So when does newbieship expire?

Cajunrider

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I’ve been here more than a couple years so I guess my newbieship has expired.

But then I am told that some of us are stuck in the beginner phase forever. So when does it officially end around here?
 

Joe Dupre'

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For me, I stopped being a newbie when I developed a really good feel for what the tree would do when I did something to it. It ddn't always go to plan, but I could pretty much picture what would probably happen. Trunk chop a cypress in the middle of summer and put it in a smaller pot?? Yep. It didn't miss a beat. I also stopped looking at a calendar for bonsai work. "Use the Force, Luke." Ha!
 

Haines' Trees

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I’ve been a member here for almost as long as I’ve been a fan of little trees in pots, about 3 years. I definitely wouldn’t qualify myself as a “journeyman” of bonsai for lack of a better comparison, but I find myself much more comfortable with tasks like repotting, wiring, deciding what to prune and when. The first time I wired a tree I was petrified I was gonna kill it! Same with repots and even feeding on an appropriate schedule. Ive had two successful seasons worth of JBP cuttings, hoping to get some cuttings off the Bloodgood JM in my front yard next.

Theres still so much I haven’t done: never successfully collected a yamadori (into the burn pile after about 6 weeks), never attempted an air layer or improved a nebari by root grafting. That’s just to name a few.
 

Lorax7

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When you’re not frequently killing or otherwise severely setting back the growth and health of your trees from doing too much to them or doing poorly timed work but also not failing to progress forward with your trees due to being too timid to make bold, irreversible choices (i.e. chop that trunk, make that major bend, etc.) solo and the results of your work are, in fact, mostly improving the aesthetics of your trees
 

BrightsideB

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I think bonsai is just like any other art form or even trade. As far as the development of knowledge, skill, and experience goes. But all in all I believe with art it is your peers that practice the art as well that are more understanding about how well you understand and execute the art. I think how well you practice a craft is owned by them.
 

PA_Penjing

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i think it expires when your trees start to look good. That's impossible to define but I feel like you'll know. I finally stopped considering myself a newbie this summer. I don't think it's a negative thing to be "intermediate". I will always be a student of the art and constantly learning, it's impossible to know everything. I heard a customer at the nursery once call himself a bonsai master and I had to try not to laugh, pretty sure someone else is supposed to call you that
 
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