I won't quit.

[Gabler]

I've been doing bonsai for almost 10 years now.

I’ve been doing it almost 27 years…

I’m 10 years in my self…

Only on year 3 now…

12 years for me.

I've been practicing for just three seasons…

I'm coming up on 3 years…

3 years for me…

I still can’t figure out how long I’ve been doing bonsai. I started messing around with trees in pots in 2006 or 2007, and I called it bonsai, but I was just an eleven-year-old figuring out how to keep plants alive. I collected more trees to kill every spring through high school, but I had to stop when I moved into a dorm for college. My then-surviving trees died when my parents forgot to water them. It wasn’t a great loss. My only resource had been books, so I had no idea what I was doing, and it showed in the results I was getting. I’ve only started taking it seriously since I finished school, which happened during the pandemic. It feels disingenuous to say I’ve been practicing for two years, since around the time I discovered this website, but it’s not really right to say I started practicing bonsai sixteen years ago, when I was just growing sticks in pots.

I’m probably too concerned about numbers, but your respective comments on this thread had me trying to figure it out.

 

[Shogun610]

Shogun, you crack me up sometimes. Some of your responses are head scratchers, and make me wonder wether you’re really sensitive or just fucking around. Maybe both, maybe neither!

all good was just being matter of fact.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Yes, I think of money spent with bonsai as a perfect way to avoid spending it in therapy and doctors.

Beer and food prices have gone up around here. If you go out for pizza and 10 drinks you're paying around 70 euros per person.
Don't do that 3 times and you have a nice yamadori that you can spend 6 times as much time with. No hangovers!

 

[leatherback]

Feels like I have been on year one for about dunno, maybe 15 years now.
Made some friends, lost some. Got some trees, lost some, got more trees.

Nobody told me quitting was an option. So I won't

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

I started with the bonsai hobby in the mid 90's and because of changes in live it ended after about 15 years.
But around 10 years later I picked up the hobby again in 2019 and I know for sure that I will not stop with the bonsai hobby ever again.

 

[jszg]

You have to admit though, all sorts of weird problems start popping up with these dumb little trees once they get into pots. Yesterday morning a bird decided to prune my Amur maples and azaleas. They just weren't interested in any in-ground plants, only things potted up. Nor have I ever seen cedar rust or needle cast until now.

 

[dbonsaiw]

I'm also in the three year club. I'd like to say I'll never quit, but who knows? For now, I get a good deal of enjoyment from bonsai. I always like learning new things and going down the rabbit hole. Bonsai is the infinite rabbit hole - it's bunnies all the way the down. I like the challenge. I don't mind making constant mistakes, because I am learning. I am not frustrated or jealous that others have much nicer trees - these are what I aspire to. I also can't park myself in front of a tv. I need to be busy with things and need to be outside - rain or shine. And best of all, my 22 year old and 9 year old are both into bonsai so we have a way to all be engaged together. In fact my daughter had a baby yesterday and my younger son went out to grab a new yamadori in her honor. Looks like a small-leafed Norway maple? (And he pruned the top to "balance the roots and foliage" - funny little people).

Bonsai teaches a lot of life lessons. Personally, I can't stand it when I hear someone say "I'm not good at X." It's usually because they are just starting out and expect immediate gratification (and then also expect to be the best at it). I always tell my kids "you actually do stink at this RIGHT NOW, but nobody was ever good at X the first time they tried." I think it is very important for people to internalize this and understand that the struggle is part of any journey. To understand that we are all able to vastly improve in any given discipline. And then to also internalize that we are not all equal at a given thing and some will simply excel more than others. I may never win at Kokufu, but my bonsai skills can and will improve dramatically.

 

[yashu]

I’m not quitting but this spring has been tough

 

[Gaitano]

Thirteen years here and when I look at some of the trees I started with that yes… I still have… it amazes me. This is my stress reliever. Even though it’s tedious at times, it brings me peace and tranquility to work on my trees. Or to look at trees in nature and enjoy their shape and form and use them for inspiration. Tasks can get tedious but put in your earbuds and go to work… just you and your trees. I think one of the greatest lessons I have learned from bonsai is patience…

 

[jeremy_norbury]

46 years - yes, really.

• I start/collect/acquire more trees every year now than I ever have and I own more trees now than at any other time
• I spend more time working on trees than I ever have
• I have learnt to live with the fact that not all trees will survive and that not all trees will be very good and so I have learnt to get rid of poor material and just start again with better ones.
• I do sell trees and it pays for my hobby.

 

[Dmvbonsai]

3 years for me I’ve shared my journey, trees , apprenticeship many times and aspirations. It’s a lifestyle I just fit it in , family ,dog, friends, main career never takes a backseat , in fact I’m more mentally, emotionally and physically healthier than I’ve ever been … Bonsia hardcore …. Some people are just built different. I can take the heat and will be taking the heat for many years.

3 years and you berated me for looking for material and suggested that you are some sort of expert that will tell me if I’m ready to buy a certain tree or not? Lol. What a joke

 

[Gabler]

3 years and you berated me for looking for material and suggested that you are some sort of expert that will tell me if I’m ready to buy a certain tree or not? Lol. What a joke

Whatever @Shogun610 said, I doubt it was intended as an insult. It's way too easy to put your foot in your mouth online. I tend to assume "harsh" comments are either (a) genuine concern or (b) meant to be read in a joking tone. Even if that's not true, there aren't any harmful consequences to assuming benevolent intentions. If this were a business transaction, you might be right to worry about a user's motives, but here we're just dealing with friendly conversation about small potted trees.

 

[Cajunrider]

I won’t quit until bonsai created by me are art

 

[Dmvbonsai]

Whatever @Shogun610 said, I doubt it was intended as an insult. It's way too easy to put your foot in your mouth online. I tend to assume "harsh" comments are either (a) genuine concern or (b) meant to be read in a joking tone. Even if that's not true, there aren't any harmful consequences to assuming benevolent intentions. If this were a business transaction, you might be right to worry about a user's motives, but here we're just dealing with friendly conversation about small potted trees.

Go read it. Lol. He’s a joke. I’m literally laughing my ass off at the audacity he had to come on my post and tell me I’m not ready to own a certain tree that I was after. All of that to learn he has only been doing bonsai for 3 years and has a bunch of pre bonsai material at best. Aka no time at all and knows nothing. This is what the internet can do to men with deflated egos though so I get it. He has to make himself seem like some sort of bonsai gatekeeper when in reality he knows very very very little and shouldn’t be offering anyone advice at all. Zero. He is not knowledgeable. Enough to be giving anyone advice regarding bonsai. An absolute joke. Certainly not grading who is ready for what material. An absolutely joke. I am in tears but let me get off of your post. My apologies

 

[August]

This kind of character attack will always say more about the person attacking it rather than the character of the person in question.

 

[Dmvbonsai]

This kind of character attack will always say more about the person attacking it rather than the character of the person in question.

He already attacked me lol and who cares at this point. I just found his position HILARIOUS given that he’s beyond a newbie at 3 years in. Trying to ask me to show my trees so he can decide if I’m ready for a tree. A JOKE. Go look at how he approached me and then you tell me who attacked who. Hilarious wherever you land. Heeeelarious

 

[Dmvbonsai]

This kind of character attack will always say more about the person attacking it rather than the character of the person in question.

Also we are in the internet. I don’t even know his name. Lol. So can’t attack his character. What I am attacking/crying laughing at/rolling all over the floor at is the fact that he tried to act as some forum/bonsai gatekeeper/some sort of figure I should seek approval from on my post and he’s a 3 year newbie with a soft baby butt in the bonsai world. I am still laughing my buttocks off

 

[FreshAirSunshine]

I still can’t figure out how long I’ve been doing bonsai. I started messing around with trees in pots in 2006 or 2007, and I called it bonsai, but I was just an eleven-year-old figuring out how to keep plants alive. I collected more trees to kill every spring through high school, but I had to stop when I moved into a dorm for college. My then-surviving trees died when my parents forgot to water them. It wasn’t a great loss. My only resource had been books, so I had no idea what I was doing, and it showed in the results I was getting. I’ve only started taking it seriously since I finished school, which happened during the pandemic. It feels disingenuous to say I’ve been practicing for two years, since around the time I discovered this website, but it’s not really right to say I started practicing bonsai sixteen years ago, when I was just growing sticks in pots.

I’m probably too concerned about numbers, but your respective comments on this thread had me trying to figure it out.

Horticulture vs bonsai perhaps

 

[FreshAirSunshine]

Go read it. Lol. He’s a joke. I’m literally laughing my ass off at the audacity he had to come on my post and tell me I’m not ready to own a certain tree that I was after. All of that to learn he has only been doing bonsai for 3 years and has a bunch of pre bonsai material at best. Aka no time at all and knows nothing. This is what the internet can do to men with deflated egos though so I get it. He has to make himself seem like some sort of bonsai gatekeeper when in reality he knows very very very little and shouldn’t be offering anyone advice at all. Zero. He is not knowledgeable. Enough to be giving anyone advice regarding bonsai. An absolute joke. Certainly not grading who is ready for what material. An absolutely joke. I am in tears but let me get off of your post. My apologies

Eh I’m always a little sceptical of time spent doing something having much to do with knowledge. In this case I understand a bit part of it is that you need to have things grow and go through seasons so it probably applies more for bonsai than most things, but I also know some cultures have traditions around grueling timelines to progress. I did a PhD in less time than I’ve heard some places demand before letting you cook the sushi rice, so I take it all with a grain of salt.

 

[Shogun610]

3 years and you berated me for looking for material and suggested that you are some sort of expert that will tell me if I’m ready to buy a certain tree or not? Lol. What a joke

Do you have an issue ? Yes 3 years but in those three years I have been an apprentice with a professional since that first winter, and have gained many experiences and training, I’d say my level of learning and training is different than the average person who has been doing bonsai for 3 years. I didn’t berate you brag, was just genuinely curious to see what level of competence you’re at with using collected material.