Thinking about the seriousness of my addiction.

[ShadyStump]

The trees you lose are very important in that they should be teaching you what you did wrong so that the trees you are going to get have a better chance at surviving.
You need to learn the lesson they all can tell you.

You're right. I just think we should focus less on the lesson learned and more on why we should learn it.

 

[Emanon]

A branch broken off a tree is a chance to reassess the style and see how it can be improved.
Often my trees do not improve because I have been stuck in a rut and can only see what is. Accident can force me out of the rut to look at what could be.

This practice of bonsai seems to often bring up opportunities for me to think on the following Taoist parable. I think of it whenever something goes "wrong" -- branch gets bent too far and breaks, tree dies, cut made too far past the point you wanted it to be, etc. -- and it ends up leading to something unexpected such as motivation to learn a new technique or skill, buy a new tree, or it adds some interesting character to the tree I'm working on.

"There was once an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day, his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. 'Such bad luck,' they said sympathetically. 'Maybe,' the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it two wild horses. 'Such good luck!' the neighbors exclaimed. 'Maybe,' replied the farmer.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown off, and broke his leg. Again, the neighbors came to offer their sympathy on his misfortunate. 'Such bad luck,' they said. 'Maybe,' answered the farmer.

The day after that, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army to fight in a war. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. 'Such good luck!' cried the neighbors. 'Maybe,' said the farmer."

 

[ShadyStump]

This practice of bonsai seems to often bring up opportunities for me to think on the following Taoist parable. I think of it whenever something goes "wrong" -- branch gets bent too far and breaks, tree dies, cut made too far past the point you wanted it to be, etc. -- and it ends up leading to something unexpected such as motivation to learn a new technique or skill, buy a new tree, or it adds some interesting character to the tree I'm working on.

"There was once an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day, his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. 'Such bad luck,' they said sympathetically. 'Maybe,' the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it two wild horses. 'Such good luck!' the neighbors exclaimed. 'Maybe,' replied the farmer.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown off, and broke his leg. Again, the neighbors came to offer their sympathy on his misfortunate. 'Such bad luck,' they said. 'Maybe,' answered the farmer.

The day after that, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army to fight in a war. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. 'Such good luck!' cried the neighbors. 'Maybe,' said the farmer."

I love that story. Heard it 100 times, but still feels relevant each one.

 

[Larrytx]

A professor I worked for used a piece of philosophy on his students when they were worried and distraught with the covid pandemic.
He asked them: Tell me, what can you control about this situation? Does it matter for the whole situation as it is right now, that you are in control of those things? Do you, right now, have more or less control than you did before, and if so, why?
He then explained: there are big things happening, things that we can't control. They will happen either way, even if we wouldn't be on this world, it would be happening right now to someone. We can worry about this, we can feel bad and that's alright. But we also have to look at the things we can control, how we do control them and how there's still so much to enjoy about life.

My sister loves watering my trees. And she takes every chance she gets to help me out. But she's a clumsy 27 year old human being and her ADHD is way worse than mine - she thinks five steps ahead but only remembers the fifth step, so when she waters she only cares about the watering wand and she doesn't think about the garden hose attached to it. This means she knocks over 5 pots a year. Expensive ones, with very high personal value trees in them. I've been angry, I've been mad. But since last year I see these accidents as tests for my horticultural skills. They're challenges that pop up.
I found apple cedar rust in some of my junipers. Which is a wonderful invitation to learn more about it.

You can't change the weather. It'll always be there, as a friend or as an enemy. This time it was your friend, it didn't hurt you physically and it'll test your patience and skill. It'll teach you how to plan for unforseen circumstances in the future. It's not always going to be that way. But that's how it is.

This is not on the primary discussion you guys are having, but how did you treat the Apple cedar rust? I have a red cedar (juniper) that has it. I removed the rust as good as I could. Then, used a q-tip to wash the area with alcohol and added a systemic fungicide to the water.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

This is not on the primary discussion you guys are having, but how did you treat the Apple cedar rust? I have a red cedar (juniper) that has it. I removed the rust as good as I could. Then, used a q-tip to wash the area with alcohol and added a systemic fungicide to the water.

Trichoderma harzarium and viride. Copper sulphate and physical removal.

 

[Larrytx]

Trichoderma harzarium and viride. Copper sulphate and physical removal.

Thanks. I’ll google the first two of your recommendations because I have never heard of those substances.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Thanks. I’ll google the first two of your recommendations because I have never heard of those substances.

The first two are fungi munching fungi. They seem to attack fruiting bodies and spores.
Not sure if they are truly effective on the long run, because it seems that applications need to be repeated twice a year. But it beats antibiotics that have limited effects on rust.
My rust grows right through roseclear ultra, even when injected with it.

 

[Larrytx]

The first two are fungi munching fungi. They seem to attack fruiting bodies and spores.
Not sure if they are truly effective on the long run, because it seems that applications need to be repeated twice a year. But it beats antibiotics that have limited effects on rust.
My rust grows right through roseclear ultra, even when injected with it.

Thank you for helping and I will keep your post. However, after thinking about it, this is on a small collected tree and I am going to get rid of it via trash can. Thanks again for helping me to learn.