River's Edge
Masterpiece
What is the supply issue like in your neck of the woods?
I thought I would post some observations to see if it matches the experience of others on the forum. For the past couple of years I have found difficulty obtaining supplies for my nursery and Bonsai work in general. First, the shipping costs seemed to skyrocket with tools coming from Japan. One or two suppliers indicated they could no longer ship via postal services and were restricting shipping to more expensive options such as DHL. Next, the products coming from overseas began to experience long delays arriving in containers on ships, along with labour issues and shipping delays from the ports. It took eighteen months for me to receive ( 100) Deroma 8 inch Azalea pots from my supplier who is usually reliable with plenty of inventory. Just recently I needed to order Anderson Flats for the repotting season. Found out that they were on back order for several months and the manufacturer was not planning on a production run any time soon. The manufacturer was good about providing me with a list of distributors who may have some left in stock. Turns out the closest distributor with any quantity in stock was in southern Oregon. However, normal truck transport companies were clogged with high demand and exorbitant charges and surcharges. Additional costs were incurred due to Covid restrictions and cross border travel required.
So my recommendation would be to get your supplies as soon as you can, as it may take a while!
If your local supplier has the goods, purchase them if needed. I am not sure that things will begin to improve for a while.
I thought I would post some observations to see if it matches the experience of others on the forum. For the past couple of years I have found difficulty obtaining supplies for my nursery and Bonsai work in general. First, the shipping costs seemed to skyrocket with tools coming from Japan. One or two suppliers indicated they could no longer ship via postal services and were restricting shipping to more expensive options such as DHL. Next, the products coming from overseas began to experience long delays arriving in containers on ships, along with labour issues and shipping delays from the ports. It took eighteen months for me to receive ( 100) Deroma 8 inch Azalea pots from my supplier who is usually reliable with plenty of inventory. Just recently I needed to order Anderson Flats for the repotting season. Found out that they were on back order for several months and the manufacturer was not planning on a production run any time soon. The manufacturer was good about providing me with a list of distributors who may have some left in stock. Turns out the closest distributor with any quantity in stock was in southern Oregon. However, normal truck transport companies were clogged with high demand and exorbitant charges and surcharges. Additional costs were incurred due to Covid restrictions and cross border travel required.
So my recommendation would be to get your supplies as soon as you can, as it may take a while!
If your local supplier has the goods, purchase them if needed. I am not sure that things will begin to improve for a while.