The Flawed Bonsai

bonsaimaniac

I'm ready to take some shots. Is there any value in "Flawed Bonsai"? This is sort of a follow up on the artistry thread and the idea of 2 camps of thought. I would like to add a little on the side.

In Bonsai Techniques II by John Naka he takes the time to show examples of naturally created trees and then shows them in a bonsai pot. The reason this is interesting and I may be wrong, but it shows trees that do not adhere to the traditional bonsai rules of proporions, branch location or even balance. Are these trees flawed? Well the answer would be yes but they are still very dramatic. They can be looked at for hours just trying to imagine the forces of nature that created such features. Is the artistry lost? Is trying to copy this in bonsai a wasted pursuit? I would like some of the more experienced bonsaist to give an opion because I really don't know.

People that work on different species of trees in a way seperate them self into different camps. What I mean by this is that someone that works primarily with JB pines and someone that works with ficus will have very differing points of veiw as to what bonsai rules are to be followed or broken. there is also the problem of people giving advice on trees they haven't worked with and fail to recognize the difficulties of working with or using a technique with that species. A 500 year old pine yamadori with a thin trunk is not the same as a garden grown tree with a thin trunk. (You don't stick it back in the ground to fatten up the trunk).

Bonsai Today online has a free article about starting with nursery stock. In the article it starts out by stating that it is next to impossible to find flawless bonsai starting material. It then talks about the goals of working with such material. The fact is that many don't have access to great material. Whether it's money or location not everyone will produce a show quality bonsai. Should they quit? I wonder if success can be found in these "flawed" bonsai? Is working on these trees just practice to get better so that one day in the future we will feel justified shelling out several grand for better stock?

i don't want to start a fight. I am really interested an "elitist" point of view. My trees at this stage all have years of growth needed before I would even paste a picture here and only one is starting the refining process this year. I have my opinion on these issues (not stated above playing a bit of devils advicate) but have wondered for some time.

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Treebeard

Hi bonsaimaniac,

I have an obsession with natural trees, I'm always comparing them with bonsai and trying them in pots. Sometimes it looks good, sometimes not.

I'll share one of my better efforts (well, I think so). This tree is an oak, and is in a local park. I think it works perfectly as a bonsai.

Regards,

Chris.

Attached Images

aok.jpg (45.3 KB, 72 views)

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Carl_Bergstrom

I knew I'd seen and commented on that tree before!

http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthread.php?t=9796

Best regards,
Carl

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Attila

Cool looking tree in the pot, really cool.

And the oak has a good grasp of the bonsai rules, with just a few exceptions. Smart oak!

Delboy

Starting with nursery stock, the tree is bound to have flaws. You remove the floors and look for positives. Roots, trunk, taper, foliage close to the trunk and branch placement.
If your also refering to starter material, as in, bonsai sold at a specialist bonsai nursery, then the tree would have been grown in the ground, been transfered into a pot and then exported. Obviously the tree is not going to be in a finished style. If you find such a tree at a nursery, it will either have some flaws or be VERY expensive.
There is access to great material out there and it's not a fortune. Check out some of the trees in the $50 bonsaitalk show from last year. In years to come I would show some of these trees at a local club show. It's whatever scale you are into bonsai. If you wish to show trees internationaly, you would have had to be training the tree for quite a few years, for it to look anything.
I like bonsai for the rewards it gives me. Not other people only.



I started around the other way. I first bought imported starter trees because I couldn't wait for it to start looking like a nice tree. The last 2 trees I've purchased, have both been nursery stock, One of them was the most expensive tree I've ever bought. Although it was still an imported tree, but raw material. Even that has flaws but I will remove these in years to come. This tree will make ME very proud in years to come.

Regards
Delboy