Meetings:
First Wednesday Of Every Month, Mead Hall, Wheathampstead
Open @ 7.00 for 7.30 start
Wednesday 7th January
Talk - British Native Species as Bonsai
Peter Shields
Wednesday 4th February
Talk - British Native Species as Bonsai
Geoff Conybeare
Wednesday 4th March
Workshop
Repotting & Pruning
Sunday 15th March
Mead Hall, Wheathampstead
09.30 – 17.00
All day workshop – £10pp -Max 16 people-
Non Members- e-mail applications please
Repotting, Styling & Pruning
Wednesday 1st April
Wiring Workshop
Peter Shields
Weds 6th May
Talk - ‘All About Tableshows’
Mark Mooney
Wednesday 3rd June
The ‘June Prune’
Demo & Workshop
Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th June
CLUB SHOW
Kingsbury Barn, St Albans
Wednesday 1st July
4 x Mini workshops
Subjects TBA
Wednesday 5th August
4 x 15min Talks by Members
TBA
Wednesday 2nd September
Talk & Demonstration
Corin Tomlinson
Wednesday 7th October
Workshop
Styling And Repotting Workshop For Evergreens
Sunday 25th October
Mead Hall, Wheathampstead
09.30 – 17.00
All day workshop £10pp-Max 16 people-
Non Members e-mail applications please
Repotting & Styling Evergreens
Wednesday 4th November
AGM + Short Talk
Wednesday 2nd December
Christmas Party
Drinks, Nibbles & Quiz
Regular Activities
Meetings
1st Wednesday each Month @ Mead Hall, East La, Wheathampstead, AL4 8BP
Open at 7.00 for 7.30 start. Workshops will be held in months when it is appropriate to work on trees, other meetings will be talks, demonstrations, and other club activities.
See the website for details of the annual programme.
CLUB NEWSLETTER “CLIPPINGS” produced quarterly
The newsletter contains details of the annual programme (also see the website.), seasonal tips on managing your trees, reports on talks and demonstrations, articles, other Bonsai events, outings, shows, competitions and Club news.
Table Show
The competition of trees held most months provides an opportunity for members to both show off their efforts on tree development, and get advice from the judges on the next development steps needed. There are 5 Competition Classes: Mame, Under 5yrs trained, 5-10 yrs trained, over 10 yrs trained, Flowering or Fruiting. Points gained accumulate towards annual prizes. Highest scorer holds the Rose Bowl Trophy for one year. Also a “Best Improver” award is presented for the highest score in Mame and under 5 years trained classes. Points are awarded:
1st 4 points 2nd 3 points 3rd 2 points unplaced trees, 1 point
Members entering more than one tree in any class cannot gain a place with the extra trees, but will be awarded 1 point for entering each extra tree. A member can only win the improvers award once, and cannot win if they won the Rose Bowl first. Committee members can only win the Rose Bowl once, after which they are excluded. Prizes are presented at the Christmas Social.
The winner of the Bonsai Christmas tree competition is awarded a small prize, but no tableshow points.
Theme Competitions
Every year the club selects a Theme for developing a bonsai. It could be a tree species or a style. Each theme runs for 2 years. In the first year there will be a preliminary tableshow to exhibit the ‘start position’ after initial development for each of the members trees. In the second year, the same tree will be presented at the ‘Final’ dedicated tableshow. All Theme tableshows will be judged by the members of the club, using voting chips (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place chips) Then points are awarded: - 1st 12 points, 2nd 10 points, 3rd 8 points, 4th 6 points, for entering a tree, 4 points. All points contribute towards the Club trophies, and the Banksian Medal. The Martyn Speirs Trophy will be awarded to the Theme final winner (at the end of the second year). Thus in any one year there will be two theme competitions, the preliminary for the current years theme, and the final for last years. Most talks and demonstrations in any year will be about the Theme chosen for that year.
Banksian Medal an award presented by the Royal Horticultural Society.
All points gained in the normal table show for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places will go forward to the Banksian Medal Competition. To this will be added the points gained in the Theme competition preliminaries and finals. Winners are not eligible to win again for the following 3 years
MONTHLY RAFFLE
Books, pots, tools and good bonsai material (collected trees, tree cuttings and seedlings) are raffled monthly to raise funds, with a Grand Raffle of Seasonal and Bonsai goodies at the Christmas Party. Donations to the raffle are always appreciated.
Annual Show in Kingsbury Barn, St Albans
Held every year over a weekend in June. All members are encouraged to show at least one tree. The aim is to show the accessibility of the hobby – by presenting trees under development as well as finished trees. Appropriate labels show the tree name and explain its history. Demonstrations are done of various techniques throughout the show.
