Fun in the sun at the big Sunland Baobab
Letaba Gardening Club held their February meeting at the world famous Sunland Baobab tree, believed to be the biggest and one of the oldest Baobab trees in the world.
The afternoon was packed with insight on Baobab tree facts, the Baobab tree is one of the most ressiliant, most celebrated, most famous, and most outlandish trees on earth.
Hennie Smit, a bonsai specialist, along with Cheryl Eberhard chairlady of the garden club conducted the speeches.
Hennie Smit is an international bonsai specialist, known around the world as the king of Baobab in South Africa and showd his award winning Baobab bonsai, this tree received the Bonsai Focus Certificate of Merit in 2009 from Mr Farrand Bloch of the international magazine Bonsai Focus. Farrand stated that this tree has such a unique appearance that really symbolises the spirit of African Bonsai.
Another special little tree at the meeting was the Bonsai tree found by the late Archie van reenen, an Avid collector, historian and nature lover, well-known in the community and his first love was bird eggs. Archie sold his collection of over 4 000 eggs covering 438 South African bird species to the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology in Los Angeles, US after legislation changed in South Africa.
The tree was found on Bill van Heerden’s farm, Bill van Heerden is the father of Doug van Heerden and his wife Heather who are the present owners of this amazing Baobab.
About 60 years ago Archie found a tiny Baobab tree growing in a little pocket of sand in the folds of a huge Baobab in Mussina. Lillian van Reenen, Archie’s wife is now the owner of this tree which they nurtured since finding it.
Hennie Smit has been working on this Bonsai for several years, and at the meeting he demonstrated his art of Bonsai on this tree by removing the training shaping wires.
Bonsai are not genetically dwarfed plants, and are kept miniature by combining several techniques, including regular pruning and wiring. It is also described by many as an art form because of the care, time and patience it needs. As the tree grows and makes new branches, it will get wired again. Smit says to keep a bonsai small you have to cut the roots of the tree, where branches have been cut now ones develop.
The fruit and the flowers on a bonsai aren’t smaller than that of a big tree only the leaves are.
Baobab trees exemplify perseverance, overcome the odds and when the world tells you, you cant it’ll show you, you can.
