I want to think bonsai is not like this......"Taming the garden"

Fidur

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Taming the garden , Salomé Jashi’s film, follows the journey of hundreds of mature trees as they are uprooted across Georgia to populate a rich man’s garden.
As I was reading and watching the review and trailer, I have had to think we bonsaiers are not like this.
But there is certain paralelism between what we "as a whole" do, and what this millionaire did.
What do you think?

 

WimA

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I plant more trees from seed, or propagate from cuttings, than I take plants from nature. If I do take plants from nature, it are seedlings, which are young, and have low chance of survival in the wild. As such, I believe to have a net positive effect. When I see reports of people collecting yamadori, I believe in many cases, it does raise some concerns. One can only hope that people do this with permission, and that the people in charge of giving permission, have a decent understanding and sense of responsiblity.
Let's hope few people behave in this way at the scale shown in the trailer...
At a larger scope, I believe even brands and products striving to be 'eco sustainable' are struggling. It has been shown many of the 'certificates' etc. are just greenwashing. Replacing these large trees with a young sapling is not an 'even' trade in any way. Would be happy to be proven wrong.
 
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Bonsai Nut

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At least the tree was being moved. Where I live, the undeveloped spaces are usually wild pine forest. It is not unusual for a developer to roll in, cut down EVERY LAST TREE, and plop down a bunch of houses as close together as the zoning board will allow, and then leave behind a wasteland of development where there will never be a large tree again. Nothing but asphalt and house roofs as far as the eye can see.
 

HankDio

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I mean, the “garden tree trade” is certainly alive and well in much of the world. There are definitely more sustainable ways to operate such a business, see below, but then I start scratching my head because at least here in the US you cannot import soil, so trees must be bare-rooted and may not survive the trip. Let alone a small mass of earth.

Anyway, video semi-related. I would hope that those of us who enjoy bonsai can also appreciate more ethical business models like this.


Gardening, bonsai, and ecology don’t have to be at odds. It’s a shame they often are.
 

penumbra

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I personally thought the trailer was fascinating. Having worked with many tree spades over the years, I designed several landscapes based upon moving large trees from areas that were to be cleared to areas that had been cleared when I worked for a large developer who was on board for such a project. I was actually awarded a National Landscape award for this but I guess it is in a closet somewhere.
Conversely, supporting Bonsai Nut's comment, years ago my wife and I went to Smith Mountain Lake to do some camping and canoeing. Not a good lake for that as there are too many large boats and water skis. Not my cup of tea. We decided to drive around this huge lake to see the country side. As I was driving I starting getting very nauseous and sick to my stomach. Felt so bad that I was going to relinquish the wheel to my wife when we rounded a corner and came upon a very large tract denuded of trees cut for timber. Almost all the trees were gone except for a few crooked left standing and several knocked down. The destruction was so recent that the air smelled of sap and dirt. After we went a few miles past this area I felt physically fine again but very sad.
Make of it what you will.
 

chicago1980

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Yes, there are several parallels. I would say that there are more similarities than differences. Those differences may or may not be meaningful.
 

rockm

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Sometimes trees aren't just cut down...Large live oaks are moved all the time in Texas and other parts of the South...

Interesting air blower transplant process--This Old House--
 

Fidur

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What impressed me a lot about this movie were the scenes where the people who were going to miss the trees hugged each other and followed the lost tree in procession like at a funeral.... I felt sad.
 

HankDio

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What impressed me a lot about this movie were the scenes where the people who were going to miss the trees hugged each other and followed the lost tree in procession like at a funeral.... I felt sad.
It has been said that 3/4ths, or 4/5ths, or some surprising majority of people remember being among trees, or at a tree, or just a tree as their earliest memory. Who knows how many generations shared these memories under its canopy? Some culture is intangible, and it is just as impermanent as we are.
 

19Mateo83

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At least the tree was being moved. Where I live, the undeveloped spaces are usually wild pine forest. It is not unusual for a developer to roll in, cut down EVERY LAST TREE, and plop down a bunch of houses as close together as the zoning board will allow, and then leave behind a wasteland of development where there will never be a large tree again. Nothing but asphalt and house roofs as far as the eye can see.
I can’t stand when they do that here, you would think they would at least leave a tree or two but nope. It is very sad and ungodly ugly.
 

rorror

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In the Netherlands we move old tree's aswell, this chestnut tree(70 years old) was move in my town. Few hunderd meters down the street it was placed back in the ground. Tree was around 40tons.

dbd1045b-caa2-3948-a745-88fdf6e5a455.jpg0ee21589-c26c-3690-bf94-f0b9163376b7.jpgfc47fc0b-a2a9-363b-a48c-1e4c6a976933.jpg167e4a3b-01aa-3cb8-9438-841c7ee589dc.jpg

Youtube video of the move. (Video is in dutch only, sorry)
 

AlainK

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Illinois : Earth, Wind and Fire. Jazz-funk we used to listen to in the seventies.

California today : no earth, more wind and deadly fires ? I remember the horrific TV reports about people who had to flee their homes because of the forest fires, it's not about trees, it's lives and memories burnt to ashes... :oops:
 

BrierPatch

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Mostly just demo them here, except where I live now. I think here you must leave 80-90% and for every 1 you take down needs to be replaced by 2, or something like that.
When they demolished my old house in Seattle the guy told me digging them and repurpose takes time and time is money...
Here was my house before and after the demo. At least my favorite childhood Locust tree survived, it was planted in 1927 by my Great Grandfather (it still stands today).
 

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Cajunrider

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And then there is some one like my friend who bought a 1800 acre farm then spent the last 20 years and lots of money planting trees to return it to a natural forest that it once was. All he want to be left on the land are trails so future generations can enjoy the forest.
 

Cajunrider

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I think there is a balance. There are trees in the ground that should never be uprooted and moved. They are glorious exactly where they are. I wouldn't want to move those.
And then there are trees that are or can be developed to be beautiful, yet they are in places where they will never be appreciated. If I can afford to and am capable of developing them, I might just take them. Bringing them to a situation where they can be appreciated is a desirable thing to do to me. I have already gotten people to see and appreciate trees in nature simply through my feeble bonsai. People who appreciate the beauty of bonsai are far more likely to appreciate the trees in normal life conditions as well. Appreciation leads to the desire to preserve.
Thankfully, most of us here understand the balance. It's not "Let's dig all we can dig, chop all we can chop, and if they die they die.." in this forum. That's why I hang around here.
 

Bonsai Nut

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And then there is some one like my friend who bought a 1800 acre farm then spent the last 20 years and lots of money planting trees to return it to a natural forest that it once was. All he want to be left on the land are trails so future generations can enjoy the forest.
The founder/CEO of Epic Games (Fortnite) is one of the largest land-owners in the state of North Carolina. Last year alone he donated 7,500 acres of mountain land to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy in NC, and a separate donation of 7,300 acres of land to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (the largest single private land gift in the history of Virginia). FYI, 640 acres is one square mile.

Nice to know all your gaming $$$ are going to a good cause :)
 
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