tachigi

I have to go with Al on this one. Seems the experienced crowd wants their cake and eat it too. We waggle our finger at the new and inexperienced and tell them their tree is a stick and has no interest your wasting your time or go plant in the ground for a couple of years then will talk. We then on the other hand talk out of the other side of our mouth and say don't try this, and don't try that, on that poor tree you'll kill it.

I fortunately didn't come to forums when I first started (if there was forums) I read books and articles. I talked to people who had been successful and those people that failed. Then I tried that technique and traveled down the path of my learning curve.If I was new to bonsai today and got the advise that is shoveled out I would throw up my hands in disgust or shoot someone the bird out of frustration and confusion. It is amazing to me that the new people press on. Which I think is a strong statement for the state of bonsai and the growing interest.

I see nothing wrong with a person trying things for the first time. With the caveat that they have done some homework on the technique they want to try. It is a given that bending a branch by fire done improperly will be dangerous to tree and enthusiast. If it isn't apparent to the individual that it is, then said individual has more pressing problems than worrying about whether he is going to turn his tree in a treebeque.

In my opinion anyone that admonishes a person for trying something new for the first time and uses the excuse that "Your going to kill a tree" is not being honest. We have all, every single one of us, been down that road. We have all had our moments of defeat as well as triumph. The knowledge that we gain from such ventures, be it on our own or from someone else, is what is important in our development.

__________________
Tom

Shady Side Bonsai
Bonsai Vault
4MAAT

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