Yarra Valley Bonsai Society Home Page

The Yarra Valley Bonsai Society, based in the 'far east' of Melbourne, caters for bonsai enthusiasts of all skill levels, from the simply curious and absolute beginner to the advanced practitioners.

Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at Chirnside Park Community Hib at 33 Kimberley Drive in Chirnside Park (Melway Ref 37 F3 or see map here). Monthly meetings usually begin with a Review/Overview session at 7.30pm, followed by a short business section and then a feature event: usually a demonstrator or speaker on a topic of interest. In addition to our monthly meetings, we hold informal workshops on the last Saturday of each month from 1-4:00 pm also at Chirnside Park Community Hub.

For membership enquiries contact info@yarravalleybonsai.org.au or download an application form and send it to the PO Box listed above. Better yet, bring it along to the next meeting or workshop. Membership has its benefits, such as substantial discounts at selected nurseries and other businesses of interest, but visitors are always welcome.

LATEST NEWS: Just as some creatures have recently come out of hibernation, and deciduous trees have sprouted new growth, Yarra Valley Bonsai Society has found new life. Coronavirus Restrictions may still be preventing us from having face-to-face Club meetings, but we are now able to use ZOOM sessions to have contact with our members. Also, through the generosity of the Bonsai Society of Victoria, we have been able to share some of their Saturday afternoon ZOOM presentations and demonstrations. So now, with the aid of modern technology, we are able to give our members a more meaningful and visual experience.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 10th November at 7:30pm (on ZOOM).
Our Club Secretary Lindsay H, will present a Bonsai Basics session on Fertilizing & Pest Control. The latter part of the meeting will be our Annual General Meeting and the election of the Club Committee for 2020/21. At previous AGM’s members were given a tube stock tree each, and challenged to make a bonsai from it. Each year they bring them along to show the progress they have made with the styling and presentation. This year they are asked to bring them into show at the ZOOM meeting. This should create quite a lot of interest, as we anticipate the results.

Saturday afternoon Workshops are still unable to be held, but members are encouraged to tune into the ZOOM demonstrations as mentioned earlier. We have already enjoyed demonstrations on “Carving” and “Root Over Rock”, and look forward to more informative sessions.

Our October Meeting (ZOOM) featured a presentation entitled ”Chinese Penjing” by Allan Harding. He is an experienced and very knowledgeable demonstrator from Sydney. He explained that “Penjing” is the Chinese version of what is now generally termed “bonsai”. He went on to say that the Chinese word “Penjing”, translates into “potted landscape”, and how it varies in style from bonsai. China is such a large country that the interpretation of this artform varies greatly across its length and breadth. These variations in style can be grouped into five Main Schools. Each School has its own unique character. They might use similar material but, mostly each School specialises in plants that grow well in their own area. Allan then gave us a very detailed and well-illustrated power-point presentation. His clear explanations meant that we came away with a much greater understanding of this traditional Chinese artform.

We are now into the last month of Spring, and what a fantastic array of colour we have enjoyed. And there is still plenty of new growth, flowers and colours around to be appreciated. Daylight Savings time has also helped by making available precious extra hours to get out and about, not only to see what’s happening in the garden, but to check up on our “little trees” as well.

Keep on enjoying Bonsai!