Poor Material

RonMartin(deceased)

Life would sure be easier for me if my workshops were filled up by you kind of people.
That way I could be mean and use the word crap a lot more ;o)
But then I do divide workshops into two categories. Serious study programs and programs for the hobbyist.
Both are approached differently. One can be a bit more honest in the serious workshops.
But you still have to be a bit careful what you say there. Embarrassing someone in front of a group isn't really productive. You have to be honest but tempered it with a bit of tact.
Brutal honesty is reserved for private lessons. There crap is called crap. The student is more apt to learn without the embarrassment of his/her peers around to laugh at the dressing down.
A "bring you own" work shop is where the student is totally responsible for the quality of the material. But most workshops include the material to be worked on. In that case the blame goes to either the club or the instructor ( who ever supplies the material) The first tree should have as much potential as the last one. Being a bit late should not mean that you get a piece of crap. It just means that the person responsible for the material screwed up.

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bnsaijim

I took numerous workshops early on and have never had a person point out that the stock was poor. Nor have I ever seen a demonstrator walk off.

I think a certain amount of responsibility rests on the organizer to CLEARLY indicate what is appropriate material, and if providing, to choose trees so that even the "dog" is at least usable. It might also help to have options.

People really need to understand the purpose of the demonstration or the workshop. People have the wrong expectations - I think the "insta-bonsai" mentality is to blame for a lot of it. Mainly entertainment in the first case and showing off some tricks and techinques that you are supposed to use on your own material, with the opportunity to actually practice in the second case.

I think even the "bad tree" has a lesson to teach- why is it bad? There are diplomatic ways to say things. If there are no other options to work with then you state that up front- this is lousy(poor) material and it won't be worth keeping as part of your collection- you are not going to walk out of here with a styled piece- but lets see what it can teach us, teach the guy something that will keep his hands busy and at least you don't have to worry about the tree dying...

Jim Stone

Candy_J_Shirey

Exactly right.... the quality of the material is not the issue ...but communicating the truth is the issue. An instructor that does not seize this opportunity when presented with poor material faces a lose-lose situation.

1.) The student may take the instructors words for truth and think that his material is good and will make future choices of material based on poor material. This would be a set-back in the students bonsai education.

2.) The student may know that the instructor is glossing over the inferior material and the instructor will loose all credibility with the student. - and perhaps anyone else within earshot.

RonMartin(deceased)

It is a bit obvious that none of you make your living at teaching bonsai.
It is not always cut and dry. White or black. Sometimes a good color is plaid.;o)
That being said, no I don't lie to them. I tactfully tell the truth.
I also try to educate them on how to select good material.
I posted a small article on the forum someplace on how to do that on this forum a while back. Guess I could repost it if anyone wants me to. Might be a bit interesting to see what comments I get on it this time ;o)

Cre8tive

I would deffinately be interested as I have created a new thread dealing with that very subject.

Regards,
Mark

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RonMartin(deceased)

Here it is then.

Nursery Stock
SELECTING SOMETHING TO START WITH


So where do I start ? I have read almost all the books. Looked at a zillion pictures. Just what kind of pre-bonsai do I need to create a masterpiece? If I want to create a beautiful bonsai can, I start off with just any thing?

A maple after all is just a maple. So all I need to do is get one and, presto, a few whacks and a bit of wire later one has, or should have, a masterpiece. Sounds simple.

What happened ? I did have all the pieces-parts to do the job but, somehow it just did not work out. How could this happen ?

Wish there was a simple answer to this. None comes to mind but I do hope that the following helps a bit.

First, let me say that all trees are pre-bonsai. Every nursery has lots of pre-bonsai lined up in all those plastic nursery containers. A walk in the woods will yield plenty of pre-bonsai that can be dug up. They are easy to find. Pre-bonsai are everywhere. They just need a little work to become at least something.

Problem is sorting through all those pre-bonsai's and finding the potential bonsai among them. Lots to chose from but very few correct choices to make. A bit of time spent in the selecting process goes a long way.

Just what turns a "pre-bonsai" into a bonsai? More, important what makes some not a good selection? How do we find the potential bonsai among all those possibilities?

Lots of answers to this question. None of them are all that easy to give in a few short paragraphs. Whole books could be written on the subject and still not cover it completely. It might be easier to tell you what to stay away from than to tell you what is good.

Bonsai is a time consuming art form. One makes a few cuts then waits for the tree to catch up. Then we use some wire and wait some more. Try as we may that tree will not be forced to grow faster that it wants to.

Styling a tree does damage the tree. Hopefully this is constructive, well thought out, but it is still damage to the tree. Cuts take time and energy to heal. What we do to the little bugger does slow down the growth process. Anything else that also slows down this process should be avoided at all costs. At least during the styling process.

Sick plants are bad. They slow down the growth process more than anything. Time must be spent getting it healthy again before we can start. Working on a sick one usually means disaster. If you do find that the sick thing in front of you has potential, then make sure it has enough to make the time spent in getting it back to healthy is worth the effort. Something to think about when you are tempted to save that half dead poor thing in one of those chain stores.

Sloppy pruning cuts, wire marks, poor graft unions and large amounts of dead wood are all good indicators of a bad choice. They all take time to correct and heal. Poor graft unions are one thing that you will be stuck with forever. Poor pruning cuts, etc, can be fixed. But again that takes extra time.

Time is a valuable commodity, only the young can afford to waste it. And even their supply is limited. Don’t waste it on a sick or poorly formed tree. Get something healthy. You will do enough to the tree to slow down the process all by yourself. You don’t need any extra help.

But what makes for a good choice?

Trunk

Most important, and what takes the longest to grow, is the trunk.
Does it have good taper? Does the shape suit your needs ? Is it pleasing to look at ? Growing a nicely shaped trunk takes time and, unless you are growing from seedlings a poorly formed trunk will always be a poorly formed trunk. Basically, if the trunk is small enough to bend with wire then it is going to be a long range project. Do you want to wait that long? Look closely and make sound decisions based on realistic goals.

The root spread or Nabari

Is there one and does it match the trunk? Big question. Sometimes you have a great Nabari and a great trunk but they both go in different directions. Not an easy thing to correct.

Branches

It is better to have too many. You can always take off what is not needed. That is easier than putting them on. Heavy branches at the top and thin branches at the bottom are always a problem. So look closely.

Growth habit of the plant

Know the growth habit of the tree. One that wants to grow prostrate will not make a good formal upright and one that wants to grow upright will not make a good cascade. You will always be fighting to make the tree do something it doesn’t want to do. Use its natural growth pattern. It is a lot easier that way.

Domestic trees are always better than imported ones. Dwarf varieties are always preferable over the standard ones. Just a short note here. By imported trees I don’t just mean trees that have come in from Japan, Korea, etc. Trees that have been brought in from a climate different than your own falls into the same category. Trees do not know borders, just climates.

Fruits and flowers will not reduce in size. Colors will not change. Look hard at these things, you are stuck with them for the most part.

Look at the size of the plant you’re working with. A six inch plant will take years to make into a three foot tall masterpiece. Taller, however, can be cut down to size, the offending scars hidden and a nice piece completed in a shorter time.

When you think about it the choices are not all that hard. The stock you start off with, to a great extent, will make the bonsai. Bad will get you bad and good will get you better.
You just have to think about what you are doing .

Spend some time, a lot of time, in the initial selection of your material. Look closely and study it hard. If you can’t see the tree in it then DON’T BUY IT.

Continue looking until you find that perfect specimen. Pass up the pre-bonsai and go for the potential bonsai. Don’t waste your time, use it wisely.

Decide what you want the finished product to look like then go in search of raw stock that will give you a chance of achieving these goals.

Ron Martin
Tokonoma Bonsai
105 Lee St.
Summerville SC 29485
rmartin41@sc.rr.com
Phone 843-875-6567
Permission is granted to the recipient of this Email to freely use this article with the writer's blessings in what ever means you think best. They are written to further the art of bonsai but, it would be nice if I at least got credit for them. For better or worse they are my thoughts. Those wishing to be added to the list to receive this newsletter should contact me at rmartin41@sc.rr.com

TreeBay

Ron's article can be found on the main page of the wiki How_to_Choose_Nursery_Material

Regards,

Matt

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Cre8tive

Thanks Ron.

Regards,
Mark

__________________
ART - An object or event that evokes an aesthetic reaction—a sense of beauty, appreciation, harmony, and/or pleasure; the quality, production, expression, or realm of what is beautiful or of more than ordinary significance; the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria

bnsaijim

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ron Martin
[B]...make your living at teaching bonsai.


Isn't that about a contradiction in terms? ;^)

Then there's that Brit's method- just let the rest of the students tell you how lousy your tree is!

Jim