Bonsai workshop ideas??Please help!!

thedoc_

Dear All,

I am organising the first ever bonsai workshop in Cyprus (island, easter mediterranean sea) on the 31/3 . Mr Peter Chan (UK) and Mr Dan Barton(UK) will honour us by demonstrating and teaching bonsai. Does anyone have any ideas, tips, guidelines to help me?
There is no bonsai club on the island, and i am trying to manage on my own, with help from friends.

Thank you for your input.

__________________
"What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing" Aristotle (384-322 b.c)

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Mcspeed

Gotta do this!

Ahhh, Whats Up Doc! Tch tch tch, umm hows the bonsai going? ( If that means nothing to you across the pond, we have Bugs Bunny here in the States - a cartoon).

Doc, not sure what you are really looking for, how to get people there, how to pay for it, what kind of tree materials to supply.

I will take a generic shot at it for you though. Try garden clubs, posters at nurseries, ads in local newspaper etc.. a cover at the door, or donations, will help defray costs.

Check with the artists, they may have materials they can bring, or at least tell you thier preferances on types of trees to supply. It's a good idea to demo on materials you are familiar with.

Hope this helps.

JohnQuinn

You may wish to visit the Bonsai Societies of Florida site for this publication on running a bonsai convention. The BSF has a number of useful publications available for free download.

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thedoc_

Hey guys,

Thanks for the advice! I have already started finding suitable material, mostly junipers from garder centres.
Stavros.

__________________
"What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing" Aristotle (384-322 b.c)

Ashbarns9999

Great that you are hosting two of the worlds foremost artists. I would have thought that they might have given you direction as to their requirements. However you have been given good information by the members here so far and I wish you well. I know it is too late for this session but for future reference may I suggest you get a dig organised for juniper yamadori of which I am informed should be abundant on Cyprus. My brother, who lived on the island for many years, got a lot of his trees that way. Pity he is back in U.K. as he may have helped you set up a club.

Regards Ash

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revt

What about digging Cedrus brevifolia or Acer sempervirens, both of which I believe are native and would be interesting to work on?

Ravenna

It obviously makes sense to try and supply good artists with good tree material but if the tree is to be styled in a months time I would say it is way too late to dig anything up. The subsequent styling will only kill the tree. I haven't collected any trees myself but the way I understand it esp. older trees may need a couple of years and not just a month to recuperate after the intervention and before any styling can be done. So if you want to continue offering classes and have the possibility to get good yamadori without damaging the environnment then it makes sense to think about suitable tree material for a class in a couple of years. For this year I would try to get good material from nurseries. It also depends on what you are planning to do: are they just going to demonstrate something or is this a workshop where the participants get trees and style them with the help of the artists.

I don't know how experienced the bonsaiists on Cyprus are but if most of you only starting out with the hobby it would make even more sense to use nursery material and use old yamadori only for occasions where more experienced bonsaiistis take part in the classes and where the trees also have good chances to survive. After all good yamadori are not a quickly renewable resource and I feel one should be pretty sure that it is a "good idea" to get that tree before one starts digging.

Just my two cents... :-)

thedoc_

Thank you all for your advice.
It is true that there is abundance of Junipers (juniperus phoenicea) and Cedars but it is illegal to dig them ...... And impossible to get a permission unless it is on private land. We are planning to have a demontration and i already have some nice material prepared; you can see the attached pictures.

After the demonstration we are going to have a workshop for 15 people. I have started picking up suitable junipers from garden centres for this.

Thank you.

Attached Images

	DSC01767aa.JPG (67.2 KB, 30 views)
	juniper cg large a.JPG (61.0 KB, 29 views)

__________________
"What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing" Aristotle (384-322 b.c)

hackberry

Doc-
When I think of Cyprus, I think of olive groves....
So, how about a large olive tree? I wish I could attend your event. Please post pics when you are finished.