Shortage of pre-bonsai stock?

Bonsai Nut

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Is it just me, or is there a run on decent pre-bonsai stock out there? Perhaps it is a good news if the hobby is growing, but I have been having real trouble finding decent material at reasonable prices.

I just went to a couple of nurseries today in the LA area. At the first nursery, I would say that all of their trees are easily 50% more expensive than they were a year ago. Pre-bonsai stock that I purchased there two years ago for $195 has been slapped into cheap chinese pots and is being sold for $795(!) Very basic Japanese Black Pines that sold last year for $149 - $195 are now listed at $395.

Not buying anything there, I headed to the next nursery where I was met by a dearth of decent pre-bonsai material. Quince? Nope - nothing larger than a pencil. Zelkova? Nope. Beech? Nope. Hornbeam? A couple - but not for sale because they are being used for cuttings. Oh wait... here's one Hornbeam that you can have... for $695.

If it isn't mallsai, I can't seem to find a good source...
 

mapleman77

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Brent always will be a good source, at least if you want to tack on a couple of years...but then again he has CHEAP specimen plants as well.

David
 

discusmike

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That sucks!seems like material gets more and more exspensive every year,as long as people keep buying at those prices,they will never go down,maybe there will be a crash like the housing market,and things will return to somewhat normal.I seem to find nice stuff,pick it up,take it to pay,only to find they dont want to sell the material,they want to keep anything nice,and unload all the crap on cutstomers.There is a shortage of nurseries in my area,so it makes things even harder,i dont have time to drive hours and hours to diffrent nurseries.
 

daniel

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B-nut, this is why I prefer to grow my own stuff, ie/buy it from brent and go from there. I've looked on some sites that are well known for their pre-bonsai material, but the prices to me are pretty close to prohibitive for me. It's also why I look pretty closely at nature and nurseries. I found a JBP with a 2" diameter trunk for $40 with good trunk movement. I think in several years and after maybe a graft or two, it will look pretty good. Killer? Probably not, but I'll like it just the same.

Just my $0.02.

Daniel
 

Tiberious

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It seems like when you get it online it is way too expensive for what you get. Only in rare cases have I seen decent stock priced at a reasonable rate. Much better at a show or visiting a bonsai nursery.
 

shohin kid

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Bonsai Nut,
From my experiences in bonsai so far, there is good material at convention workshops. At the shohin convention in St. Louis this year, I took a class that was a good price for the tree I got out of it. Here are before and after pics.
100_1928.jpg

100_2048.jpg
 

Dano

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BonsaiNut,
You can't tell it by his website but www.greenthumbbonsai.com has some excellent prebonsai. He only shows about 30 trees out of about 5000 in his back yard. He is 70 plus, a great guy and has very litlle overhead. His bald cypress are top notch pre-bonsai. If you are looking for anything in particular, you can email him. It will probably be in his backyard or farm. He ships most places. His wife of 50 years died recently and some new business might help his spirits. What John lacks in advertising, he more than makes up in his price.

Dano
 

DaveV

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Just looked at greenthumbbonsai - he has some neat trees. I like his corkbark elms.
 

irene_b

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BonsaiNut,
You can't tell it by his website but www.greenthumbbonsai.com has some excellent prebonsai. He only shows about 30 trees out of about 5000 in his back yard. He is 70 plus, a great guy and has very litlle overhead. His bald cypress are top notch pre-bonsai. If you are looking for anything in particular, you can email him. It will probably be in his backyard or farm. He ships most places. His wife of 50 years died recently and some new business might help his spirits. What John lacks in advertising, he more than makes up in his price.

Dano
I can second that!
He has prices that are damm hard to beat..
Irene
 

emorrin

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I have bought from both Brent at evergreengardenworks and John at greenthumbbonsai and you cannot go wrong with either one. They are both first class sellers.
 

TheSteve

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If you're looking for something in particular let me know... I'll see what Randy's asking at OregonBonsai.
 

Smoke

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There is no shortage. Two things have happened in the last ten years. The internet has made most of us more decerning and the price has gone up based on this phenomonon.

At the Bonsai a thon a few months ago I was very surprised to see what material was going for, especially shohin material. Things I used to get for 50 bucks now cost 200.00 bucks. There is no shortage of this material just my shortage of cash.

Like all the threads in the karaoke bar about politics and taxes, you can just chalk this up to getting fat and happy with prices. Let em sit on these prices for a while and when inflation hits we can swoop in and buy up all the going out of business bargains.

Sounds terrible if you are into the nursery game but hey, its a niche market. Bonsai are not like bread and milk with every 7-11 selling them on every corner.
 

Walter Pall

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I have made the experience that prices of collected material have risen by about 100% within the past two years. This may be du to a much higher awareness of the value of such trees and the impossibility to increase supply considerably. Anyway they cost about twice as much whether we like it or not. This is in the USA.

In Eurpe prices of very good conifer material have risen by 500 % and more over the past ten years. It is almost impossible to find a really good piece below 2,00 euro (3,000 US$).
 
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Dano

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B-Nut

John Green with Green Thumb Bonsai is travelling today. He asked that I tell you he will back in touch with you on Friday

Dano
 

Bonsai Nut

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B-Nut

John Green with Green Thumb Bonsai is travelling today. He asked that I tell you he will back in touch with you on Friday

Dano

Thanks Dano! I hope he can help me out. At the same time, let's get him some more business if he's as good as everyone says.
 
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