Wrapping aluminum or copper wires around the trunk or branches of bonsai trees in order to give them the desired profile is known as wiring. Through wrapping the branches and trunk with a length of wire in just the right thickness, the basic style of bonsai is created. The formal upright style requires no wrapping, however the cascade style requires many months of considerable training.

The process of wiring adds stress along the trunk or branch, so proceed with caution. Doing it the wrong way can mean, if worse comes to worst, a dead tree, or more often a cracked branch. Moreover, it is possible to wrap it too closely, or you may choose the wrong months to start the training. If this takes place the tree will get a scar that takes a long time to heal, and there is also the possibility of the tree dying.

Before you tackle your actual tree, practice with a basic wooden pole or small tree branch. This will assist you in getting a feel for the wire and will help you develop the agility necessary to wrap a branch while holding it. As soon as you are comfortable hanging on to the branch one-handed while wrapping with your other hand, not pulling or bending anything expect the wrapped part, you can then move on to the bonsai tree.

First, you have to pick the most appropriate wire for your project. Copper and aluminum are the two favorite options, although copper is thought to be more attractive during the lengthy training period. When wrapping a bonsai, do not ever employ steel, only annealed copper wire due to possible toxicity to particular species of bonsai. Aluminum is a lot more flexible, so it’s easier to use for an individual who is new at this kind of project. While copper is normally less flexible, it can scar the tree if it is not wrapped correctly. As a rule of thumb, opt for wire that is 1/3 of the branch’s thickness.

Well placed little stresses along the tree trunk or branch are what allows the wire to change the shape of the tree. Consequently the wire needs to be stronger as compared with the tree trunk or branch; if not, the wire will bend and not the tree.

Give yourself lots of wrapping practice sessions using branches of a comparable kind of tree until you feel comfortable with the whole process. You should try out different wires on your practice branch to see the outcome before proceeding to the actual tree that you want to train. For doing the full tree many different thicknesses will be required and you should practice using each and every of them.

Wiring a bonsai is a skill that requires a lot of patience in order to master. Do not be discouraged, however, because if you are willing to take the time you can learn how to do this, and you’ll be so pleased with the results.

The cultivation of bonsai trees has been an Asian tradition for centuries, and is now enjoying popularity in western society as well. It’s important to learn some bonsai basics so you can watch your tree flourish. Check out Bonsai Trees for Beginners to get an introduction to this fascinating art.

During September, narcissus and many of the small flowering bulbs, such as snowdrop, crocus, grape hyacinth, and so on, should be planted. If you plan to naturalize daffodils, plant the bulbs in drifts. Make the holes at least 5 inches deep with a grub hoe or spade; then place a bulb in each hole, replace the soil and sod, and tamp it down with your feet.

Small bulbs are more easily planted if a light crowbar is used to make the holes. First make all the holes, or all the holes in one section, 6 to 9 inches deep. Have on hand some finely screened good soil to which bonemeal has been added”a 5-inch potful to each bushel of soil. Partly fill the holes with this soil and then tamp it down with a stick until the hole is 3 or 4 inches deep. Place a bulb in each hole and then cover with more screened soil and pack it down.

For lilies to be planted in the garden, make the holes 6 to 8 inches deep and put in a handful of sand. The bulb should rest on this sand. There are many lilies suited to fall planting. To name a few: regale, henryi, tigrinum, hansoni, auratum, speciosum rubrum, speciosum album and, of course, the favorite candidum or Madonna lily. If lilies arrive too late for fall planting, I pot them up and plunge them in a coldframe for planting the following spring.

Tree Moving

All evergreens and all deciduous trees and shrubs, with the exception of magnolias, can be moved now. The magnolias move best in the spring while in flower.

Begin tree moving by digging a trench around the tree or shrub, the distance from the trench to the tree being governed by the size of the tree and the amount of fibrous root to be considered. Dig the trench to the bottom of the root system, which will be anywhere from 12 to 18 inches down; then dig underneath to cut away as many tap roots as possible.

By using a garden fork the ball can be reduced in size without injuring the outer roots. Next the ball should be bound in burlap to protect it while in the process of moving. Most deciduous trees up to 4 inches in caliper can be moved without a ball, but with as many roots as possible. When moved without a ball it pays to cut the tree top back at least one-third to one-half.

When planting, with or without a ball, be sure to use plenty of water to puddle the soil around the roots, and water frequently and generously until frost takes over. Tall trees require staking after being moved, as a rule with wire and three stakes. Old pieces of hose on the wire where it goes around the tree will prevent injury. After putting the wires on the tree, drive in the stakes to tighten the wires. If the tree is small, a stake driven in alongside and tied, not too tightly, to the tree with soft string will do the trick. Too tight a tie will cut the tree.

If the new location does not provide good soil it is well to move in some good soil for around the roots. It will help give the tree a good start.

Preparations against frost. In late September frost is quite a problem. Better get all the tender pot and tub plants moved in to a frostproof building. The hydrangea plants, however, ripen better if they have a light frost before being stored: To make certain of having early flowering chrysanthemums cover them with burlap. In some favored places, near salt water or within the limits of a large city, it is possible to flower chysanthemums without protection, but if your garden lies in a valley that is a frost pocket, as mine does, covering must be quite thorough.

Lawns. When the grass in the new lawn is 3 to 4 inches high, go over it with a light mower, ordinary lawn sprinkler systems or even underground lawn sprinkler systems, and cut it back to about 1-1/2 inches. If it is not cut it mats and starts to rot.

Harvesting potatoes. All potatoes should be dug this month for storage. After digging, lay them out in a dry, dark, airy place for two or three days to dry them out, and to allow the skins to harden. After this put them; in the storage bin. It should be about 40 degrees. Do not expose them to much light at any time or they will turn green and will not be edible.

Gladiolus. Lift the gladiolus corms when the tops turn yellow, and allow the tops to ripen before cutting them off. An airy shed it best for this job. When the tops are dry, cut off the stem but leave on the sheath that is over the bulb. Store the bulbs in a cool airy cellar and during the winter give them a thorough dusting with an insecticide to kill any hibernating thrips.

Winter cover crop. As each section of the garden becomes vacant, dig it over and sow a crop of winter rye. Rye puts life into the soil. It has a strong fibrous root system that binds light soil and breaks down heavy soil, and it is an excellent soil conditioner.

If rye is not to be sown, then clean out the old crops, dig over the section and leave it in as rough a condition as possible so that the winter frost and snow can penetrate and help condition the soil.

Join Keith Markensen at http://www.plant-care.com. We’ve created the perfect resource for you on the topic of lawn sprinkler systems.

Cymbidiums are cool-growing orchids which will not flower if grown too warm, or under too much shade, and they do better under controlled greenhouse culture than as indoor plants. Their size is also a drawback as a house plant. If no greenhouse is available, or if the greenhouse overheats in summer, making it unsuitable, the cymbidiums can be summered out of doors for as long as there is no danger of frost.

They are mainly pink and white, with yellow less frequently seen. The flowers will last for several weeks, and old flower spikes will produce more flowers if cut back to a ‘node’ along the stem.

The plants are evergreen, and do not produce pseudobulbs. New growths are made each year from the base of the previous growth. The flower stem comes from the centre of a mature growth.

The species can be found all over the old world in the Far East to Thailand and the Philippines, New Guinea and Malaysia. The green- leaved types are cool-growing, whereas those with mottled foliage are the intermediate varieties. They are partly epiphytic and partly terrestrial, but in cultivation they like shady, moist conditions. Good house plants, they do even better grown in an indoor case. Paphiopedilums should be kept watered all year. They have varying flowering times and can bloom at any time. The blooms are extremely long-lasting from eight to ten weeks.

Re-pot when necessary immediately after flowering. Remove the flowers by cutting through the stem about 2.5 cm from the base after the last flower has been open for about two weeks. Potting can then be done earlier and the plant will have a better spring start. Remove the spike if repotting is not required; it will lessen the strain on the plant at a time when the new growth is getting started.

The sub-tribe Oncidiinae, which contains odontoglossums and many other natural genera, will interbreed with great ease to produce robust plants which seem to have a tremendous vigour. Whether in a greenhouse or on a windowsill, they will thrive given the very basic requirements. Many of them are ‘heat tolerant’ and appear equally at home in temperatures much too high for their true Odontoglossum ancestors.

The dorsal sepal, petals and lip are very much smaller and this would be an unassuming flower if it were not for the sepals which extend for over 7 in (15 cm). The cirrhopetalums are related to a much larger genus, the bulipphyllurns, and are widely distributed throughout the tropical world.

The genus Cirrhopetalum was first described in 1830; there are about 3o species, and not as many hybrids. Elizabeth Anne `Bucklebury’ AM/RHS is one of the most successful hybrids in the genus and was raised by a famous old firm, Stuart Low Co., in 1969. Its parents are Cirrhopetalum longissima and C. rothschildianum.

Originally it was the wild species which were cultivated, but within the last 130 years the raising of man-made hybrids has taken priority. Many of the species are in a sorry state, being almost extinct in the wild, as their habitat is being rapidly destroyed, but at the same time greatly sought after in collections, where they have become rare items indeed.

Not all species will readily breed in cultivation and the raising of seedlings is often difficult under artificial conditions. Hybrids often have a wider tolerance of artificial conditions and are a much better proposition for the beginner.

It is well known that orchids belong to one of the largest families of plants on earth and that their variety is unsurpassed in the plant kingdom. Their method of growth is a fascinating study in itself: the plants have become so well adapted that they are completely at home in even arctic and temperate regions where they live conventionally in the ground as terrestrials. In warmer tropical and subtropical areas they have developed a completely different method and grow by attaching themselves to trees as epiphytes.

The plants can be found growing at sea level, on the shore line, often subjected to daily salt sprays; others grow very high in mountainous regions, up to 2,000 ft (3,65o m) or more, where snow and frost occur. The orchids are protected from freezing at this altitude by the rarefied atmosphere.

Far and away the most important member of this family where house plants are concerned is Sansevieria trilasciata laurentii, which has the amusing common name of mother-in-law’s tongue. Numerous reasons are put forward for the plant having acquired such a name, one of them being that, like mothers-in-law, once you have got one of these plants you never seem to he able to get rid of it!

Hygiene plays a very important part in the care of saintpaulias; any dead matter in the way of flowers, leaves or leaf stalks should he removed as soon as it is seen. Incidentally, all these newer saintpaulias arc protected by licence and royalties have to be paid for all cuttings that may be propagated in any quantity.

I was once informed by a lady plant grower that when she purchased her sansevieria the advice given by the supplier was that she should water it once each year in August. On asking her, somewhat incredulously, how long it had lasted under such harsh treatment she replied that it was in its fourth year and doing very well!

Though the average saintpaulia grower usually hesitates to expose his plants to full sunlight, he may take comfort, as I did. It makes very good strong plants, but wants to he in the house, on a sunny window-sill, with as much light and sun as possible, even the scorching Portuguese summer sun.

Full light is essential, feeding not particularly important, but reasonable warmth should be provided. A combination of cold and wet conditions can be particularly harmful. Pale green, sweetly scented flowers are sometimes hailed as something of a phenomenon, but older plants will flower quite regularly during the summer months, and even relatively piling plants will sometimes oblige.

A rule-of-thumb tip for watering is that the leaves should be just perceptibly allowed to droop, or become slightly limp to the touch, between each application of water. There are a number of other sanscvicrias that one is likely to come across, all of ‘which require similar treatment: However, S. t,Izahnii and S. t. Golden Hahnii make compact rosettes of overlapping leaves, the one green and the other with yellow-gold colouring. These are extremely slow growing and must be the ideal sort of plant for a bottle garden as there is little chance of them ever becoming overgrown.