President’s Message
June 2026
🌲 Leaf Management
It’s June and we have all the sun and warm weather coming up. It is also time to do a lot of work on your trees. Primarily, this is the time for leaf management. This is the month for defoliation, partial defoliation, needle management and candle cutting. For strong growers like Japanese maples and trident maples, defoliation of the entire tree is an option. For most other deciduous trees, partial defoliation (either removing most leaves or cutting them so they are smaller in size) is a good idea this time of the year. For dual flush pines (black or red Japanese black pines) needle and candle management is an option. This is done to both encourage more ramification and to ensure internal buds don’t get shaded out. All of this is of course only done on healthy strong growing trees. If your trees are weak, chlorotic and/or suffering from disease or pest infestation, you need to deal with that first. As for junipers, this is the time where we let the new growth run, and clean up and remove old weak foliage. Lots to do keep us busy this time of the year. Fun!
🤫 First Thursday — Silent Auction
This is one of the meetings I especially look forward to. It’s our chance to exchange trees, pots, and other bonsai‑related items while helping support the club. A minimum of 20% of each sale goes to Midori, and the rest goes to the seller. And of course, if you’re feeling generous, you’re always welcome to donate a larger percentage.
For every item—or group of items—you plan to sell, a silent auction form must be filled out and placed with those items. The form can be downloaded using the link provided in this newsletter. You set both the minimum bid price and the percentage you’d like to donate to Midori. If an item doesn’t sell in the first round, you’ll have the opportunity to lower the price in the next round.
At the end of the auction, we’ll total up the items you’ve won. You may pay with cash, check, or electronic payment. Please note that if you choose electronic payment, a small additional fee will be added to cover the cost of Midori’s payment processing system.
🌿Third Thursday Workshop
As always, bring in any trees you have questions about or need help with. We’ll have fun working on them together and helping each other move our trees forward.
This Third Thursday, we’ll also hold a board meeting at 6:30 PM, just before the workshop. This is a great opportunity for you, as club members, to hear what we’re planning for upcoming meetings and the various projects we have in motion. It’s also a valuable chance for the board to hear your ideas on how we can continue improving the club for everyone.
Thanks,
Juan
A word from BGLM
The BGLM is looking for more volunteers, see attached link for the volunteer information form on the website. When you sign up, the form will come to Suzanne Muller.
Join Us as a Bonsai Garden Volunteer
We are looking for the following volunteer positions:
• Docent coordinator and scheduler
• Bookkeeper
• Docents
• Security manager for the collection
Please contact me for information regarding the description for each position listed if you are interested.
– Suzanne Muller, Director
25th Anniversary Photo Album On Sale Now!
Learn about the history, collection of bonsai and suiseki, and all the volunteers and supporters for the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt, Oakland, California
123 page full-color album covering the first 25 years of the Bonsai Garden.Softcover $35 Hardcover $65
If you can't visit in person, contact George Haas at gwhaas@comcast.net for details in shipping and handling your purchase.
