March Club Meeting: Cascades

Guest Speaker: Mark Ludlow


Our guest presenter and demonstrator Mark Ludlow had a full house enthralled with his wonderful talk about bonsai cascades.

Mark firstly demonstrated the various styles of Japanese Cascade styles, explaining their form and structure.
The many styles were a revelation to many people and broadened their scope as to how to create their next masterpiece. He drew on his extensive experience working and learning with a Japanese master and we benefitted from the rich experience he has gained.

He explained how he grows a cascade with a combination of growing in pots and in the field of his farm. It is important to develop a very strong nebari and he uses sacrifice branches to develop this. The tree structure is then developed, and styled with a combination of wire and clip and grow techniques.

A wonderful and absorbing demonstration which provided us with an opportunity to look at our bonsai cascades with greater understanding and learning. Thanks Mark!