"Bonsai University"

Ravenna

Hi,

I am fairly new to bonsai and I was thinking of going to the "Bonsai university" at the Crespi centre in Parabiago and wondered whether anyone has heard anything (good or bad) about it or even been there.

Their courses go over a year and you have four weekends distributed over the year where you attend. They give you bonsai material to work on and apply what they have taught you in theory. You take the trees home with you and take them back for each new lesson.

I very much like the idea that you have trees that you keep on working during the course so that there is a continuous follow-up with the material you worked on and you can see and learn what you did right or wrong rather than going to different work shops where there is no "curriculum" that builds up on what you know. I don't speak Italian but they said that that was not a problem...

Here is their site if anyone is interested: http://www.crespibonsai.it/eng/crespicup2004.htm

Regards, Ravenna

Advertisement

Carl_Bergstrom

Hello Ravenna,

I cannot comment on this particular program, but I can say that you are exactly right when you write the following:



In addition to the advantage that you've identified, each technique - repotting, feeding, pruning, wiring, etc. - depends on every other technique that you use. Thus it is essential to go through the yearly cycle once or ideally several times with a single instructor, so that your whole system of working with bonsai is self-consistant.

Best wishes,
Carl

__________________
In love with trees

Ravenna

Hi Carl,



The whole course goes over three years with exams in between and you do follow up the trees that you had at the beginning for the whole three years though each year you get a few new ones.

The "basic unit" is a year and it depends on you how far you want to go...

Regards, Ravenna