What's the cure for boredom in bonsai?

[AcerAddict]

I want to be "busier" in the bonsai hobby, if that makes sense. Obviously, plants have an annual cycle of growth and dormancy (in most cases), but with bonsai, I would think there could be more to do throughout the year, depending on the species and your own local weather/environment, of course. Oftentimes, it feels like all I do with my 20+ plants is go out and look at them every morning, see if any need water, make sure there's no bugs or infections present, then come back inside. While I do enjoy simply staring at them, I wish there was more I could do to actively participate in the hobby. I'm a "hands-on" person with hobbies, hence the reason I also participate in woodworking, billiards/pool, and general horticulture. I don't read books and don't binge-watch shows on Netflix. I have to be physically involved.

One of my favorite bonsai channels on YouTube is Heron's Bonsai (Peter Chan). He has SO much material at his nursery, that it seems like he is constantly busy with trimming, air-layering, re-potting, re-styling, and rehabilitating countless numbers of trees. While I don't have the time or space to run my own nursery, there has to be a happy medium between him being swamped year-round with work, and me sitting on my hands doing nothing with my trees most days.

I guess a supplemental question to ask would be if there's a tree in your collection that grows crazy fast and/or requires a high amount of maintenance? Or, is the answer to keeping me busy with bonsai simply to have higher numbers of trees?

 

[BrianBay9]

Get more trees

 

[Eckhoffw]

Yep. More trees. I feel you tho.
I’m 3 yrs into this hobby, currently hover around 100 trees/plants in pots.
Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with summer watering, but nowadays I’m getting antsy.
I’m will most likely dig up some wild trees soon, and plant some of my current trees back in the ground.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Growing-on takes a lot of time verses managing a given shape. I grow-on very little. Whatever size a tree is when I buy it, that's as big as it's ever going to be. It will get more mature, but not bigger or taller. Keeping something growing within a profile will keep you busy.

 

[Kadebe]

Get some trees that take a lot of time when you prune them... they are not the easiest ones
Juniperus rigida... the attached picture => Ryan Neil pruned this for 10 hours...so for us it will take 2 days
Juniperus squamata

 

[Pitoon]

Be careful what you wish for......it is extremely easy to become a servant if one has to many plants. Trust me I know first hand.

 

[Toche]

One of my favorite bonsai channels on YouTube is Heron's Bonsai (Peter Chan). He has SO much material at his nursery, that it seems like he is constantly busy with trimming, air-layering, re-potting, re-styling, and rehabilitating countless numbers of trees. While I don't have the time or space to run my own nursery, there has to be a happy medium between him being swamped year-round with work, and me sitting on my hands doing nothing with my trees most days.

It's true that he is very busy, but he is well organized.
When I went to visit him, I saw that he was mixing his substrate with a concrete machine.








If you don't have much space in your garden, make shitakusa.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

The trick, for me, is to be endlessly fascinated with the world and by what I don't know.

I spend a lot more time researching, reading, and studying pictures and albums than I do in the garden. Discovery of techniques, ideas and perspectives is the greatest anti-boredom for me--I could almost imagine myself finding profound enjoyment in bonsai without having any trees of my own.

But even the time I spend in the garden is mostly observation, which is an unlimited source of anti-boredom depending on how, and how closely, one chooses to look at things.

 

[Hartinez]

I’d say something similar to Pitoon. I’ve got quite a few juniper that each year take a little more of my time and a little more of my attention. Several shohin elm as well. With each passing year and more and more ramification. More wiring and conversely un-wiring will need to occur. As your trees mature they will demand more time and daily, weekly, monthly maintenance. I’m a firm believer that junipers need almost a 100% wiring at some point in your ownership which in itself will demand lots of time. As it matures the you’ll need less structural and more fine wiring and 75% wiring of a tree with a crazy amount of ramification will still take hours and hours.

 

[Pitoon]

I’d say something similar to Pitoon. I’ve got quite a few juniper that each year take a little more of my time and a little more of my attention. Several shohin elm as well. With each passing year and more and more ramification. More wiring and conversely un-wiring will need to occur. As your trees mature they will demand more time and daily, weekly, monthly maintenance. I’m a firm believer that junipers need almost a 100% wiring at some point in your ownership which in itself will demand lots of time. As it matures the you’ll need less structural and more fine wiring and 75% wiring of a tree with a crazy amount of ramification will still take hours and hours.

Very true! The last juniper I wired took me two days to complete.

 

[BeepBeepBonsaiSheep]

I feel you. I got the same thing going. Go out and water, check them out, then back inside. I built a much needed bench, so that was fun

My only suggestion is to have some stuff that needs work in different seasons. Have some stock that needs spring/ summer love and some other stock that needs summer/ fall love. Or maybe not “needs” but can tolerate pruning during different times of year

I may be incorrect, but maybe wiring in late summer/ early fall? The new seasons growth will be hardening off, so wire things up before they’re set?

Maybe start looking into building things? Benches? Cold frame? Wood flats for upcoming collection?

I understand that some places may get too cold to do much during winter

Maybe bring a tree inside and sketch it out to plan development. You don’t even need to be good at drawing. Just good enough to get the trunk line figured out and a shape you’d like for the canopy

 

[rockm]

"Downtime" for bonsai means opportunity to focus on building a decent garden around them. I have spent time finding and installing granite walkways, shelving, stone lanterns, constructing winter storage pits that can convert into stands in the spring and summer.

I've found that not having to "do" anything to trees is because you don't know what to do, mostly...Fall brings an opportunity to wire some deciduous trees (which can take days to do correctly). Also now is a good time to actually get out and visit bonsai places--I've got to get up to see Matt O. in the next couple of months, as well as plan trips to store my oaks at a bonsai nursery. There are destinations around you (some may take a drive--A weekend trip to D.C. to see the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum--now is a great time, since summer crowds have gone and the D trees leaves are changing. Also all the trees are out on display. At the end of next month, the staff starts consolidating them in the Chinese pavilion and winter quarters for storage.

 

[Colorado]

I think the short answer is that you need more trees in refinement. It’s totally true that when you’re just growing out a trunk, there’s about 2 minutes if bonsai work during the year, if that.

Ficus keep me busy, constantly growing out new shoots that need to be wired and/or pruned.

I think that generally deciduous, when refined, are also more demanding of time than some conifers.

When you have a few trees that need pinching, then post-flush prune, then wire, etc then you have more tasks to keep you busy.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Make pots, slabs, anneal and prepare wire, look for deals on fertilizer, draw, design, get some conifers to wire in winter, blend soils, set up a sphagnum bog (it'll pay itself back in a year). Map the sun through your garden and pick the ideal location.
Picking weeds, applying bark mulch around your benches.
Dive into the soil microbiome and gather some cultures, isolate bacteria and fungi, grow those too.
Enough to do if you want to prep for next year.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

If you have too much time on your hands, it just means you don't have enough Japanese black pines

Though to be honest most deciduous require a lot of work if they are well-ramified (at least during the growing season). Even Chinese elms can get away from you once you try to keep their growth within a certain outline. Makes you wish for the good ole' days when you were letting it throw out a lot of sacrifice growth

 

[hinmo24t]

weed. just kidding just kidding. im a unique one with that, 34 and havent drank since i
was 23ish and i dont really condone the herb unless you have a secure job - just my opinion

priorities. but i do enjoy a toke and my garden


i might be having a kid in next year or so and will prob pull back on the herb until i get my bearings too
situational

 

[sorce]

He has SO much material at his nursery, that it seems like he is constantly busy with trimming, air-layering, re-potting, re-styling, and rehabilitating countless numbers of trees

The general concensus is that his trees aren't the greatest.
Some of this can be chalked up to personal preference, but I'm afraid most of it is because of the fact that in order to remain viable as a seller and in the eye of the buyer, you have to work trees to put up content often, and most of this work then falls out of appropriate times to do work, which leads to weak trees horticulturally, which transfers into poor design options, which makes for many shitty trees.

Everyone's number of how many trees they can reasonably and righteously care for is different, but they are all inflated.

More trees is never the way to go to cure boredom.

Unless of course you are selecting excellent material, working on it a bit, with the intention of selling them, unfortunately people in this stage of "boredom" usually don't have the skills or connections necessary to make this a possible path. Mostly because any possible buyers must do the same thing you are doing to learn for themselves.

So while buying trees all the time is certainly fun and engaging, it's kind of like how you can't just keep buying new fish and putting them in the same tank or they will die. Only, the death of a good design of a tree is much more subtle, so it goes unnoticed. Which again, leads to many shitty trees.

Fish people can buy another fishtank, lone bonsai growers can't afford to pay another human.

Even if you built your collection so specifically, that you had a reasonable number of trees, that actually need work at such varied times that you can stay relatively busy, you will still find a lull in activity that buying more trees can't fulfill.

Fact is this isn't really a busy hobby. It's almost completely the opposite. In order to be successful, you must be comfortable in this lull of activity.

Build a model railroad.

Sorce

 

[AcerAddict]

Growing-on takes a lot of time verses managing a given shape. I grow-on very little. Whatever size a tree is when I buy it, that's as big as it's ever going to be. It will get more mature, but not bigger or taller. Keeping something growing within a profile will keep you busy.

This is a big thing causing me to "hurry up and wait" right now. I have next to nothing that is refined already. I'm actively working to change that though, quite literally waiting for more refined material to arrive in the mail today, and then more coming next week.

Be careful what you wish for......it is extremely easy to become a servant if one has to many plants. Trust me I know first hand.

I don't want to reach the point where I'm so busy with trees that I don't have time for anything else. Definitely looking for the happy medium here.

I spend a lot more time researching, reading, and studying pictures and albums than I do in the garden. Discovery of techniques, ideas and perspectives is the greatest anti-boredom for me

I already spend a LOT of time researching and reading stuff online. My wife is probably borderline alarmed by all the Latin names I spit out on a regular basis now. Got SO many web pages bookmarked already, split into categories such as Bonsai Retailers, Bonsai Care Sheets, etc.

My only suggestion is to have some stuff that needs work in different seasons. Have some stock that needs spring/ summer love and some other stock that needs summer/ fall love. Or maybe not “needs” but can tolerate pruning during different times of year

To that exact idea, I'm actively shopping conifers to both give myself something green to look at over the winter, as well as give me some tasks to do like wiring.

Maybe start looking into building things? Benches? Cold frame? Wood flats for upcoming collection?

I'm going to be building a 14' x 10' shed this winter (image attached), complete with HardiePlank siding (per our stupid HOA rules), a fully-shingled roof, and a couple windows for natural light. I may even go a step further and insulate/drywall the interior walls. Might do a couple solar panels with a deep cycle battery and a power inverter too. We'll see how crazy I want to get with it. When that's done, I'm building a large, two-tiered bonsai display next to it that should hold at least 15 to 20 small- to medium-sized trees when it's done.

I've found that not having to "do" anything to trees is because you don't know what to do, mostly...Fall brings an opportunity to wire some deciduous trees (which can take days to do correctly). Also now is a good time to actually get out and visit bonsai places--I've got to get up to see Matt O. in the next couple of months, as well as plan trips to store my oaks at a bonsai nursery. There are destinations around you (some may take a drive--A weekend trip to D.C. to see the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum--now is a great time, since summer crowds have gone and the D trees leaves are changing. Also all the trees are out on display. At the end of next month, the staff starts consolidating them in the Chinese pavilion and winter quarters for storage.

I'm not a big traveler to be honest. My wife and I usually do one big vacation a year, especially now that we live at the coast again and pretty much live where we used to go for vacation. Aside from going over to the Charlotte area in December for the Winter Silhouette Bonsai Show, I don't see myself driving around much in the near future.

I think the short answer is that you need more trees in refinement. It’s totally true that when you’re just growing out a trunk, there’s about 2 minutes if bonsai work during the year, if that.

When you have a few trees that need pinching, then post-flush prune, then wire, etc then you have more tasks to keep you busy.

This is definitely the case for me. Not only do I need more trees, but more trees that aren't currently growing out in nursery pots.

Make pots, slabs, anneal and prepare wire, look for deals on fertilizer, draw, design, get some conifers to wire in winter, blend soils, set up a sphagnum bog (it'll pay itself back in a year). Map the sun through your garden and pick the ideal location...

I'm building a number of flat wooden grow boxes over the winter. Just before spring hits, I have at least a dozen items that will be getting their nursery pot root balls chopped and moved into the flats.

If you have too much time on your hands, it just means you don't have enough Japanese black pines

Though to be honest most deciduous require a lot of work if they are well-ramified (at least during the growing season). Even Chinese elms can get away from you once you try to keep their growth within a certain outline. Makes you wish for the good ole' days when you were letting it throw out a lot of sacrifice growth

I definitely need some JBPs in my life. Looking at other conifers, I'm like "oh, those are only single-flush and not double? Not interested! I need WORK to do!

My deciduous stuff isn't advanced enough to be in the shape-maintaining stage yet. I'm still letting that go nuts all year to thicken trunks and branches.

weed. just kidding just kidding. im a unique one with that, 34 and havent drank since i
was 23ish and i dont really condone the herb unless you have a secure job - just my opinion

Haha. I'm not into the herb, but I do indulge in premium tequila as a guilty pleasure. It's at the point where I've become almost snobby about it too. I usually don't even buy tequila unless it's at least $40 or $50 a bottle. The cheaper stuff is fine for margaritas, but when I slowly sip 2 oz poured over a big fancy square ice cube with a lime wedge, I want the good stuff, LOL.

The general concensus is that his trees aren't the greatest. Some of this can be chalked up to personal preference, but I'm afraid most of it is because of the fact that in order to remain viable as a seller and in the eye of the buyer, you have to work trees to put up content often, and most of this work then falls out of appropriate times to do work, which leads to weak trees horticulturally, which transfers into poor design options, which makes for many shitty trees.

I've seen other people comment that he's more of a "manufacturer" of bonsai trees (think Brussel's Bonsai) now as opposed to a focused, small collection bonsai artist like Ryan Neil and Bjorn Bjorholm. To be fair to Mr. Chan, he's running a huge nursery, and I'm sure that the overwhelming majority of his income is driven by sales of sub-$200 trees. I'm sure it's the same thing for Brussel's Bonsai as well. I mean, Home Depot and Lowe's even sell Brussel's trees now. I'd bet a lot of money that you'll NEVER see a Mirai or Eisei-en tree for sale at Home Depot. As far as Peter Chan having "shitty trees", I couldn't disagree with you more there. Watch any video of his "garden tours" where he walks the whole nursery and discusses many of the high-end trees he's got for sale or in his collection. Is he the one personally maintaining them 100% of the time? I doubt it, but I certainly wouldn't call any of his stuff "shitty."

Everyone's number of how many trees they can reasonably and righteously care for is different, but they are all inflated. More trees is never the way to go to cure boredom.

I posted somewhere in here a few weeks back that ultimately, I would like to have about 10 to 15 or 20 trees that are well-defined, in real bonsai pots (not nursery plastic or training boxes), and that would make me happy.

Even if you built your collection so specifically, that you had a reasonable number of trees, that actually need work at such varied times that you can stay relatively busy, you will still find a lull in activity that buying more trees can't fulfill.

Fact is this isn't really a busy hobby. It's almost completely the opposite. In order to be successful, you must be comfortable in this lull of activity.

Don't get me wrong, I know that ANY hobby can have downtime. I'm not naïve to that fact. I don't want to have so many trees that I'm working on them 3-4 hours a day just to keep up. Also, it's not that I don't feel comfortable when I'm not actively doing something to a tree. As I said, I do have other things that keep me busy. I just wish that I could spend a little more time actively involved with bonsai since I do enjoy it so much.

 

[bwaynef]

My budget took a hit when we chose for my wife to stay home when we had kids, ...and more of one when we adopted. Several years I went with no outlay of cash on material ...but I wanted more to work on with too much of my time spent waiting on my material to be ready. (And to complicate matters, my material didn't do what others' material would do due to lack of available sunlight ....making me have to wait even longer.) I figured I'd be in that constrained-budget period for a while, so decided to dive into propagation and set myself up to have things to do ...eventually. I've succeeded and failed in that regard, but things are coming into their own now so that I usually have something to work on at any given time. The bonus is that I have treats to give away to visitors who are new to the hobby.

I'm finally at a point where I can start to care about the aesthetics of "the garden" as well. Its in the planning stages, but approaching the "imminent" stage.

 

[Shogun610]

Haha there is never boredom just change of seasons. It’s cyclical , pots , wire acquisition, tools, & figuring out soils season starts now.
Tomorrow is taking off wire on a huge Scots Pine they styled w Mauro and starting work on a collected ERC at the studio.
Moving / taking things into greenhouse , so so much Ume.
Scope locations to collect , email who you need to., and figure out your soil / wire / pot etc needs.
Personally I’ve never been bored but so much to do with what I do at studio and my own goals / plans in Bonsai. Know that’s not everyone but, yeah it’s ok to have down time too.