Home Depot and Brussel's Bonsai

[rockm]

FWIW, I think more than a few bonsaiists have cut their teeth on mallsai. It's the "entry level drug" for us. We get hooked there and move into ever more expensive habits. Thing is, the people that choose to move forward aren't all that common. The vast majority of professional bonsaiists can't support themselves on the "high end" customers for long, if at all. There simply aren't enough "whales" (to use a Vegas term) to support entire businesses.

I have two long-time professional bonsai friends that run their bonsai business only "for the fun of it." They make their living designing and installing Japanese gardens. They sell extremely good trees, some extremely expensive, but those sales can't pay to heat the greenhouse all winter. They have consciously avoided mass market and web sales, preferring a hands-on, personal approach.

Also, FWIW, they also got their start "designing" mallsai for a wholesale distributor. When they were starving students many years ago, they contracted with a "mallsai" wholesaler to make bonsai that would be sold at big box stores. The wholesaler literally delivered a semi truckload of juniper saplings that they had to make into bonsai. They learned the basics-- pruning and repotting literally 1,500 trees in a season...Now twenty years later, you'd hardly call any of their trees mallsai.

 

[spectatr]

Perhaps if a club would work with the retailer to do a half hour show and tell 5 or 6 times a weekend and show how the rock is glued on and give a simple intro to what is needed it would encourage a few more to stick with bonsai long enought to become hooked. When the plant dies so quickly they don't understand why and give it up before they even tried to do a "bonsai" activity.

 

[Bill S]

I also fell prey to the mallsi vendor many moons ago. Much better armed now.

What you have to watch out for (most of us don't anymore - I hope) is that these can be mass produced at a good nursery ( Brussels for example) but when they get to the retailer you hope the proper care guidlines are passed along. I have seen example of both, once in a multi state fair setting, I watched and listened to a vendor selling trees made from a very good source give out terrible advice, I stopped the customers i saw get bad advice and guided them in the right direction. Good part of it was the vendor also asked for better ways to give the right info to thier customers.

The best way to accomplish the proper info, would be to have the producer attach care info to the tree so it follows the tree, maybe even get Home Depot to have some garden manages trained at least somewhat, possibly even to team them with local clubs. Can you say evening bonsai classes like they do for wallpaper etc.

 

[Anonymous User]

I totally get that. It's sound business. But is it good for the art itself?

http://artofbonsai.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2346



Will

 

[greerhw]

You guys do realize these trees are bought online from Home Depot, dropped shipped from Brussel's, very few ever see a retail location, the Home Depot employees have no idea they even sell them.

keep it green,
Harry

 

[Bill S]

Harry that seems like the way things are going these days, can't imagine not being able to get my hands on it before I buy it, even if it's check it here buy it there.

Helps in the aspect that some HD employee isn't going to say that you can put you new juniper on top of the boob tube.

 

[Klytus]

We have care sheets on ours,they must be superior...

Not seen any Junipers sold Bonsai style at POS,though it is almost the time of year for Juniper and Mugo to grace the forecourt of the discount store.

Mugo seem to be seed grown in multiples to a pot and all bunched up together,needle and candle can be quite different on these.

Trouble is for most stock of this kind the only identification available is the plastic printed tag,with the printers name only.

So one never knows from whence they came.


Good for teasing apart and planting on a rock,if you have a rock.