Things that drive me crazy about bonsai people

[leatherback]

Does it bother you when people like me, who love horticulture and plants, consider bonsai a hobby for themselves?

Nope. Why would it bother me?
That is how you experience it.

 

[Srt8madness]

Wow.. And there I was just winking at an earlier post, which now seems to be absent. Hm. My mind must be playing tricks.

Buuut.. It is certainly not just a hobby to me. Depending on how you practice it, it is a hobby that starts defining part of your life when it comes to daily watering, checking on wires, watching the weather and planning your holidays. That combined with the skills involved in horticulture and design this is more than just a hobby to me

Your once sentences garnered paragraphs of analysis, LOL.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Nope. Why would it bother me?
That is how you experience it.

I don't know, I can't really explain why I used to dislike junipers with a lot of deadwood.
But I did.
And now I don't.
I think people can dislike things without an apparent reason.

 

[nuttiest]

OOF, that drives me crazy too. Nobody should accept those.
Rubbery looking plants with mint drop foliage, and people dare call that a tree?! It's hardly a plant. Whoever designed that plant, was probably a 2 year old with one green and one brown crayon.

Cool if people want to keep them in tiny pots, that's called keeping houseplants. I have houseplants too, in tiny pots.
Thanks for bringing this up, it's never too late to hate on portucalaria.

I'm gonna port-bomb all next week!

 

[Gabler]

I don't know, I can't really explain why I used to dislike junipers with a lot of deadwood.
But I did.
And now I don't.
I think people can dislike things without an apparent reason.

That's another one: Junipers with lots of deadwood. Living in a humid climate, deadwood looks bizarre and unnatural to me. I know it is natural in dry climates, but anything more than a stubby jin still feels unnatural to me.

 

[Sansokuu]

Wait... I'm not sure that's quite right. I mean, they've always sounded the same to me.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/s/dOZ2ZkbUnl

tis true! I always felt like New Englanders were a properly educated bunch.

 

[MaciekA]

I like mostly temperate trees so I would hate the tropics, but the Pacific North West makes me envious. To think people don't have to water every day because it actually rains is crazy to me.

I think bonsai people that want to keep certain aspects of bonsai a mystery to others is something I dislike. Thankfully that attitude seems to be dying out.

I live in the part of the PNW where there is moss everywhere, but my grow space often doesn't get a single drop of rain for months. I sometimes envy the fact that east-siders can walk away from their trees for more than 3-4 hours between the start of May and end of October. Much of the PNW is a parchingly-dry summer climate. Sometimes by start of fall you haven't seen more than an hour of two of rain since the spring. The PNW's wet period is approximately aligned with the east side's cold/snowy period. Fills up the reservoirs but doesn't help much with watering!

 

[MaciekA]

*New Bonsai person styles a non-traditional species*
New Bonsai person: "I'm the first person to ever consider this species for bonsai!"
Old Bonsai person: "I have eight of those I've been training for 20 years."
Me: "here's a photo of Nick Lenz's poison ivy bonsai"

I like to remind newbies that we're all insane here.

This resonates, but I have to say (partially joking but partially not joking)... I am thinking maybe publicly declaring a generous cash bounty to find people actually interested in and actively growing black cottonwood and figuring out all of its quirks and ideal configurations/timings would be productive.

It's a lonely game of growing something other than Kokufu species / Bald Cypress (edit: which are all great species and awesome, and I am envious of the fun BC action). As you observe, I am definitely not the first but it's sparse out there

 

[MaciekA]

This question is severely loaded . My first thought is best to just shut up .So instead I’ll point out what I do like about bonsai people . Thru bonsai I have never meet anything but the nicest kindest people . I’m very encouraged after a understandable initial growth period outside of Japan . Where the hobby was followed . Based on there knowledge and species of trees . ( and if that is what you enjoy or aspire to great for you and your enjoyment of this great pastime ) I’m encouraged . To see the art expand around the world . Using different species and adding unique style and interpretations. Of what they see in nature . Artists in Europe North America and Australia Especially. Expanding the pastime . And appreciation of it . I feel the most honest of the old school Japanese masters . May finally start to think people are starting to get the hobby . Instead of blindly going where they already have , I can’t get the vision of a Japanese master artist . Leaving Japan for the first time. Visiting the mountains of Europe or the western USA . The cold north . Or heat if the south . And calling home . With instructions to sell all his trees . And purchasing a shovel . And sone equipment . Heading back out as excited as a little kid . Enjoy the hobby how you see fit . Help others along there journey . Knowledge needs to be shared to be appreciated. Smile when you imagine where the hobby will be in . 100 years

Well said! Maybe it's time for a "things we love about bonsai people" thread. Bonsai people are a precious resource and their quirks are so minor in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Sansokuu]

I live in the part of the PNW where there is moss everywhere, but my grow space often doesn't get a single drop of rain for months. I sometimes envy the fact that east-siders can walk away from their trees for more than 3-4 hours between the start of May and end of October. Much of the PNW is a parchingly-dry summer climate. Sometimes by start of fall you haven't seen more than an hour of two of rain since the spring. The PNW's wet period is approximately aligned with the east side's cold/snowy period. Fills up the reservoirs but doesn't help much with watering!

This so much. Like we cant go on vacation in the summer because everything will die. Things are green here november to May but june to october all the grass is brown and it can get stupid hot. They always say summer officially starts here July 4th and ends Labor Day. Summer being zero rainfall. I love and envy east coast summer rain!

 

[BrianBay9]

Some guy does a thing one way on his one tree and it works - that then becomes the only right way that thing can be done and everyone else in the world does it wrong.

 

[Cajunrider]

Some guy does a thing one way on his one tree and it works - that then becomes the only right way that thing can be done and everyone else in the world does it wrong.

My ways are so crazy, they can't be the only ways to do things.

 

[namnhi]

You're not practicing bonsai if you don't use the tweezer to remove pine needles. I can understand if you have a shohin that is well-ramified. I found my fingers are much more efficient at remove these old needles.

 

[shohin_branches]

Some guy does a thing one way on his one tree and it works - that then becomes the only right way that thing can be done and everyone else in the world does it wrong.

I've been saying this for awhile now

Kids are like plants there are many different ways to raise them right and everyone will tell you that their way is the only right way. Those people suck.

But also, if you screw up raising plants they won't steal your car

 

[leatherback]

Some guy does a thing one way on his one tree and it works - that then becomes the only right way that thing can be done and everyone else in the world does it wrong.

Well.. n general I agree with that driving me crazy. However.. If it comes to MY methods...

 

[snowman04]

Sure, but I can totally just scream, "BANZAI," while working on my bonsai, and no would know what the hell the is going on, or at least would be scared enough to leave me the hell alone, and then it wouldn't matter.

Also, you are not in Germany. If you walked into a bar and ordered a bier or a bär you'd confuse them all the same.
So I'll worry about my Japanese accent when I go to Japan.

It is true, I am in Germany this week and they know how to get you a beer!!!!

 

[PaulH]

People with YouTube channels spouting bad and downright incorrect bonsai technique yet the have thousands of worshipping followers.

 

[Nybonsai12]

Bonsai people who feel the need to constantly exclaim they are outside the box thinkers and the rules don't apply to their trees because bonsai is a magical art of self expression and their trees are unique in their own way. Similar to Paul's post above, these people are often keen on impressing people who don't know any better.

Bonsai people who claim to be bonsai people but haven't grown from seed, ground grown, hard chopped, grafted etc... and love to give out advice....

 

[Gabler]

Bonsai people who claim to be bonsai people but haven't grown from seed, ground grown, hard chopped, grafted etc... and love to give out advice....

The problem is that it takes a long time to do any one of those things, and in that time, it's easy to read a few dozen books on the topic and feel like an expert, even though you have very little experience actually doing a thing. It magnifies the Dunning-Kruger effect. Add on top of that the fact that it's common to dabble before diving in, and you end up with people who feel like they have years of experience and lots of knowledge to share, but none of that knowledge comes from real first-hand experience.

I know that my experience on this site has been a series of realizations that I don't know as much as I thought I did. When I post a comment with advice, I'm careful to ask myself, Is this something I know from experience or is it from something I watched or read about?

 

[Nybonsai12]

The problem is that it takes a long time to do any one of those things, and in that time, it's easy to read a few dozen books on the topic and feel like an expert, even though you have very little experience actually doing a thing. It magnifies the Dunning-Kruger effect. Add on top of that the fact that it's common to dabble before diving in, and you end up with people who feel like they have years of experience and lots of knowledge to share, but none of that knowledge comes from real first-hand experience.

I know that my experience on this site has been a series of realizations that I don't know as much as I thought I did. When I post a comment with advice, I'm careful to ask myself, Is this something I know from experience or is it from something I watched or read about?

Agree! I've been at it over a decade and i remember early on learning that I should just pipe down and listen. More often than not, i still keep thoughts to myself. I want to have a real good handle on it before i start preaching. I do think in order to be very well rounded at bonsai and have skills to give advice you have to put in time and try lots of things. It just takes time and working with a lot of trees.

I don't want advice from the bonsai person who has been working the same 3 trees on their balcony for 3 years. I want advice from the person who still has sap on their hands from wiring a half dozen large pines last fall and is now up-potting their seedlings for this season.