ABCs of Bonsai 2024

By Rick Wagner, member
Hawaii Bonsai Association

The bonsai class for beginners put on by the Hawaii Bonsai Association is called The ABCs of Bonsai. This year it was comprised of three all-morning sessions on Saturdays at the Susannah Wesley Center in Kalihi.

I volunteered to help teach the class and I brought an example bonsai, a podocarpus, to the first class which was on Saturday, September 21.


This is the podocarpus bonsai in a classic moyogi style, photographed Tuesday, September 10.

First Class

The first class was on Saturday morning, September 21.


Thirteen of the fourteen students who signed up attended.


Alvin demonstrated on a wax leaf ficus.

Second Class

The second class was on Saturday morning, September 28.


George gave a lecture on potting soils after I talked about growing bonsai from seeds and cuttings.


The bonsai and growing stock that George and I brought as examples.


Alvin gave a demonstration of pruning and wiring. Then all the students worked on their own trees.

Third Class

I helped at the third and final ABCs of Bonsai class on Saturday morning, October 5, at the Susannah Wesley Center in Kalihi.


Gale gave a lecture on pots for bonsai.


Students brought their trees for repotting today.


Alvin gave a demonstration while Charlene assisted.


All the volunteers helped during the repotting free-for-all.

Another Bonsai Podocarpus

I bought one of the podocarpuses that were left over from the ABCs of Bonsai class and decided to work on it today, Wednesday, the 30th of October.


Beginning bonsai work on a podocarpus. This young tree was left over from the recent ABCs of Bonsai class. Podocarpus is a member of the yew
family, and like all yews is toxic. This is great from a pest resistance view in Hawaii, but the leaves, flowers, and seeds are toxic so keep
a podocarpus out of reach of toddlers and pets.


I pruned and wired the podocarpus into a moyogi, informal upright, shape.


I planted the podocarpus bonsai into a free-form pot made by Shogo, a member of the Rainbow Bonsai Club.

Email Richard dot J dot Wagner at gmail dot com

ABCsOfBonsai.html: This hand-crafted, human-readable, HTML file was created October 30, 2024.
Last updated October 30, 2024 by Dr. Richard Jeffery Wagner. Text and images copyright © 2024, unless otherwise attributed, all rights reserved.