Don Sibley’s fascination with bonsai trees began while serving in the US Navy, when he was stationed in Japan for a year and half. He was in his twenties then, but it wasn’t until two decades later that his true love affair with the art form began. It was his wife’s birthday.
“I just didn’t know what to get her,” he joked.
Mr. Sibley stumbled upon a bonsai store and brought one home to her. When his wife received the gift, she was puzzled and not quite sure what to do with it.
“I said you can bend these branches, you can prune this,” Mr. Sibley reminisced. “And she said, ‘you bought it for yourself, didn’t you?’ It was the absolute truth.”
Mr. Sibley is one of the founding members of the The Martha’s Vineyard Bonsai Club, which began about 15 years ago. In the early years, meetings were held at the Polly Hill Arboretum during the winter.
“We were people who, on our own, had started [bonsai] and had some history,” Mr. Sibley said.
Club member Dan Meleney grew up in Southern California and his obsession with bonsai began at an early age.
“As a kid, my dad had a small collection of [bonsai] trees. By the time I was 10 or so, if he didn’t have time to water them, I was volunteered by him,” he said. Mr. Meleney’s brother also became interested in bonsai and the two even tually began making them to sell on
the side of the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and Laguna Beach. When he and his wife moved full-time to Martha’s Vineyard in 2017, he joined the club and has been an active member ever since.
The two men recently hosted a discussion and demonstration at the West Tisbury Library on pruning a bonsai tree. The presentation involved a type of bonsai tree cutting referred to as structural pruning, which involves rigorous cutting to alter the shape of a tree.
As an example, Mr. Sibley and Mr. Meleney used a Hinoki cypress that Mr. Meleney has been cultivating for several years.
“It’s a tree I got from nursery stock at [Jardin] Mahoney’s,” Mr. Meleney said. “I trimmed it some the first year or two, not real harshly,” referring to a second type of trimming called maintenance pruning, which, as its name implies, maintains and refines an already existing shape.
About three years ago, the tree had an accident. “The top five inches almost completely broke off,” he said.
Mr. Meleney was able to repair the tree using superglue but it never quite recovered to the full canopy it had previously enjoyed. Though Mr. Meleney prefers a full look to his bonsai, this cypress was never going to regain its former glory.
With audience participation, the two men discussed what should be removed and what would stay. In the process, they removed much of the damaged sections of the tree.
A traditional bonsai technique they demonstrated is known as “jin”— the
carving off of branches and bark using specialized tools to create a weathered and rugged look.
“During the demo, we chopped the top off and jinned it to look like deadwood,” Mr. Meleney adds. “It ended up being a different tree than if I had done it myself. But I was really happy with how it turned out.”
The Martha’s Vineyard Bonsai Club welcomes new members, both men said. They currently meet on the first Tuesday of the month at the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living in Vineyard Haven. Meetings are casual as members work on their own trees and swap techniques and ideas.
Both Mr. Sibley and Mr. Meleney say it’s a tight group.
“Most members have a few bonsai, some have five or six or even 20,” Mr. Meleney said. “We meet for an hour and a half, helping each other trim trees and evaluate them.”
The club has been exhibiting bonsai trees on the Island for years. Many were displayed at the library in the week leading up to the presentation and for years they have been a popular display at the Agricultural Fair.
“I think everyone is intrigued by bonsai,” Mr. Sibley said.
For more information, email Charles Lopresti at clopresti_1999@yahoo.com.
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