Board Members:
David Parham, 3 year
Steve Sanders, 2 year
Andre Chenault, 1 year

Michelle Gray, Ex Officio
Mike Blake, Webmaster
Andre Chenault, Newsletter Editor

August Meeting:
Monday August 6, 2007, 7:00pm, at the Tulsa Garden Center, 2435 S. Peoria

August Program:
Annual Swap Meet! Bring books, tools, trees, and other bonsai related goods that you can live without and find even more things that you cannot live without, at bargain prices.

Green Country Bonsai did demonstrations on bonsai styling for the Young Professionals of Tulsa’s tour of the garden center. It was an especially lively tour complete with food, beverage, and a band.

Due to flooding Bill Watkins and Michelle Gray, both from Bartlesville, were not able to attend this meeting so VP Charles Sitter got inventive about doing the raffle without tickets, meeting the challenge without many problems.

Show and tell: Mike Raska brought his trident maple that began training in 1987 with three pencil sized trees as an example of root over rock. Mike Flanagan had a winged sumac that was coming into bloom for the first time. Mike also brought a crepe myrtle and a ficus.

Presentation: Marcus Bush’s presentation was on root over rock technique, which he based on Lindsay Shiba’s method, as related to Marcus, which Lindsay feels is the easiest way to create root over rock. First the tree is trimmed back severely so that you do not have more tree than rock. An imbalance between tree mass and rock is considered unappealing. Next, remove the soil from the roots, trying to untangle the roots for positioning over the rock. Once this is accomplished, spread the roots over the rock and bind the tree roots to the rock using any degradable material, such as shoe strings or even old cotton shirts, torn into strips. A plastic bag can also be helpful to keep the roots moist and helps the roots grow towards instead of away from the rock. A hole is cut in the bottom of the bag so it can be worked over the top of the tree and around the rock. Fill the bottom third of the pot with soil to support and deliver nutrients to the tree. After setting up the tree and rock in the soil mixture, fill the rest of the pot with sand, again to help keep the roots against the rock. As time passes you will expose a little more root and rock until the desired look is reached. This can be accomplished by removing soil gradually from the pot or removing the pot by cutting it away to let the rain wash away the soil. The roots will need to be exposed slowly so they are able to adapt to the surface.

Member Workshop
Article and photo by Andre Chenault

Mike Raska and Ken Cole consider an azalea
Saturday, July 21st from 9a.m to 4 p.m. was the member workshop. This is always a good time with experienced members giving advice on bonsai technique, the club providing the wire—another benefit of your membership dues, and we work in air conditioned comfort. With trees and tools in hand, one can get more work done in a few hours than in a few normal months. I actually have trees that live for this event because it is the only systematic care they receive. This particular workshop was hopping with Brewmaster Ken Cole giving an impromptu ale appreciation course and dispensing samples. Truly, there was something for everyone.

Position Opening
by Andre Chenault
This year will mark my 4th year as editor, and my last year as a board member. I long to become a simple member again; so, I am resigning effective January 1st 2008. During my tenure as editor, I have learned almost as much about HTML as I have about trees, but the skills of newsletter production are simple: A passing knowledge of English, a familiarity with MSWord, and you too can produce a newsletter. I will continue to publish until December if no one steps in sooner, and I will help with the transition when replaced. Think about taking the newsletter on; it really is both an opportunity to serve the club while learning new writing and computer skills that will look impressive on your resume.