BonsaiWes
Mame
- Messages
- 128
- Reaction score
- 1
- USDA Zone
- 7
Hello,
Thought I would flip this out here for discussion. For a little over a month I have been talking with a new person about bonsai. Answering a few basic questions, loaning out some books, blowing their mind with some pics of Walters mugos etc.. . As the discussions gets deeper I am starting to find a very thick wall, the friend has in the past worked with trees, not bonsai but ordinary stuff. So much of his info isn't very current or correct, as we know bonsai culture is a bit different than the norm but this isnt the problem so much since I have been around the block enough to know when to prune, repot etc.. etc .. . The problem is the beginners mind, the ego wall. He just won't let me teach him anything and kinda snickers when I talk about a tree that I have lost. Tonight was going to be a special night for him, we both brought some trees to the meet and the example I brought was a 10 lb. chopped stump with now great branching and a big si dao type shari along the trunk. I was wanting to get into how we cut back branches after they have grown and thickened to make taper and how the the fiber pulling/carving was started, I wanted to get into discussion of using particles for soil rather than the mud he is using. The tree I brought was also ment to be an example of something he should keep an eye out for when collecting, good sized raw material, some decent root flare and about how after we had all that the branches and leaders would be our focus mainly and in a relative short time we could have something rewarding to work with for the next few seasons. Basicly the night should of been a workshop where nothing was trimmed and worked but was discussed. I spent alot of time preparing my thoughts for what could have been a pretty dam good session.
Well we didn't get much further than me inspecting some sticks in mud buckets that were brought and the rest of the time was filled with the guy answering questions for everyone. At one point I had to get a little hostile and point out bluntly that the Japanese lady selling bonsais at the gas station who said to keep the juniper bonsai indoors, but that it could be taken out in the rain sometimes was a liar, but well I HAD to get that point across(junipers like outdoors) after spending 10 minutes explaining bonsai is not a species of tree.
So, how do we begin to help those that want it but are staying blinded to how little they really know and can do? The student is just so competetive, if I attempt to correct a mis statement I get a pretty negative reaction. Maybe I should step away from the study group and let them break a few branches and have the failure of loosing a few trees.
Thought I would flip this out here for discussion. For a little over a month I have been talking with a new person about bonsai. Answering a few basic questions, loaning out some books, blowing their mind with some pics of Walters mugos etc.. . As the discussions gets deeper I am starting to find a very thick wall, the friend has in the past worked with trees, not bonsai but ordinary stuff. So much of his info isn't very current or correct, as we know bonsai culture is a bit different than the norm but this isnt the problem so much since I have been around the block enough to know when to prune, repot etc.. etc .. . The problem is the beginners mind, the ego wall. He just won't let me teach him anything and kinda snickers when I talk about a tree that I have lost. Tonight was going to be a special night for him, we both brought some trees to the meet and the example I brought was a 10 lb. chopped stump with now great branching and a big si dao type shari along the trunk. I was wanting to get into how we cut back branches after they have grown and thickened to make taper and how the the fiber pulling/carving was started, I wanted to get into discussion of using particles for soil rather than the mud he is using. The tree I brought was also ment to be an example of something he should keep an eye out for when collecting, good sized raw material, some decent root flare and about how after we had all that the branches and leaders would be our focus mainly and in a relative short time we could have something rewarding to work with for the next few seasons. Basicly the night should of been a workshop where nothing was trimmed and worked but was discussed. I spent alot of time preparing my thoughts for what could have been a pretty dam good session.
Well we didn't get much further than me inspecting some sticks in mud buckets that were brought and the rest of the time was filled with the guy answering questions for everyone. At one point I had to get a little hostile and point out bluntly that the Japanese lady selling bonsais at the gas station who said to keep the juniper bonsai indoors, but that it could be taken out in the rain sometimes was a liar, but well I HAD to get that point across(junipers like outdoors) after spending 10 minutes explaining bonsai is not a species of tree.
So, how do we begin to help those that want it but are staying blinded to how little they really know and can do? The student is just so competetive, if I attempt to correct a mis statement I get a pretty negative reaction. Maybe I should step away from the study group and let them break a few branches and have the failure of loosing a few trees.
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