Is Bonsai an Expensive Hobby?

[Shima]

I dread to think what I've spent in my first year all together.. but I didn't have to. And I could, if I had the cash, could have quite easily spent ten fold..

But, I have alot of matierial to go on with, all different stages. Benches in place. Tools (and power tools) in place, working, collecting, carving.

As long as the will to not splurge on nice material is strong, and can't see the on going cost as significant. My soil is cheap.. furt is cheep.. water is cheap.. grow baskets / containers are cheap

Good, well matched pots will be added in time as trees are ready for them. In fact that's a good note to self.. stop looking at pots..

Yes you can spend next to nothing. But I'm happy with what I've shelled out so the foundations are laid.

Isn't there a lot of collectable material there? I knew a lady from Wales who had a bonsai nursery and waxed on about her home and the abundant plant life there.

 

[Timbo]

Pots, it’s true that yamadori make great bonsai. It is, after all, the foundation upon which bonsai is based.

But, the tone of your responses in thisand other threads is that you feel that ONLY yamadori make good bonsai.

Since you live in Oregon, I suggest that your perception of bonsai is heavily influenced by the relative availability and abundance of mountain yamadori. Please be aware that not everyone lives in places where old mountain trees grow naturally.

And, please consider this: in Japan, there are virtually no wild Shimpaku left to be collected. They’ve all been taken. Most that were collected didn’t survive the collection process! There were so many, you see, they didn’t care.

It reminds me of the bison herds that used to populate the Great Plains. Millions of animals lived in huge herds. Where are they today?

I have rather mixed feelings about yamadori. Yes, our Western mountains are vast, and there are zillions of good trees out there. But, like any natural resource, the number of 300 year old trees is limited. Once collected, it can’t be replaced in a lifetime. Or two. Or even three. Do you want your great grand children to go up to the mountains and see only rocks? I don’t.

Yes, I have a few yamadori. They make up about 20% of my collection. If I was more interested in deciduous trees, that percentage would be significantly smaller!

What’s more, I personally believe that all yamadori collecting should be banned from public property. Think about it: those trees belong to all of us. Any of us can go see them if we are willing to go to the effort. Giving someone a permit to go dig it up, take it home, and resell it benefits that one person, but steals it from the rest of us!

Privately owned property is just that. The owner can do what he wishes. (Within reason, of course.)

On the other hand, collecting a fabulous tree, and making it a bonsai can preserve that tree for a very, very long time. As long as bristlecones seem to be able to take care of themselves? Probably not!

Anyway, Yoda, I mean Pots, I just want to give you some things to think about.

I agree with most of this, Some people will just run over anything to make a profit, but i think those people are overstated. I don't think we should ban people from digging up in public places unless it's some kind of nature/scenic site/park. Then again if some people had their way, everything would be protected.

Not all, but most working people pay taxes which 'should" afford some right to use things. The key is being respectful as much as you can. I don't think the redwoods are going to be dug up anytime soon. Really a lot of things people dig up are going to die soon or may even live longer than it would in the ground if handled well.

I think about 95% of the tree i dug up were going to die and be dug up anyways.
Make more room for other trees to grow. I have more wildlife now with my garden/trees than i had before. I'm trying to get more bees to hang around, it's slow but working on it.

 

[KingJades]

This hobby isn't very expensive and it's one where, if you really wanted, you can easily offset your costs and profit from it.

Remember, this is a business in Japan, Vietnam and even the US for many people. People do this for a living all around the world.
It can be profitable, but then it starts to look a lot less like a hobby. Nonetheless, the capability is there.

 

[Timbo]

Suppose to be pretty easy to get a home license to sell trees/seeds....only cost about $100 here.

 

[BigBen]

Lots of great answers stated in many of the prior posts.

IMHO, Bonsai is like anything else, it's what you make of it.
It can be expensive or not expensive,
You can buy common garage & yard-work tools that can be used, OR you can buy low, mid, or high quality Bonsai tools from assorted sources. I have a decent starter tool set that I bought many years ago, then in 2017 I purchased my Kaneshin tools.

You can also do the same with trees.
Being that I'm just getting back into the hobby (as I prepare for Retirement within the next 2 to 4 years or so), I look for end of season sales and grab some trees to work on. I purchased a bunch this past Fall at some local nurseries & home centers. You can also find free material as well, if you look hard enough.
I'm sure I'll eventually also buy some trees that are already in the process too.

I also have a couple of hot rods that I enjoy, as well as shooting Craps! LOL...

Good luck, and enjoy the hobby.
Just a few of my thoughts...

 

[hemmy]

Cheaper than taking up cocaine as a hobby.

Maybe, but it sure has some similarities. . .

Pot(s) as the gateway drug to more expensive drugs (pots) that you just have to have!

And eventually you find yourself digging in trash cans (for discarded Itoigawa workshop cuttings)!

 

[Underdog]

I have a hard time hunting morel mushrooms in the spring because I keep looking at tree for bonsai.
I wonder onto the shoulder on our back road Jeep rides...
Found myself eyeing the neighbors trash water bed frame for wood for grow boxes...

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

To me, its one of the cheapest hobbies I practice. I make my own tools, collect seeds, cast my own pots from cement, alright.. I've spent a 100 bucks on more aged trees and soil for the year. Thats 2 bucks a week..
Some people don't agee and will say you need a 300$ container.. But they're not the ones looking at my trees on a daily basis. To each his own.

 

[Driftwood]

For most people it is a expensive hobby money or time wise, having seeds or sticks in a pot is not bonsai! yet. Any tree close to bonsai is expensive.. So, for those who say is cheap please show/sell at least one of your Bonsai material here.

 

[Mikecheck123]

The initial startup costs are significant. But once you have 50-100 trees, things are pretty inexpensive. Particularly if you're growing from free seeds that you find around the neighborhood.

The biggest cost for me is soil. It costs about $200 for 28 gallons of soil from Bonsai Jack, and that goes so quickly that I try not to do that more than once per year.

 

[LooselyWired]

Nothing is cheaper than a seed. Nothing is more expensive than a 400 yr old yamadori. The only difference is time

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Nah, bonsai is cheap...if you compare it to collecting Ferraris.

 

[LanceMac10]

If you feel Bonsai is "cheap", your gardening.

 

[Clicio]

I surely spend more money than it's advisable on bonsai.
But...
It's worth it.
Most of the money spent, on retrospect, was on good pots and Kaneshin tools.

 

[zanduh]

If you’re content with growing seeds and using your own chickens’ fertilizer and digging up your own substrate and watering via creek water... yeah this hobby is cheap

but overall this isn’t a much more expensive hobby than most others yearly and this one you can sell your work and actually make a profit if you want

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Nah, bonsai is cheap...if you compare it to collecting Ferraris.

Quite honestly, it's even cheap compared to golf!

 

[jaco94]

It's an expensive hobby at the beginning, when you don't know anything and you buy a tree 3 or 4 times the price it is worth.

But it becomes much more reasonable once past the compulsive period, where you finally come to understand that a curtain rod stuck in a pot doesn't have to be so expensive ...

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Quite honestly, it's even cheap compared to golf!

wouldn’t know...I can’t afford to golf anymore.

 

[sorce]

wouldn’t know...I can’t afford to golf anymore.

You can afford 9 saplings in four inch pots and a small garden shovel!

Sorce

 

[HorseloverFat]

I ALWAYS get more out.. then I put in... no diminishing returns on this particular joy.

It’s all about what your money/time are truly “worth” to you.

(understand that this IS coming from someone with damn near NO money )