News Update - August 2008

The Story of Two 1951 Koreshoff Pines

Dorothy Koreshoff, one of Australiaís most respected bonsaiists, has kindly donated two significant, styled, landscape-size Japanese black pines to the NBPCA.   On August 4, 2008 these pines were dug and moved to their new home in Canberra.

History of the pines.

The trees were germinated from seed imported in 1951 by Vita and Dorothy Koreshoff. They were initially grown in sandy soil in a vegetable garden in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and were lifted and moved to Castle Hill in 1965.

The trees were shaped in the ground for over 40years and reached a height of about 2.5 metres. They were planted in an area that had an impenetrable layer of clay about 50cm below the ground level.

In August 2007, we trenched around the pines with a mechanical digger to investigate the root system. Despite being in the ground for over 40 years there were not a lot of major roots and so we just lightly trimmed what we could see and then back filled the trenches.

August 2008.

At 7.30am on the morning of August 4^th 2008 we commenced the digging of the pines (Picture No 1). First we wrapped the trees in Hessian cloth and shadecloth to allow digging closer to the trunks (Picture No 2). We had hired a 4 ton traxcavator to do the heavy digging and John the operator proved to be very good at his job. The trees were carefully trenched around to a depth of about 1 meter and we paid close attention not to damage any of the foliage.

With a combination of the traxcavator, hand digging and use of a reciprocating saw, the two volunteers (Aaron and Chris) and I were able to free the first tree from the ground after a big effort (Picture No 3). The rootball of the first tree was wrapped in hessian and moved to the side to allow work on the second tree to progress (Picture No 4). The clay base under the trees turned out to be very useful in the digging and moving of the trees, as it kept everything very stable and a minimum of soil was lost or disturbed around the base of the trees (Picture No 5).

The truck with crane attached arrived in the early afternoon and we had the two trees loaded safely onto the back of the truck by late afternoon (Picture No 6). The load was secured and a layer of shade cloth was attached to each tree and then another layer of shade cloth was attached over the top of both trees to minimize impact from the wind during the trip to Canberra the following morning (Picture No 7).  By the time we had finished it was about 5.30 in the afternoon and we were all very happy with the outcome of the days work.

The following morning the truck set out very early from Sydney on what should have been about a four hour trip but a crash on the highway that stopped traffic meant detours and added an extra two hours to the trip. Aaron accompanied the truck driver on the trip to Canberra and once they had arrived (Picture No 8) the two trees were lifted from the truck and placed into the pre dug holes very quickly (Picture No 9).

The two trees were positioned at the entrance to the Bonsai Pavilion where they will remain until we move to the permanent site in the future (Picture No 10).

Progress of the trees.

Just three weeks after the planting of the trees we can see elongation of the buds occurring and the trees seem very comfortable in their new home despite the cold overnight temperatures. The trees will be left alone for a year to recover from the transplanting with just minimal candle snapping to control the excess new growth in spring.

Thanks to Dorothy Koreshoff.

The two trees will welcome all visitors and be a main feature of the entrance to the new bonsai pavilion of the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia.  With these two trees being the work of both Dorothy and Vita Koreshoff, the National Collection is honoured indeed to have received them for the opening of the collection.

We thank Dorothy Koreshoff for her kind donation of these trees to the NBPCA.

Grant Bowie
Interim Curator
NBPCA
August 2008