Quote:
Originally posted by Ron Martin
I was just looking for the difference between what most would call pre-bonsai and just plain nursery stock.
Any way you can help me with that definition 
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Hi again, Ron.
This may be like defining pornography: "I know it when I see it."
However, I'll give it a try.
Pre-bonsai must have
some potential for bonsai.
It's probably easier to define by exclusion. Thus, I would say that the following are nursery stock, NOT pre-bonsai.
SHrubs with no really dominant trunk, particularly in consideration of their bulk. This would include things like arborvitae sold at home depot that consist of two trunks sheared to resemble one tree, and many garden center azaleas.
Super pruned trees. I saw some dwarf scots pines with two inch trunks and decent roots, and got all excited until I realized that almost all the branches were (a) small, and (b) coming out of a crude chop on the trunk. Okay for landscape, but Not for bonsai.
Species not suitable for bonsai due to growth characteristics. Ailanthus come to mind, and trees with large leaves that cannot be reduced to bonsai sizes.
Note that I have not dealt with trees that may seem okay and been recognized as bonsai species, but where there is a question of quality.
At this year's midatlantic convention, I heard Colin Lewis discussing two of Andy Smith's large Rocky Mountain Junipers. One he bought on the spot, describing it as the "bee's knees". The other, for about $100 less, he said "had too many problems. They could all be solved, but why bother." I would submit that both trees were legitimately pre-bonsai.
On the other hand, a stick in a pot, in the right hands can become a bonsai as well. Is it a pre-bonsai, or a bonsai in spite of itself?
I dunno.
Regards,
Bart