cishepard
Shohin
I took an opportunity today to accomplish 3 things - enter the Native Tree Challenge, buy myself an early Christmas present, and finally get to meet Anton Nijhuis, who, lucky for me, only lives a 90min drive away.
It was a sunny and frosty morning in Nanaimo, but quickly fogged over as we headed towards Campbell River, here on Vancouver Island. Temperature was mild and no rain in the forcast. Anton’s dogs greeted me enthusiastically at the gate, as he himself strolled up in the classic PacNW gumboots - the fields of his farm were crusty-muddy from recent rains. As we chatted about dogs (I am a retired groomer and we both own MinPins) I was astonished by the many jumbo bonsai lining his driveway. I really had no idea what to expect other than that I emailed him to explain I was looking for a native yamadori, with no work done on it yet and in my price range of $100-250. He responded that he had a few that fit that criteria.
Well, he had many, to say the least. About 150 collected this year and last, heeled into mounds of sea-soil on the ground to recover, and at least that many or more potted up. Anton said that he sold more trees this year than any other, but I couldn’t believe how many beautiful trees were still left! I narrowed my search to the trees that had been established into pots for at least a year and a half, and after poking through the rows of Shore Pine, Yellow Cedar, Alpine Fir and Mt. Hemlock, I settled on the latter, of which he had many fine examples.
The one I chose (in the last photo), I think of as a ‘safe’ maybe even ‘easy‘ tree. I am a beginner to the art of bonsai (3yrs in), and I felt I could see the tree in this one right away. I want to gain experience with styling before I tackle more challenging material. That said, I am very excited about this project and this tree. I had a fabulous day, and meeting Anton was a hoot. He was extremely generous with advice about collecting - where to go, how to dig and transport and aftercare. He just smiled when I said he was losing business by giving out all that information. I think he truly just does it for the joy of getting out in the wilderness with his friends and dogs, the excitement of the ‘hunt’ and collecting these wonderful specimens to share with the world. Making a profit is secondary.
It was a sunny and frosty morning in Nanaimo, but quickly fogged over as we headed towards Campbell River, here on Vancouver Island. Temperature was mild and no rain in the forcast. Anton’s dogs greeted me enthusiastically at the gate, as he himself strolled up in the classic PacNW gumboots - the fields of his farm were crusty-muddy from recent rains. As we chatted about dogs (I am a retired groomer and we both own MinPins) I was astonished by the many jumbo bonsai lining his driveway. I really had no idea what to expect other than that I emailed him to explain I was looking for a native yamadori, with no work done on it yet and in my price range of $100-250. He responded that he had a few that fit that criteria.
Well, he had many, to say the least. About 150 collected this year and last, heeled into mounds of sea-soil on the ground to recover, and at least that many or more potted up. Anton said that he sold more trees this year than any other, but I couldn’t believe how many beautiful trees were still left! I narrowed my search to the trees that had been established into pots for at least a year and a half, and after poking through the rows of Shore Pine, Yellow Cedar, Alpine Fir and Mt. Hemlock, I settled on the latter, of which he had many fine examples.
The one I chose (in the last photo), I think of as a ‘safe’ maybe even ‘easy‘ tree. I am a beginner to the art of bonsai (3yrs in), and I felt I could see the tree in this one right away. I want to gain experience with styling before I tackle more challenging material. That said, I am very excited about this project and this tree. I had a fabulous day, and meeting Anton was a hoot. He was extremely generous with advice about collecting - where to go, how to dig and transport and aftercare. He just smiled when I said he was losing business by giving out all that information. I think he truly just does it for the joy of getting out in the wilderness with his friends and dogs, the excitement of the ‘hunt’ and collecting these wonderful specimens to share with the world. Making a profit is secondary.