Somehow a few here seem to think I am advocateing buying finished trees and keeping them the way you bought them. Maybe I am poor at writing because that is not what I am talking about here at all.
What I am saying is that there is a faster way to get better bonsai. Buy a tree that is semi finished and continue to work on it till it is the best you can make it. Maybe someone else in a few years will take it even further. That is all.
I feel that experience far outgrows the trees ability to keep up. What seems good today will not be good in three years. Don't waste time with this material. Sell it off and find newer, better material to work with. Hans, Hopefully when you read this you will understand better where I am coming from. I still think you are trying to make this too black and white.
Atilla, I hope you read the parts where I feel most people will have bonsai in all phases of construction, and yes I look at the gardening nurseries when I am there
Nice thing about an editorial, I don't have an overwhelming desire to have anybody see my way as the only way, it's just my way. Feel free to do it any way you wish.
Happy bonsai, Al