Carl_Bergstrom

I originally posted this as a response to BonsaiAl's "Critical Eye" thread, but I think it actually is a separate topic, so I gave its own thread.

So you're taking up bonsai. And you're just getting into it, and you're really excited, and you want to post here, and learn, and impress us, and then you remember with a sigh that BonsaiAl doesn't like posts with pictures of twigs stuck into pots .

What can you do instead, other than shelling out two hundred bucks for a finished tree, collecting something before learning to do it right only to have it die on you, or waiting five years to have larger-sized material?

A few sugesstions, all of which help me be patient while I wait for my trees to grow.

• Grow some accent plantings. There have been a number of threads about accent plants here at this forum, and you'll learn a lot about growing technique and about aesthetics by practicing with accent plants. You'll also have some great plantings to accompany your trees, once they develop. And finally, you'll have stuff that you can post on here and impress us in a short time. Most of the accent plants I've posted to this forum are less than a year old; some were only a few weeks old when the picture was taken.
• Here I'll diverge from Al slightly and say go ahead, try making a few slender shohin - but try to make them look like trees, not like copies of larger bonsai you've seen elsewhere. I've posted a couple of such trees that I've done here, and you make decent plantings quite cheaply (see my instant gratification thread) and very quickly. Not masterpieces, but fun to play with. Once again, you learn a lot, and will have some trees to display and enjoy while you wait for your larger trees to develop.
• Read obsessively. There's a tremendous amount to be learned about bonsai. Lots of information is available on the web, and vastly more is available in books and especially magazines. Read, read, and read more. Oh, and of course look a lots and lots of pictures. There are few better ways to develop your eye than by doing so.
• Post your pictures of twigs in pots to the IBC gallery. Be sure to add a few Chinese figurines before taking your picture - they dig those over there at IBC.
• Try your hand at forest plantings or landscape scenes (penjing). This takes lots of practice and talent, but doesn't require as old of material. A very attractive forest planting can be made in just a year or two using material only a few years old. And it's just darn hard to do right, so start practicing now. By the time you get really good at it, your other trees will be plenty big, I can assure you of that.
• Learn how to make virtuals. Work on others' trees, your own trees, trees from magazines, full-sized trees that are growing in the wild, whatever. I cannot overstate the value of this approach in developing your aesthetic design sense and ultimately your own personal style. (I can't claim to have gotten far on the former or anywhere on the latter - but I can see that the virtuals will help me a great deal. I almost never make a virtual without learning something along the way.) If you're a good sketch artist, draw instead if you prefer, and take a look at Peter Adams' books for inspiration.
• Join a club. Clubs are not just amazing sources of knowledge - they can be amazing sources of material as well. Club members are always passing around or selling cheaply trees that they have outgrown, or visa versa. The material may be second hand, but it is not necessarily second rate. Often club members get rid of top-notch trees from their collections so that they can focus in and specialize on a particular species, for example. These can be terrific places to start.

All the best,
Old Mister Crow

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In love with trees

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