BONSAI growers from across the world will gather in Bury this weekend.

Castle Leisure Centre will be hosting the UK National Bonsai Show for the third year.

The show displays 125 of the best pieces of Bonsai art from the UK and will be hosting artists from all over Japan, China, USA, Mexico and South Africa and displaying Bonsai trees from several European countries including Denmark, Italy, France, Spain and Hungary.

Bonsai has been growing in popularity in recent years as there are 200 Bonsai clubs in the UK, and it is thought that at least 150,000 people in the UK own at least one Bonsai tree.

At the event, there will be over 125 world class Bonsai artists, including Bjorn L Bjorholm from the USA, Anthony Smith from South Africa, Rafael Torres from Spain and Hugo Zamora Luna from Mexico, each of whom will displaying their pieces and giving lectures and presentations.

Event director, Tony Tickle of Greenmount, said: “It’s very important to me that we have a strong society of Bonsai artists here in the UK.”

Tony himself has a magnificent garden, full of Bonsai trees all of which are native to Europe, recovered from the Alps and Dolomites, where they would have been otherwise have been destroyed by avalanches, including Yew, Sloe, Juniper, Hawthorne and Cascading Bonsai trees, which can be sold at prices ranging from £10 to £500.

Tony’s trees have previously won Best in Style in major European Bonsai competitions, including the small Cotoneaster tree in the picture.

The event will feature several British Bonsai artists who will give lectures and displaying their own pieces. Tickets are £15 on entry at the Castle Leisure Centre, Bolton Street on Saturday September 14, starting at 9.30am and running until Sunday at 3.30pm.