Bonsai Bonanza – Magnificent Display At High Beeches Gardens, 24, 25 And 26 May

On 24, 25 and 26 May High Beeches Gardens is hosting a spectacular display of Bonsai trees belonging to members of the the Sussex Bonsai Group, including some that have been included in Chelsea Gold Medal exhibits. The gardens will open from 1-5pm over the weekend and from 11am on the Bank Holiday Monday. Bonsai is the art of miniaturising trees and shrubs and everyone can learn how to do it. Come along and find out how you too can create your own Bonsai from almost any small sapling. For those who would like advice on caring for Bonsai; help will be at hand. A selection of Bonsai materials will also be on sale such as pots and materials for making your own Bonsai trees and compost.

Bonsais on show will include a very rare English Elm as well as Hornbeam, Ash, Pine, Cedar, Larch, Yew and Rhododendron. Demonstrations on how to make your own Bonsai will take place regularly, over the three days and making a Bonsai from a sapling takes as little as an hour. Within a year a sapling should be a recognisable Bonsai and the trees can live for many hundreds of years.

The Sussex Group is highly regarded in the Bonsai world. Two of the most prominent members are Ann and Ken Norman who are probably the top Bonsai experts in the country having won six Gold Medals for Bonsai at Chelsea Flower Shows and Ken is also an RHS judge. They will be at High Beeches Gardens and visitors may be interested in purchasing signed copies of their book ‘The Complete Practical Encyclopaedia of Bonsai’. This won the Garden Writers’ Guild Enthusiast’s Book of the Year 2006 - the first time that a Bonsai book has won a national garden writers award.

Bonsai is an art form and trees are pruned into specific styles. With proper care the trees can live outdoors all the year with only tender species needing to be protected from frost. There are about 80 Bonsai Groups throughout the country and HM Queen Elizabeth keeps Bonsai at Windsor Castle.

The Sussex Bonsai Group welcomes new members. It is exhibiting at High Beeches to share its wonderful exhibits with a wider audience, to help people make their own Bonsai and to give advice on problem solving.