Kemptonian wins with 300-year-old tree
He has won a top five position on numerous occasions and three shows from 2011 to 2014
ROCKY Michael (60) from Glen Marais won the Eastern Bonsai Society competition with an olive bonsai tree that is about 300 years old.
This father of four and grandfather of six started this hobby about 15 years ago. He had two koi ponds and wanted bonsai trees to match the Japanese theme.
One of his friends suggested took some trees from a nearby mountain and from there his love for bonsai just took off.
Michael entered two olive bonsai trees, both around 300 years old, for the competition. He fetched them from a mountain in Rustenburg in 2007.
Although one can create a bonsai tree from any tree, Michael prefers olive trees. “You can carve and cut them and they do not get shocked, they just grow beautifully.”
Michael said to create a bonsai, one has to be patient. During the first year you put it in a pot and leave it. Only after the first year you can start manipulating the branches by bending and wiring them.
The wire is removed after about six months, after which you have to keep trimming them.
Michael has about 150 bonsai. He has won a top five position on numerous occasions and three shows from 2011 to 2014.
