bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - Is Bonsai on a Budget Possible?

Good advice.

I have always found it odd that people don't have a problem spending $4 on 15 or 16 "budget" plants over ten years and complain that bonsai stock is "too expensive. I'd never spend more than $100 on a tree."

That kind of attitude usually dooms you to having alot of middling and really bad trees for years. Those $4 maples will take a decade to make into anything workable. That "free" juiniper you dug up out of your yard is probably going to be a really ugly bonsai, if it doesn't kick off first.

What's the problem with having some patience and saving for a single nice specimen tree? It's primarily an issue of patience. I'd bet that the majority of "cheap" trees were bought on impulse and the need to have a tree "now"...

I am by no means a rich person, or even well off by alot of standards. I have, however, stopped buying cheap plant material for bonsai. I've sold off or dumped about 50 trees that I had accumulated over a decade of impulse and bargain basement shopping. THey were costing me alot of time and effort to not much end.

I now target specimen grade stock and save for it. I bought my most expensive yamadori tree on a time payment plan that I worked out with the seller.

Down the road--if you stay serious about bonsai--you will regret buying alot of inexpensive trees, collecting yard trees because they are "Free" (Which they aren't, but that's another post) and the like. I started with those. Haven't got any of that left.

Don't fool yourself. All choices have consequences. Choosing cheap material comes with other "costs" in time, viability and resources.

Does this mean you have to spend hundreds on excellent material, or that bonsai is only for rich snobs? For Heaven's sake no...It means don't buy something just because it's cheap. That's never a good idea. You usually get what you pay for. Buy something (And even more importantly if you're collecting something--make sure it's worth collecting--99 percent isn't) worth the trouble. Don't piddle away tree money in dribs and drabs on $15 plants every six months. SAVE for a really good opportunity.

1-May-2007	#3
rockm bonsaiTALK ArchMaster Join Date: Oct-2003 Location: Fairfax, Va Country: USA USDA Zone: 7 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 4,561	Good advice. I have always found it odd that people don't have a problem spending $4 on 15 or 16 "budget" plants over ten years and complain that bonsai stock is "too expensive. I'd never spend more than $100 on a tree." That kind of attitude usually dooms you to having alot of middling and really bad trees for years. Those $4 maples will take a decade to make into anything workable. That "free" juiniper you dug up out of your yard is probably going to be a really ugly bonsai, if it doesn't kick off first. What's the problem with having some patience and saving for a single nice specimen tree? It's primarily an issue of patience. I'd bet that the majority of "cheap" trees were bought on impulse and the need to have a tree "now"... I am by no means a rich person, or even well off by alot of standards. I have, however, stopped buying cheap plant material for bonsai. I've sold off or dumped about 50 trees that I had accumulated over a decade of impulse and bargain basement shopping. THey were costing me alot of time and effort to not much end. I now target specimen grade stock and save for it. I bought my most expensive yamadori tree on a time payment plan that I worked out with the seller. Down the road--if you stay serious about bonsai--you will regret buying alot of inexpensive trees, collecting yard trees because they are "Free" (Which they aren't, but that's another post) and the like. I started with those. Haven't got any of that left. Don't fool yourself. All choices have consequences. Choosing cheap material comes with other "costs" in time, viability and resources. Does this mean you have to spend hundreds on excellent material, or that bonsai is only for rich snobs? For Heaven's sake no...It means don't buy something just because it's cheap. That's never a good idea. You usually get what you pay for. Buy something (And even more importantly if you're collecting something--make sure it's worth collecting--99 percent isn't) worth the trouble. Don't piddle away tree money in dribs and drabs on $15 plants every six months. SAVE for a really good opportunity.