What to do with the endless winter?

Apologies for the long delay, I'm sure many of you got used to regular blog posts. Well you should know by now that I am as reliable as the British weather. Sometimes good, invariably dodgy.since the last post I have been clocking up the domestic miles with trips up and down the UK. A workshop up at willowbog and a trip down to the very successful exhibition Shohin UK down near Bristol, sandwiched by working with a number of clients, days repotting in the cold and nights wiring trees and trying to stay awake in hotel rooms. Still it's been fun and some good trees have been worked on. More on that if I get the chance.
The main reason for writing is to belatedly mention the need for extra special attention to your trees because of the weather. Extreme weather conditions are hitting us all over the UK and now trees are waking up despite the freezing cold and bitter winds. Why? Daylight hours. As the days get longer the trees think, well now is normally the time I would wake up and grow...sadly the arctic winds and freezing temperatures have a different effect on trees, especially the tender new growth of deciduous trees. Make sure that all your trees are out of the wind as much as they are protected from the cold. A freeze on those tips and a years growth is lost, resulting in a weakend tree and branch faliure.

What kind of a knock on effect does this have? Combined with last years poor summer and long dark winter, all of our trees are in a state of misery. Like me, they need sunshine, they need warmth and they need a rest. Do not expect to be able to do the same to your trees this year as you did last year, or five years ago. Take your foot off the pedal a little this year otherwise it could be a little too much.
Rather than investing in another new tree or a new pot, perhaps now is the time to start looking at grow lamps for the winter. Those of us who them will swear to their effectiveness and the difference they make to the trees. Combined with an insulated polytunnel or green house and undersoil and frost pritection heating, these are fast becoming essential elements in the arsenal of any serious enthusiast in the UK. More on this in the autumn.
I despair at the weather but not at the enthusiasm of the bonsai community. The recent Shohin show was very well attended and supported because it was well planned, organised and executed. My congratulations to the Coopers and Bob Bailey for putting on a great show, perhaps next time for the whole weekend? The thing that struck me was the positive atmosphere in the air, there were no people strutting around complaining or tearing others displays and trees to pieces, just a group of like minded people enjoying it. Good stuff.
Anyway, its midnight, I should be asleep...and for once it isn't me asleep on the sofa...

Resting up before the big EBA new talent battle next weekend, it's Marcus Wattzzzzzz
Inside and towards a heater people...

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