Chris Johnston
Omono
I am sick and tired of a couple of folks trying to stir up some kind of controversy by misrepresenting my views and my posts on the subject of nursery stock v. prebonsai v. yamadori. I have been very clear over the last year, far clearer than others in my beliefs. Yet every post seems met with a distortion of my words and intent, setting up some kind of straw man.
My view is and always has been, that an enthusiast should buy the best stock they can afford and can handle. Sometimes that may be nursery stock. Sometimes it may be prebonsai. Sometimes it may be collected trees. And sometimes it may be a "finished" tree.
What are the converse arguments? An enthusiast holds themselves back by practicing only on nursery stock regardless of the cost. Refining techniques can only be learned on more advanced material, which may take years to produce from nursery stock, or decades from young seedlings. An enthusiast who obtains a tree far beyond their ability is likely to kill that tree, or neglect it, and if it is a very fine tree, it's a shame and a loss to the bonsai world.
Does anyone have a problem with anything I have said so far? Have I contradicted anything I have said in the past? Have I changed my position at all?
I have said and maintain today that being so proud of how little you would spend on tree material is no virtue. For someone with some expertise to eschew advanced material is to limit themselves. For someone who does not even recognize how little they really know to allow great material to languish is a shame. Clear enough?
There is no contradiction, boys. Go admire each other some more.
My view is and always has been, that an enthusiast should buy the best stock they can afford and can handle. Sometimes that may be nursery stock. Sometimes it may be prebonsai. Sometimes it may be collected trees. And sometimes it may be a "finished" tree.
What are the converse arguments? An enthusiast holds themselves back by practicing only on nursery stock regardless of the cost. Refining techniques can only be learned on more advanced material, which may take years to produce from nursery stock, or decades from young seedlings. An enthusiast who obtains a tree far beyond their ability is likely to kill that tree, or neglect it, and if it is a very fine tree, it's a shame and a loss to the bonsai world.
Does anyone have a problem with anything I have said so far? Have I contradicted anything I have said in the past? Have I changed my position at all?
I have said and maintain today that being so proud of how little you would spend on tree material is no virtue. For someone with some expertise to eschew advanced material is to limit themselves. For someone who does not even recognize how little they really know to allow great material to languish is a shame. Clear enough?
There is no contradiction, boys. Go admire each other some more.