Guide To Bonsai Critique

TreeBay

I scanned it on the copier at the post office!

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pdbbonsai

Who is Valtal Paul? I hope this isnt a reference to me.

Andy, I honestly wanted to know what you thought was incorrect on the guide. As a "general" guide, I thought it was a good place to start. You didnt. I wonder why.

I realize you get bullied here, and people challenge you, as this thread is evident of.....I did not aim to do this. I tried my best to say that wasnt my intent. Please dont try to think you know me.

I would like to offer my apology to you. My only intent was to grasp your thoughts. As in any club, members share. Apparently you misunderstood me.

I dont need to be spoon fed. I dont mind stumbling through forums, books and club workshops to learn. I have friends here that also help me understand things that I question. That is why I ask questions.

A brief explanation would have sufficed. I truely am sorry for putting you in the spotlight.

If anyone feels that the guide is incorrect, I DONT SEE IT, could you shed some light on it PLEASE?

Paul

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K.A. Rutledge

I happened across this photo of Matt from his last birthday. Seems rather desperate to me.

;-)

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas

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K.A. Rutledge

Paul,

Sorry, "Vaulta Paul" is gibberish for Walter Pall (German accent and all).

Paul, you were not necessarily the "target" of my rant. I was basically referencing what I see as an inappropriate and lazy use of all online discussion forums. Too many who know nothing and are too lazy to go and learn anything come to forums and demand to be taught. Not good.

I still hold with my challenge to you - you tell me what is wrong with the list of criteria. This is not an "in your face" challenge, just a friendly, encouraging challenge. No need to get it right on your first pass. Investigate, find something that looks likely, then come back and offer what you think is wrong with it. Then we can all discuss the substance and learn together. I hope that you decide to do this. I truly believe it will be valuable in many ways.

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas

TreeBay

HINDSIGHT IS 20/20, BUT IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME... HOW WAS I TO KNOW?

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Carl_Bergstrom

Well, I'll take a crack at it. Many of the points listed allow occassional exceptions, and this is one of the problems of checklist style critiques. But I wanted to try to find something that was just outright wrong. Here's one the of better candidates, I think:

Two consecutive points in the section on pot placement are as follows:

1. The tree should not be planted centrally in the pot except when a round or square pot is used.

2. The dominant mass of the tree should be above the centre of the pot. A tree leaning to the right should be planted left of centre so its centre of gravity is above the middle of the pot.

Setting aside occasional bending of "A tree leaning to the right should be planted left of centre so its centre of gravity is above the middle of the pot" for a windswept (see e.g. Naka), the big problem with these two points is that if you take them seriously, they together imply that any formal or informal upright with visual weight dead center must be planted in a round or square pot. Nonsense! Think of a broad spreading maple, roughly leaning neither left nor right and with visual mass roughly symmetric around the trunk. A shallow broad oval would be a pretty conventional pot choice. Where would you plant the tree? In the center with respect to left and right.

Comments?
Carl

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Carl_Bergstrom

Following up on this, I've noticed that instead of violating (1) and planting a tree in the center of an oval or rectangular pot, once can also violoate rule (2) to good effect. A few examples from the Pacific Rim collection:

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Carl_Bergstrom

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Carl_Bergstrom

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