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Bonsai nare-do-well
Join Date: Jan-2003
Location: Summerville SC
Country: USA
Posts: 4,653
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The Mad race to pot
I just spent a few minutes on the phone with a club that has asked me to do a workshop for them. They had originally contacted me a few months ago and the date had already been set. The call was just to make sure that everything was on track.
At their request I was to supply the trees. Not a problem. That actually made it easier on me. I had control over the quality of the material to be used.
I managed to come up with 10 pieces of stock that had all the right stuff. Shapley trunks, good branching. Not small spindly things but substantial things.
They have already seen pictures of the workshop materials and are quit happy with them. Me to. All will be great trees in short order.
Good beginning stock always makes me look good ;o)
My spirits took a slip downward when they insisted that the trees not only be styled in the workshop but potted as well. A real bummer in my opinion
Never figured out why people are in such a rush to pot. It slows the process down so much. Trim the
roots , put in the pot and guess what. Growth is drastically slowed down.
It takes at least three times longer for the tree to fluff back out again.
Until the tree is about 90% styled selecting that bonsai pot is mostly a guess. Sort of a wag at what the tree will look at later on down the road.
If one does only the minimal amount of root work (only that which is necessary for the health of the tree) growth in not really slowed down.
By being patient in the beginning you get the “final product” done much quicker.
The most important pot in bonsai is that nursery pot the tree came in. Don’t be in such a hurry to take it out of there.
Hopefully the club will change their minds about the potting. It would be the smart thing to do. But I guess I’ll have to go along with their wishes. They are after all paying the bills.
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