ron in my last report, I knew I would get a name wrong sooner or later sorry Rob.
13 members attended the march meeting all bringing a tree or two for help or discussion.

Don’t forget a workshop is planned for 21st March for any one wishing to get help repotting trees or have a problem tree they require advice and help with, this is a good opportunity to have plenty of time and advice on hand to carry out work but please bring a lunch if required and all the means to protect the table tops and take away any debris and cuttings etc.

The evening began with a discussion on the matter of obtaining good quality bonsai material especially part trained trees or specimen trees. It is apparent that the price of trees from reliable outlets have become more and more expensive and this is mainly due to either the scarcity of species or the physical cost of import and container costs due to “brexit” and EU certification costs.
So please treat your trees with care and afford them good soil and food if you can as they may not be easily replaced economically.
This led onto another topic not normally considered in bonsai routine but is equally valid in the long term. What happens to your precious bonsai when you pass on and retire to the great bonsai nursery in the sky? Many established and mature bonsai perish or become forgotten when this happens as many relations do not know fully what to do with the collection that you leave behind. It would be a shame to let many years of work or indeed a nice specimen tree go into decline at this point. It is a fact that most bonsai enthusiasts forget to make provision for this even if it is just a letter of intent with your will giving loved ones instructions to contact a local bonsai club for help or instructions, or the collection's disposal to family members. It is something to consider we think.

Going around the room from the top table,
Alan brought along a Itoigawa juniper which he is developing into a weathered twin trunk style that will eventually have some shari and jin in the lower trunks to give the impression of age. A long project he thinks but I'm sure he will get there in the end.
Roy had two trees, a nicely developed Blaauws juniper which over time he had wrestled a long lower branch and bent and twisted it to become a very convincing apex, goes to show if you are brave enough and have the know how you can make what looked like a failure into a convincing image. At first look you would have never guessed that this was the case at all, it looked very natural. Secondly he had a Dwarf Japanese quince “ Chaenomeles Japonica Sargentii” I think with red flowers about to bloom this planting was wrapped around what appeared to be lava rock and planted in a non glazed brown pot which Roy wanted to replace with a more suitable glazed pot complementing the flower colour and lush green foliage. This species has lovely small leaves and he was explaining they have become very scarce to acquire and relatively expensive but he is very fond of this species and just had to have one.
Alan Brought back his lovely Scots pine that he took to a workshop with “Caz” Caroline Scott, a bonsai artist with over 30 years experience specialising in conifers and pines, for help with styling and it had been wired nicely into position and given a tall cascading form. But interestingly Alan Craddock saw another image as a literati style, thats the fun of bonsai. Alan spent most of the evening weeding his pot to tidy up the image. A specimen tree in the making.
James had a Lonicera Hedging Honeysuckle but the actual species I’m not sure of as the leaves are much larger than the normal Nitida variety but it already had flower buds appearing at the ends of the new growth so he will leave the trimming to after flowering.
Mick had some questions about developing his Mugo pine that he had already made a good attempt at styling and wiring but was waiting for the buds to extend so he could nip the candles out to keep it compact. this will happen more towards late spring and summer.
David had a finely twigged beech that he was waiting for it to bud burst but it already had a nice shape already.
Berrice had brought along one of her many larches that had began to pop its candles and also had lots of female flowers on it which have an attractive pink and green hue to them, if fertilised they will become seed cones in the summer. She also had an established Itoigawa Juniper with shari and I think a large Acer Palmatum Seigen Maple with nice pale coloured trunk. Seigens are hard to get now and she explained that she is housing them for her Nephew who is in the process of making a Japanese style Zen garden.
Nigel has some interesting trees and this time he came with a hornbeam and a hawthorn which I offered some ideas for refining them to help him along.
Richard had cotoneasters this month one that he had potted into a cascade style and spent some time refining it, the other had not yet found a style but had began its life being gradually reduced in its pot size ready for a big decision on a style later.
Terry had come along with a Fuji Cherry in full bloom and looking lovely and also a very old piece of Forsythia that had a rot problem and he was looking for advice on the next steps. His conclusion was he had to remove the rotten trunk at the centre of the planting and perhaps combine the remaining two trunks together to form a new planting. I think this was sound advice.
I had brought along two larches a collected Dunkeld larch from a forest in Wales which had been heavily wired to shape it last year and now repotted and wires removed to form an informal upright style and also a sheep trimmed yamadori larch from the welsh hills, they had both just began to pop their leaves and I will continue to develop them keeping the yamadori looking slightly older by leaving its scared trunk and jin in place that the sheep styled for me.

see you at the workshop or next meeting
Kev

15/02/2026

Report from club meeting 9th February 2026 (AGM)
Hi All,
11 members attended tonight's meeting and it began with the AGM. It didn’t take too long as most of the posts were accepted by the previous incumbents and voted in willingly by the members. There was no other outstanding business to discuss so the AGM was finalised and closed.
Key points:
Position of chairman was upheld by Roy Hutchinson and we all thanked him for his continued support in Heading the Society. Roy has a great network in the Bonsai community, many years of experience to call upon he is indeed an asset to the Society.
Alan Craddock remains as Vice Chair and Roy's right hand man and also continues as Treasurer and book keeper. Roy was thanked by the members for his continued commitment to the Society and keeping the funds safely. Along with Roy, Alan has been in the core of the society since its founding in 1986.
Berice volunteered to be in-charge of refreshments and I'd like to thank her for doing a sterling job for years keeping us fed with cake and drinks at meetings.
Other members have background positions running the website and admin appointments and the Society would like to thank them for their continued support.

It was good to see that every member present brought a tree or planting to the meeting and some interesting discussions were had. Roy brought along two nice junipers for display and Alan had a great winter image of a well established gnarly looking Blackthorn on the top table.
Going around the room Alan had an old hawthorn raft rather overgrown with under planting that he was weeding preparing for repotting in a fine oval pot that Roy had brought along, hopefully we will see the result soon.
James brought along a very healthy Box honeysuckle Lonicera in a training pot that had been left to grow on and got rather busy and out of control, he was advised and assisted by Roy on its trimming and initial styling. By the amount of debris removed it was evident that a major reshape had taken place and its thick and interesting truck could now be clearly seen.
Mick and Jean came along with a nicely developing Yew with nice shari that was showing signs of healthy budding, they will be busy keeping this in check and shaping over the summer.
David had a small maple that was already beginning to leaf up, he must watch out that we don’t get a late frost and protect with fleece or similar to stop the fresh leaves being "burnt off.”
Nigel brought along a nice fine needled white pine but he was in a bit of a dilemma as the root ball had compacted into a hard brick and was seeking advice on how to deal with it. Roy and I gave a few suggestions but I fear Nigel was reluctant to disturb it as he seemed rather sentimental over his precious pine, maybe he should bring it to the next workshop for further inspection. If left like that the root compaction will prevent the tree from receiving the proper nutrients, oxygen and water it requires for good health.
Berice came with three trees, a Chinese elm that had the trunk removed down to its first major branch and had now become a windswept or maybe later a semi-cascade image. The large cut wound had began to heal but needed further refinement to help it heal and improve the overall image. She also had a medium size mature Korean hornbeam that needs some further refinement when the buds burst so I helped her by just removing dead wood and some surplus twigs for now. lastly she had a small maple which I think Alan had helped and advised on by removing excess branching to improve the overall image for further development.
Richard seems to have a good amount of Yamadori or Urban-Yamadori(garden collected) in his collection and brought in an Orange Dream maple that had not pushed its buds yet but had some dead twigs to remove a job for the next few weeks as the weather improves and the Maples begin to push growth on. he also had a Myrtle that had a distinct scent when the leaves were rubbed rather like “Bay” to me quite pleasant, he spent most of the evening trimming the silhouette down to improve its image.
Ron prefers smaller trees and came with a beech in a prostrate style, very young and will need some development. Ron is a recent member and keen to learn so I'm glad we can guide him along with advice to bring his trees on.
Matt had a grafted white pine which although very healthy, in my opinion had neither style or direction yet and I think that’s why he brought it in. After studying it for a while we agreed that some directional shaping with heavy wire was required on the trunk line and some radical decisions on which branches to keep was needed to improve its style. It will be interesting to see its next transition. he also had a traditional S shaped Chinese elm that needed a tidy up and its image refining with some branch shortening and out of place twig removal, the end result was a more pleasing image overall.
I'm still trying to consolidate my collection down to a small Shohin size trees due to limited space and brought a couple of Chinese elms still in full leaf and a Dwarf jade (Portulacaria afra) although strictly a succulent does eventually form a woody looking bark so in my eyes can be classed a bonsai material, always a bit controversial but I like them anyway and it is one of the few I can actually keep alive indoors.

Note for your diaries the next full day workshop will be held on sat 21st March 2026 at the regular meeting hall. Final details to be given next meeting.

See you all next meeting.
Kev Denney

17/01/2026

Report from club meeting 12th January 2026
Hi All,
This is my first report after taking over the duty from Alan so please forgive me if I get a name wrong unfortunately remembering names to faces is one of the senior deficiencies I seem to have picked up of late but here goes:
for the first meet of the year attendance was modest with 10 people turning up but we had a good evening and several discussions.
Alan brought a mature Scots pine with a great movement and dramatic thick rugged trunk, excellent shaping and well worthy of displaying. Mick showed us a small Chinese Box that was now in flower, so it is best to wait till the flowers have faded for its next trim. Berrice came with a small larch and also a larger mature larch with dead wood (Shari) that Alan assisted her in trimming and future development. Richard brought a small air layering of a maple that had good shohin potential and also a larger pine that I thought initially was a Scots pine but Richard caught me out and confirmed it was a species of Mugo pine this tree already had good potential and with further shaping and refinement will make a great tree in time. Nigel came with two trees in training boxes one that I’m going to describe as an Octopus style beech and the other a Pyracantha with a huge Shari which needed some skilful person with a carver to shape and refine a few of us tried to help Nigel with ideas on potential styling and at the end of the evening he had made a great job of fighting the Octopus and putting more structure into the Pyracantha.
We also discussed a little about soil mixes and soil options and I gave out a pamphlet I compiled about soils and soil mixes, I will have them again at the next meeting if you didn’t get one. Richard also enquired about grubs and larvae in the soil and possible remedies and several ideas came from the members. But do be on the lookout for bugs and grubs over wintering under mosses and in the soil some can make a meal of your trees roots by the spring so look hard at repotting time also.
James is still finalising the "WhatsApp" group and soon this may be of help as a conduit for aid and advice to our members.
so a final note: as the weather is so varied and some what mild at the moment watch out for trees budding out early so keep an eye on whether they might need repotting early then protecting from frost or maybe fleecing over to protect emerging buds and leaves from frost.
I’d like thank Alan for the surprise soil donations, as we had a surplus of funds some was spent on the members to gift us some repotting components. I’m sure he will catch up with other members next meet.
See you all next meeting
Kev

12/11/2025

Report from club meeting 10th November 2025
We had a fairly quiet meeting last night with a few interesting trees and the reappearance of Paul Kinnear. He used to be a regular member but work commitments have kept him away for some time. I hope we will see more of him in the future.
Paul has been making changes to his collection, off loading his larger trees and concentrating on mame. He brought in some examples and they made an intriguing display.
Matt trimmed his crab apple and also brought in a rather nice small olive that he has been re-invigorating after a period of poor health.
Richard did some styling on a box and also had a maple that has lost it's way!
We were treated to another viewing of Nigel's variegated san jose juniper which he has been working on following advice from Roy. In Roy's absence Kev helped him towards further improvement.
Kev also did some work on Berice's semi-cascade juniper but further work needs doing with some thicker wire.
There was some discussion about growing medium and how to get a free draining mix. I suggested that we could use some of our substantial funds to buy the ingredients for a general purpose mix that could be bagged up for each member, or if suitable, buy some ready mixed soil from Devon Bonsai. I will look into it further.
You may have seen on our website or on Facebook that next years meetings have been booked, including the reinstatement of a January meeting, I will give you a heads up in due course.
This will be the last meeting report from me, I have asked Kev to take over the job and he has agreed. Thank Kev.
I would also like to retire from my position as treasurer at the AGM in February. If anyone feels that they would like to do the job please let me know so that we can discuss it beforehand.

15/10/2025

Report from club meeting 13th October 2025

It was a relatively quiet meeting on Monday with ten people attending and around the same number of trees.

Berice brought in an interesting sweet chestnut, quite a large tree but in need of some decisive pruning, plus some shaping where still bendable. Perhaps it will re-appear at Saturday's workshop.
Nigel's variegated juniper had good movement in the trunk and needs to be styled in a way that complements the 'floppy' foliage. The variegation (random bright yellow areas of growth) is a bit of a challenge as to whether to keep pruning it away or own it as part of the charm.
Another interesting juniper was brought in by Matt. Lush, spikey foliage gave the tree a great texture when viewed from a few feet away and the shape, which he worked on with Kev, has good potential.
Rob, one of our newer members, brought in an oak in need of some development which Roy gave pointers on.
Dave's chinese elm has become tangled and leggy and, despite some remedial pruning by myself on the night, will probably need more drastic action around May/June next year.
Last, but by no means least, I need to mention Roy's scots pine. This is a tree that he has been developing for quite a few years, but which he recently took to a workshop with Caz Scott. The fundamental design was already there but is now beautifully refined thanks to some sensitive pruning and detailed wiring. Top work!

I hope to see you all at Saturday's workshop.

Alan

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Sticklepath Methodist Church Hall
Barnstaple
EX312DJ

Telephone

+441398341440

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