A Bonsai Side Quest

After a little hiatus, Hugh shares his big news - Treemakers is moving to a permanent location! With a recent visit from Jarryd, the boys began breaking ground on the new garden, building out a future space for the expansion of Australian bonsai. Exhausted by repotting season and the simultaneous big move, the two share excitement, but also physical drain from this demanding season.uity

In this episode, our guest Annie Huang tells us about Budlife, a seasonal magazine which focuses on the culture and communities surrounding plants. An eloquent and fascinating person, Annie shares her story and the origins of her publication and how it relates to bonsai. A side-quest of an episode itself, Annie interviews both Hugh and Jarryd on the origins of the podcast, and the plans and purpose of its future. They discuss the definition of bonsai as art, engaging in social media as bonsai practitioners, and how we present bonsai in formal settings. More often than not, in a metaphor or painting, bonsai is trying to keep the canvas on the easel more than actually painting. 

You you can find out about Budlife magazine on instagram at @budlifemagazine and via their website at www.budlifemagazine.com

As Hugh returns from New Zealand, the boys catch up on their recent going-ons and the shift in seasonal work. With the vast array of native New Zealand species on Hugh's mind, the two chat about New Zealands "wildling" collecting, and local species opportunities from the island neighbour. Hybridisation and grafting opportunities in Nothfagus gunnii come to mind as they discuss the viability of this allusive species. Now in the midst of repotting, the two look towards the vast array of projects to get underway. As the clock ticks, the time narrows for spring work as deciduous trees already begin to push their first flush. 

Unpruned beards and unpruned tree roots await Hugh and Jarryd in their gardens while they push through the craze of winter and the beginning of the repotting season. In this episode, the discussion of sustainability is raised around technique, design of the tree and the long term handling of roots. They discuss there experience in determining when, and more importantly when not to do, while catering to species specifics and the development of each tree. The two share the triumph of watching trees evolve into refinement, and the balance of sustainably taking care of their human selves while tending to their trees. 

With the quickly impending springtime, Hugh and Jarryd share the work they have been cramming into the season. With the bustle of client work, the time for personal projects gets tucked into contemplative midnight dates in the freezing Winter weather. Further growing their artist's statements, they weigh up what it would mean to operate on a more focused line of work, returning to an emphasis on local trees and aesthetics. In understanding the lifetime it takes to create a body of work, they discuss the need for an intergenerational duty of care for trees both old and new. 

In this guest episode, Will Fletcher sits down with Jarryd and Hugh to share his long history of working with Tasmanian native trees for bonsai. As a major contributor to Australian bonsai, Will's nurseries Plants of Tasmania and later Island Bonsai, broke ground in determining which local tree species are reliable staples for bonsai cultivation. 

This week, we are in real-time as Jarryd and Hugh share life updates before Jarryd heads off the grid for an extended boating expedition. They talk about working landscape trees, approaching gardening through the lens of a bonsai education, and drawing out the design process. They share their experiences of how to teach beginners and some inside thoughts on running a collection versus a garden that vends. Lastly, they wrap it up with Hugh’s recent visit to Brisbane for the AABC National Bonsai Convention. 

Finishing their action-packed reflection on the month of April, Hugh and Jarryd pick back up after the Bonsai Open and the tree sale hosted at TreeMakers with field-grown trees from Jarryd's adolescence. They then dive deep into their annual epic autumn hike to see the changing colour of the Fagus somewhere in the wilderness of Tassie. Filled with side quests and rambles a plenty, the two praise their time in nature honouring some of Australia's most ancient trees despite all the strife and hardship of snow, rain, and cold. 

Jarryd and Hugh interview Australian bonsai legend Ric Roberts, who is now 88 and likely practicing bonsai for over 60 years. Ric shares stories from his long practice since the 1960s and his role in the ever-evolving bonsai culture in the Sydney region. Ric is now creating a garden on the Central Coast called Unryu-En. Here he is building a space to share and preserve the legacy of his collection. Supporter Jason Pomfret also joins in as he helps to usher in the new era of Ric's work through Unryu-En.