Very nice job on this azalea!Nursery non satsuki azalea
80 USD
Ryan offers valuable direction in selecting material...thanks for sharing. What he offers is sound advice to chew over. Something back in the day as a newb...I had no direction...hence...landscape trees ended up later in the landscape. LolNursery material has for many years been pilloried by many in the bonsai trade as being inferior. It is not, it is seldom done with the same attention to detail and patience accorded Yamadori or specifically cultivated pre-bonsai. Ryan Neil recently has been going after the cultivation of bonsai from nursery material.
I guess that can happen if you don't have the eye to do something with the tree. What I found early on when coming to this forum is that there is a group of people, and I guess there still is, that are convinced that if it is not Yamadori or pre-bonsai it is useless for bonsai and a wast of time. Included are a few of mine, one of them was a reject from someone who had the same attitude about material. After all; what is the difference between Yamadori, pre-bonsai and nursery material? TIME. Of course the argument can be made that these trees are not very good but they pass for bonsai in many circles, one of them was even considered good enough to display in the National Show two years ago.Ryan offers valuable direction in selecting material...thanks for sharing. What he offers is sound advice to chew over. Something back in the day as a newb...I had no direction...hence...landscape trees ended up later in the landscape. Lol
That's the reason I don't have a lot of Yamadori or pre-bonsai, accessibility, and opportunity that does not cost me a new car.@Vance Wood ...I don't discredit nursery finds...but one needs to see the trees future as you stated. I so seem a cascading quince with that purchase from the nursery that I still have. As Ryan gave good direction one wants something that sets their material apart from the next. Pre-bonsai to me...is for me...a dream. Only because I live very rural...with very limited resources as nurseries go. I don't have the time to make the distance...almost an hour away for a lowes and two nurseries. If I want to drive almost two hours the other way...I have another nursery. I may go look for a clump or a one root grove. That style I am drawn to. So your video of Ryan...peeked my interest indeed! It's what I am currently smitten with.
Fantastic trees with humble beginnings. I feel like with any art form, satisfaction, love and peace of mind with your own work is all that ultimately matters. If you receive accolades, praise, awards etc. or can even become a professional than thats just icing on the cake! There are so many sides to the equation. For me, at 34 with only 7 yrs experience. Im certainly not about to buy a several hundred dollar piece of material that is one or two years away from national show worthy praise. For one, I don't feel I have the skills to make it anything more than an amateurs attempt with an expensive piece of material. For two, I'm not in the income bracket to be experimenting with said material. and 3, all I've got is time. Why not try to make something from nothing over a decade plus, and really be proud of something I've created myself. Nursery stock gives me the opportunity to do just that. I have really enjoyed digging and cultivating some great native junipers and piñon pine in the last few years but nursery stock is fun, available and challenging. And VERY fulfilling when you craft something cool over several years time, regardless of what any other bonsai aficionado may feel.I guess that can happen if you don't have the eye to do something with the tree. What I found early on when coming to this forum is that there is a group of people, and I guess there still is, that are convinced that if it is not Yamadori or pre-bonsai it is useless for bonsai and a wast of time. Included are a few of mine, one of them was a reject from someone who had the same attitude about material. After all; what is the difference between Yamadori, pre-bonsai and nursery material? TIME. Of course the argument can be made that these trees are not very good but they pass for bonsai in many circles, one of them was even considered good enough to display in the National Show two years ago.
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One of the wisest things ever said to me in life was by my first San Francisco sensei, John Boyce. I was doing a Thursday night newbie workshop and John asked me if I ever had "worked with Japanese Black Pine." I answered, "no, the take too long to look good." To which John replied, "Yes, but the time is going to pass anyway, so you may as well start a pine."Fantastic trees with humble beginnings. I feel like with any art form, satisfaction, love and peace of mind with your own work is all that ultimately matters. If you receive accolades, praise, awards etc. or can even become a professional than thats just icing on the cake! There are so many sides to the equation. For me, at 34 with only 7 yrs experience. Im certainly not about to buy a several hundred dollar piece of material that is one or two years away from national show worthy praise. For one, I don't feel I have the skills to make it anything more than an amateurs attempt with an expensive piece of material. For two, I'm not in the income bracket to be experimenting with said material. and 3, all I've got is time. Why not try to make something from nothing over a decade plus, and really be proud of something I've created myself. Nursery stock gives me the opportunity to do just that. I have really enjoyed digging and cultivating some great native junipers and piñon pine in the last few years but nursery stock is fun, available and challenging. And VERY fulfilling when you craft something cool over several years time, regardless of what any other bonsai aficionado may feel.
Loving this thread by the way!!
I wish he ( Graham Potter) would produce more demos. You cannot see too many well done tree demos.
Always loved this graham potter mugo pine style. One of several videos that my peaked my interest early on.
nice deadwood workI’m breaking my own rules here. But I’m terrible at remembering to snap a shot first. Here’s a San Jose juniper I got for $12 on clearance from Lowe’s. Fall 2016. Initial styling in spring 2017 and finished styling and deadwood fall 2017.
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I always do that....my wife says I am crazy......and that life is not all about making big trees become small......Loving this thread everyone!! more trees!! more pics!!
Does anyone ever find themselves at a nursery or big box store, see a shrub or tree that your not familiar with and google the name of said plant with bonsai at the end? Im constantly doing this, and the more documentation and pictures we can get online of obscure attempts at bonsai for non traditional nursery stock, the better!!
Does anyone ever find themselves at a nursery or big box store, see a shrub or tree that your not familiar with and google the name of said plant with bonsai at the end? Im constantly doing this, and the more documentation and pictures we can get online of obscure attempts at bonsai for non traditional nursery stock, the better!!
What I found early on when coming to this forum is that there is a group of people, and I guess there still is, that are convinced that if it is not Yamadori or pre-bonsai it is useless for bonsai and a wast of time.