A serious discussion about building intrest in bonsai for the 15-35 crowd

[sorce]

High school workshops

That's it for me.

HS clubs.

Keep a tree alive for four years and get a college credit for it. For science...and art.

I watched a thing last year on how fishing clubs are becoming more popular at schools.

.............

Time.

For the most part, anyone can find 10 minutes a morning to water some plants.
(this is a good way to get kids up early, and on a schedule)

They still all spend some mindless time listening to music, or doing nothing.
That time is good for the other infrequent things we must do.

Time is not really an issue in itself.

The issue is getting kids to be excited about it before time runs out for whatever the presentation to them is.

...........

Money.

Lol! If this hobby was expensive, I sure wouldn't be involved!

Other than gardening, this is just about the only hobby where every aspect is totally derived from earth.

If this hobby is too expensive......
You are doing something wrong!

..........

Home.

It starts at home.

We don't really need any more kids doing this other than the ones That will tend our own trees when we die.

As long as these trees keep going, it doesn't really matter that the person who cares for them is 35+.

Sorce

 

[KingJades]

I'm 28 and have been sharing photos of my trees online and Facebook. It's made a lot of my friends interested. I've even started selling cuttings to them to help get them started. So many people have become interested!

You can host MeetUp events to teach people the basics and give away ficus cuttings or some other tree.

 

[Djtommy]

Probably the best way to get more people involved is too let them now bonsai exist.
Have some popular tv program feature a big bonsai event or so.
Some interviews with people like ryan neil, matt reel etc,

In japan, most everyone is aware of bonsai but the popularity is still declining, there are several reasons for that, it has the image of an old peoples hobby and not cool, it takes up space and most people in the city are very limited, myself included. Watering bonsai on a balcony is not evident and long working days or not home for few days will kill the trees. Asking neighbours/friends to help out or so is just not done here. And of top of that it has an image as being expensive which it really doesn't need to be especially in japan.

Most of these reasons are much less of an issue in us, so by making more people aware of the existence im sure the people getting involved will rise.

 

[Anthony]

With these types of activities you need ---------- Awareness ------------- Exposure ---------- at a young age.

So when the boys were young, say 4 to 5, got basic books on Art, Science etc. and in the evening as it grew
dark, we would sit and read. Just once or twice a week

When we were in the UK, trips to museums, and looking at the simpler things. Encouraging questions.

Even it didn't become a life career, there was an awareness, which will be passed on to the next generation.

We also did models, kits, hand made kites, etc,. lots of trees for climbing, or to pick fruit.

@sorce ,

okay smarty pants, let us see when you have to pot those beauties in bonsai pots.
Hee Hee ------- makem yourself, free clay, frit for glazes and free soil ------------ what no akadama


Good Day
Anthony

 

[Bolero]

I think weather you are 15 or 95, Bonsai appeals to the Artistic/Creative/Curious side of the Brain...
Djtommy said:
Probably the best way to get more people involved is too let them know Bonsai exist.
I agree ....and if the Artistic/Creative/Curious person is exposed to the World of Bonsai, regardless of age, it will Catch...

So to the OP's question.....Show off your Bonsai whenever you can...

 

[sorce]

makem yourself, free clay

Absolutely!

But too...

If you make a dope Ass tree...

Someone will lend you a show pot.

Sorce

 

[Grant Hamby]

What got me hooked was seeing great trees in person and realizing it wasn't just a novelty plant that dies on your desk in a couple months. Then, learning that you can actually have creative, artistic control over the way an actual tree grows, that was huge. I also hugely support what Mirai is doing, helping to legitimize bonsai as a fine art, and getting it out of "bonsai circles" and into broader art circles.

I'm into getting more creative with shows and exhibits in ways that exposes new crowds to the art. Once people see that bonsai can carry a powerful message, they too might become interested in using that medium. And some of them might be young... lol.

 

[StoneCloud]

Reading all this and someone mentioning an app (which is something I thought of in the past) made me think:

Imagine an App that you can prune and shape the tree with stylus input or finger........add a wire pull it, bend it etc......then the tree grows in the app in the background as the days go on......

It will then show you what you have done......for example maybe a few weeks later it loses all it's leaves..........the app will then give you a report as to why:

Due to ________, _______ and ______ this species has dropped all of it's leaves etc........

or a good report "due to pruning in the right areas the tree has ramified correctly....."

Obvioulsy this would be very data intensive to have most species included maybe it's doable though

 

[ConorDash]

Reading all this and someone mentioning an app (which is something I thought of in the past) made me think:

Imagine an App that you can prune and shape the tree with stylus input or finger........add a wire pull it, bend it etc......then the tree grows in the app in the background as the days go on......

It will then show you what you have done......for example maybe a few weeks later it loses all it's leaves..........the app will then give you a report as to why:

Due to ________, _______ and ______ this species has dropped all of it's leaves etc........

or a good report "due to pruning in the right areas the tree has ramified correctly....."

Obvioulsy this would be very data intensive to have most species included maybe it's doable though

Wouldn't be data intensive, as there would seemingly be no need to go online with it. It'd be like a virtual pet, all the programming of the app would be local, and maybe has a few features to use over the internet but not needed for daily use.

That idea would be cool, and doable but difficult to programme I would imagine, and needing a lot of information.. Basically you are programming nature, but focusing on small part of it and blowing open all its details.
With this info, you could then apply a time variable, with the touch of a button, excel time by 1 year or 6 months and see what it does to your tree.

Thing is, given the nature of... nature, its so difficult to predict. There are so many variable involved, would it even be possible..

 

[mj_barb]

I don't post here too often, but I thought I'd offer my two cents. I'm 26, live in an apartment but am buying a house next year. I only have a few trees, as it is not easy caring for them without a yard.

While I think it is important to expose kids to bonsai, I don't think it is imperative to get them started in the hobby. The below 18 group does not have the means or the hands-on help to successfully maintain trees, and killing trees can disinterest them from starting again in the future. The college and post college group (I'm nearing the end of this) could find it hard to maintain trees while they themselves are not rooted to the ground (bad joke).

I do, however, believe it is very important to plant the bonsai seed (another bad joke) early. This involves exposing youth to trees in real life, not on the internet. I would suggest local clubs to set up at community events that have no relation to bonsai at all. Have a kid be amazed by a tree, and when they're older they will jump into the hobby.

I do not think a bigger YouTube presence is necessary. There is already loads of info in the internet to help anyone that just started. The reason why I hardly ever post is because I don't need to! Almost anything I could think to ask is already on this site. As for YouTube spurring initial interest, I think that's a bad idea. It is much more impactful to see bonsai in real life.

 

[ConorDash]

I don't post here too often, but I thought I'd offer my two cents. I'm 26, live in an apartment but am buying a house next year. I only have a few trees, as it is not easy caring for them without a yard.

While I think it is important to expose kids to bonsai, I don't think it is imperative to get them started in the hobby. The below 18 group does not have the means or the hands-on help to successfully maintain trees, and killing trees can disinterest them from starting again in the future. The college and post college group (I'm nearing the end of this) could find it hard to maintain trees while they themselves are not rooted to the ground (bad joke).

I do, however, believe it is very important to plant the bonsai seed (another bad joke) early. This involves exposing youth to trees in real life, not on the internet. I would suggest local clubs to set up at community events that have no relation to bonsai at all. Have a kid be amazed by a tree, and when they're older they will jump into the hobby.

I do not think a bigger YouTube presence is necessary. There is already loads of info in the internet to help anyone that just started. The reason why I hardly ever post is because I don't need to! Almost anything I could think to ask is already on this site. As for YouTube spurring initial interest, I think that's a bad idea. It is much more impactful to see bonsai in real life.

I also didn't think it necessary to get people in to Bonsai at a lower age. I think 24-28 is a good range for beginners to bonsai. Anything less, has its issues. I think if you are trying to get really young people in to Bonsai, 10-15 years old, you might be fighting a losing battle. But, I didn't wanna say that till someone else did... cos I'm a wuss.

 

[ColinFraser]

From a post I made in a similar thread a couple of years back:

I'm slowly aging into my hobbies. I like scotch, I know how to play bridge, I was always the youngest member of the orchid society . . . It seems that pursuits mostly taken up by retired men always appealed to me, and bonsai is no exception.

One thing to consider is that my relationship to horticulture/gardening changed dramatically when I purchased my first home at 30, several years ago. Suddenly I had my own yard and was interested in fertilizing, cultivating, pruning, weeding, etc. (stuff I used to hate when my dad made me do it)! This definitely made Bonsai a more plausible hobby. Taking on a 30 year mortgage also changes your relationship to time and patience - another step toward bonsai!

Anyway, I agree with several other posters that a certain level of maturity is required to really even be interested in Bonsai in more than a passing way (yes, there will be exceptions). I would add that a level of financial, or at least housing, security is also important. If I were a marketing manager for "big bonsai corp" I would be targeting 30 year olds, not teens or 20 year olds.

 

[ConorDash]

From a post I made in a similar thread a couple of years back:

That's a really good reply. I'm glad you found it if it was a couple of years old.

 

[Paradox]

If you want to get young people involved, you need to get their parents involved as well IMO. At any age, having an interest in gardening or other types of plants like orchids can be an excellent gateway to bonsai.

I'd suggest trying to do some demonstrations with a local nursery/garden center would be a good idea. One if the big garden centers on Long Island does one once a year and they have a few mallsai type trees for saless and the Hoffman bonsai mix. It might not be much but it does garner interest.

Overall though, I have to agree with others that people in the 15-35 age bracket will have a hard time getting into bonsai without also having a parent in it.

The whole highschool, college and starting out thing makes it really tough to stay involved until you are settled with a steady, long term job and living arrangements with yard space available.

 

[Dav4]

Here's a question. How many people deeply involved in bonsai didn't come from a background where they were routinely exposed to gardening, growing, or the natural world? For me, I spent my formative years out in the woods and helping my dad with his veggie garden, started to collect cactuses as a twelve year old, and ended up studying botany in college. My interest in bonsai undoubtedly sprang from my previous interests, and m guess is that most of those passionate about bonsai had first developed a passion for growing other plants or a love of nature, as well. In this day of smart phones, x-boxes, and satellite tv, only a fraction of the young people today ever experience the things I did almost daily back in the day. With that being said, anything that allows the demographic of interest to be re-connected with the natural world would be beneficial toward your goal... the real question is how. At the end of the day, I'm kind of in Crust's camp on this one in that I don't see how your efforts are ever really going to make an impact that is worthy of the effort.

 

[coh]

Thinking back to my high school/college/grad school days, it would have been really difficult to "do" bonsai (other than maybe a mallsai or two) because of many of the constraints others have listed. Too many other competing interests and requirements during that time. As grad school wound down, though, I started having more time for other things, and picked up orchid growing as a hobby. Within a few years I had well over 100 orchids, there's no real reason why it couldn't have been bonsai.

In my case, I developed an interest in gardening at an early age...probably because my mom was into gardening and had plants all over the house. Not sure exactly when I started getting an interest in bonsai. In high school we did a section on Japan and Japanese culture and everyone had to present some aspect of the culture. I chose bonsai. Not sure whether I was really aware of it before that, or if I came across it for the first time while researching for that project. In either case, I think that kind of put the "bug" in me, but the bonsai disease remained pretty much dormant until I happened to come across Bill V and the Bonsai Society of Upstate NY a few years ago.

If you could expose say 100 kids to bonsai in some way, how may of them would pick up the hobby more seriously later in life? I tend to also question whether the investment would yield enough to make it worthwhile.

 

[Paradox]

I agree with @Dav4, I was alluding to what he stated with more clarity.

I was growing radishes in our flower beds (that didn't have flowers) before the age of 10. Spend my childhood and teens fishing and camping on the lakes, steams, and in the woods. Went to college for marine science.

Without that early exposure to gardening and/or nature, it's going to be tough to get someone interested in this hobby. Even more so with our culture of instant gratification and lack of patience.

 

[Starfox]

From a post I made in a similar thread a couple of years back:

This is somewhat similar to my experience, it was only because we brought a house and was\still are throwing ourselves into the garden as well that I randomly discovered bonsai in the process. It seemed like something interesting and viable and so far has stuck.
I suppose one difference is even though we have a mortgage we probably know that that is not enough to tie us down permanently here, life as an expat tends to be a bit nomadic and we are already looking for job openings elsewhere. I might only have another couple of years with my trees but why let that stop anyone from enjoying them now.

 

[Woody Carverton]

Sorry about the pitch for a job!
But, thought I would throw it out there.
Could mutually solve both our visions.
PM me if interested in talking.
If not, keep pushing to improve Bonsai in the States, I think the cause is a good one!
Thanks!

I've added your idea to my list and will get back to you once I have a full list of ideas and get down to the decision making stage.

 

[A Random User]

I've added your idea to my list and will get back to you once I have a full list of ideas and get down to the decision making stage.

Thanks for the consideration!

And even if you don't end up working with me, that's ok. I think anyone willing and wishing to contribute the Bonsai scene here in America is a good thing. We all have to try an do our part... or nothing actually changes, or improves.

If I might also add a suggestion...

One of the things I have personally found needs some work in my opinion regarding the Bonsai Scene in America, is not only the lack of younger members, but also the lack of once younger members to arrive on the scene... There seems to be a lack of their ability to move up so to speak, within the ranks of the Bonsai Community.

Yes, there are things like ABS has with the Joshua Roth New Talent Contest... which I think is an awesome program, one that I participated in twice actually... but, the Goal of these, I thought was to try and introduce really New Talent into the Scene. New Blood...

Because, in order to really keep the Scene "Alive"... what is really needed is always new ideas, new concepts, new pushing of boundaries, etc.

Yet, time after time again... when you look at who is the talent at all the major shows, including the one's ABS does... it is the same players every year, teaching the same concepts that to be honest have not really changed since the 70's. They are still teaching first branch, back branch concept and ideas, which is great if you want a tree that looks like it is from the 70's.

This coupled with the unfortunate fact that if you haven't gone to Japan to study... you pretty much will never have a chance of doing much.

Which I find odd...seeing we have a whole bunch of people who have gone to Japan to study, now teaching us how American Bonsai should be, and what it should not be... all teaching us how to do basically Japanese Bonsai, and create Japanese Bonsai trees, but saying it is somehow American?

There is some amazing talent out there... yet all we seem to see and all that seems to get recognized, is the same people. Whether it is who is heading shows, who is in this week's article by Blog posts that everyone turns to on FB, etc.

If we have acknowledge that no kid wants to hang out with their Grandparents... so to speak... It would seem to me that really the very first place to start if you wanted to really see about introducing young people into the scene... would be to perhaps change the face of the Scene itself? Start showing the world that younger people are actually into Bonsai.


One of the concepts I was actually going to start doing, in a couple of months once I got through with a couple of shows I am gearing up for, where I will not only have trees in the exhibit, but also will be vending... one of them the US National Shohin Exhibition. ..

Is that I wanted to start a Blog, that went around and show cased exactly this... it show cased all the younger talent that no one really knows exist... and trying to show the face of what is to be the next generation of Bonsai in the states.

Where it didn't matter if you had been doing bonsai for a year, or many years... that if you were doing something new, trying out a new idea, a new approach, or just had some awesome work that seemed to always get passed over, etc. I wanted to hear about it... and I wanted to show the world what you were doing, because I think this is important, and I think people should be encouraged to explore. As well, if we are going to somehow actually try and define what American Bonsai is... then perhaps we should actually see what people in America are actually doing... rather than the same 5 people telling us what they are doing, and the same 5 Blog sites, showing us these same 5 people, telling us what they are doing!

It's really silly, if you honestly think about it... a handful of people deciding and determining what the rest of us should be doing, and what the face of American Bonsai should look like. And if you don't actually want to do Bonsai like this... than you are not, I guess actually doing Bonsai? At least not American Bonsai.