So Whats Your Bonsai Story?

[DrTolhur]

I had a coworker with a jade plant. It dropped a leaf, which started growing, and I asked if I could have it. He said sure. That was 2016. As it grew over the next few years, I decided I wanted to turn it into a bonsai tree. No interest in the hobby or any real styling. Just wanted it to be a basic little-tree-looking thing. Fast-forward to 2020 when we moved into our first house, and I decided I wanted to jump ahead and purchase a "real" bonsai tree already formed. (Crassula ovata are apparently terribly slow growers.) Picked up a Fukien tea online. It also didn't really grow for me, and I wanted a deciduous tree, so I picked up a Bloodgood at Walmart. Now I've got...more.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Great thread to bring back to life for the end of the year!

My first experience with bonsai was when I was a young boy sometime in the early 70's. I was living in the Chicago area and one day when I was out with my mom she stopped at a nursery that had bonsai on display in a greenhouse. I had no idea that such a thing existed and was immediately smitten. I didn't own books, I was too young to drive, so I would go out in the woods by our house in rural Illinois, dig up trees, and "turn them into bonsai". Over the years my life became more complicated, but I never lost my interest in bonsai even when I wasn't keeping trees. I remember buying a bonsai book at the Japanese pavilion in Epcot Center in Florida back in 1989 (that I still have). One summer day in 1993 I was out riding a bike with friends on the North Branch Trail in Chicago, and we arrived at the Chicago Botanic Garden where the Midwest Bonsai Society just happened to be having their summer bonsai exhibition. I bought some items that I juggled home on my bike, and then returned the following day in a car to buy more. By the following year I was a member of the club, and we had purchased a house in the area that was close enough that I could walk to club meetings.

I am greatly indebted to many of those club members who took me under their wing and provided guidance and coaching, including Jack Fried, Gerry Weiner, and Ivan Watters. That's also about the time I first met @William N. Valavanis - I believe it was the 1994 show where he was exhibiting his cork bark Japanese black pine cascade. I remember the tree well, and remember the conversation we had about it because I was curious how he kept the cascading branch so strong I don't remember many things, but I remember a conversation about a bonsai tree from almost 30 years ago, LOL!

 

[It's Kev]

My parents were into bonsai when I was a kid, mom and dad separated when I was super young, and my mom was always growing things afterward. Then I moved to the other side of the planet to a complete concrete jungle. I get sick of never seeing much greenery and growing trees in pots make me feel closer to home, even more so when I get a specie native to my home country.

 

[yashu]

For me seed was planted with Karate Kid as well. From then until about 2005 I bought and killed more mallsai than I can remember. In 2005 I purchased an Austrian Black Pine topiary that I decided to make look more “natural” and the following year my wife bought me a small ficus when our first son was born. Those trees are still alive thanks to the advent of and my better access to the internet and the growing ease of finding information. Around 2015 I started taking the deeper dive and growing my collection and now here I am. It took me a lot longer than it should have to discover a community and realize I wasn’t the only one outside of Japan that was trying to grow little trees.

 

[19Mateo83]

As a child of the 80’s myself, like many others the karate kid movies sparked my interest early. Then in 1999 while traveling with family we were in Montreal for a week. While exploring the city we stumbled upon the Montreal botanical gardens. While exploring the gardens I fell in love with the Japanese garden. Something about it instilled peace in my teenager self. When I came across the bonsai pavilion, which is quite spectacular, (Montreal royal gardens bonsai pavilion) was the first time I had actually gotten to see a real bonsai in person. I was in awe at the age of some of their trees. Seeing that was the real start. Ever since then I’ve always had a love of trees, forests, woods and bonsai.
About five or six years ago I started growing trees for the fun of it. Seeing what I could sprout and finding places to plant them… the world needs more green right?… this lead me back to the memories of the Japanese gardens in Montreal. The huge maples, the twisty pines… just the peacefulness of it all. I finally jumped in head first at the start of covid and I havent looked back since. Even though I don’t have any trees that are anything near show quality and a lot of them are “sticks in pots”, it’s the journey with the trees that I love and that’s where I find my peace.

 

[Wood]

My (then) fiancee and I were trying to organize a streamed wedding ceremony in October 2020, and settled on a tree-planting ceremony so we could social distance from the officiant.

But what would we do with that little coast redwood sapling afterwards? Can't plant it in the ground because we live in an apartment, and definitely can't throw it out. So I decided to turn it into a bonsai.

But if I was going to properly do bonsai to this little tree, I'd want some practice. So I got some more trees. And a couple more. Then signed up for Bjorn's intensives and traveled to US Nationals. Jumped into the deep end of the hobby and don't regret it.

The redwood sapling survived its first winter just fine, but I overwatered it in the summer and drowned it. Its replacement is going strong though

 

[luvinthemountains]

In 2006, my wife was pregnant with our first child, very sick and slept most of the day. Finding myself with a lot of time on my hands, I wandered into a local tropical nursery in Salt Lake City to browse the selection of houseplants. It was a convenient distance to get a decent bike ride in, so I went there A LOT that summer. At some point, I wandered into the nursery's bonsai selection and found the tiny trees intriguing - sort of an intersection between my love of potted plants and my passion for the outdoors. My wife took notice and that year she bought me a ginseng ficus for my birthday. That tree came with an introductory class from someone who turned out to be the then-president of the Bonsai Club of Utah, Aaron Penrod.

I had loads of questions after that first class, which prompted me to start going to club meetings. The kind people at those meetings loaded me up with a handful of outdoor starter trees, which gave me the start of a meager collection. I loved fiddling with them, and even bought myself a decent-sized trident maple that I wish I had today. But throughout that early time, I maintained my love of tropicals, and mercilessly hacked down every miserable potted ficus I could get my hands on.

My bonsai journey has been punctuated harshly a couple of times by major life changes. The first one was in 2008, when I moved across the country with my family to attend graduate school. My most treasured trees had to be sold to cover our moving expenses, and my first year in grad school mercilessly eliminated all leisure activities. So bonsai went on hold, although I was privileged to be a short drive from the National Arboretum and the bonsai collection there.

When we came back to Utah after my graduation in 2011, the only bonsai I had left was my original ginseng ficus, for better or for worse. I reconnected with BCU and all the friends I had left there, and began to ease back into the hobby. For a year, I even served as the club's show chair. But building my own business left scarcely any time or money for the hobby, so it was tentative at first. We had small house with a tiny yard, and so space was a constraint as well. I was mostly limited to a little collection of tropical trees picked up from the same nursery where I started out.

Then in 2017 we bought a bigger house on an acre lot in a small town in southern Utah, and suddenly I had my opportunity to jump back into bonsai. My small, ragtag group of tropical trees grew in number, and were suddenly joined by a bunch of deciduous trees of questionable quality. Much to my wife's chagrin, I have to admit. For some odd reason, the enclosure that I built in one corner of the yard kept getting commandeered to serve as nursery to baby goats, chickens, and bunnies at various times. Let's just say there were numerous styling decisions that I was not consulted on.

Now, back in Salt Lake and after an ill-conceived investment of two 600-mile trailer trips my collection is more or less safe - other than from my own less than masterful skills. I have abandoned my dreams of entrepreneurship for corporate life, so I have a little more time and a bit more money to throw at it. And honestly, after these 16 years, I feel a little like I am getting back to the basics. I think that for everything I have learned along the way, I did not learn it the right way. I have myself a little pile of old standby bonsai books on the nightstand that I need to start cracking open. And I think I have a few decades left in the hobby to try to get it right.

One side note - I think the Bonsai Club of Utah may finally be turning back into a legitimate club again. From what I hear, it was fits and starts for the five years that I was gone, and after Covid the club entered a grim rhythm of members trudging in to monthly meetings with no real purpose or direction. But now there is a new president and some new blood sweeping in with what feels like a resurgence of interest in the hobby, and things are looking up. There are a couple of relatively young artists in the area who are producing trees that could really compete on a national level. I find that really encouraging.

A final final note - I for one never connected the Karate Kid and bonsai. I loved the original movie and watched it again and again, but for some reason didn't ever notice it all that much. It was only upon re-watching it years later that I was like, oh yeah, it's actually a big part of the movies. I can't believe I never noticed it!

 

[HardBall]

 

[Shogun610]

Always loved nature and Japanese culture.. I remember seeing longwood gardens trees when I was in grade school. Also always loved the pine barrens going to the beach and how contorted and old they were.. growing up my brother and cousins also always fished at this park with beautiful old cherry blossoms , pines and other trees that were planted .. I also grew up in a neighborhood with old maple/ sycamore tree lined streets where their roots would literally cause the sidewalk pavement to be almost 40 degree angle.
I also have loved art since I started drawing at 4 years old , the first drawing I ever did was framed , and it was spruce trees. My family is either engineers , artists or architects. Anyway I discovered Kifu bonsai one summer day and took my dog , ever since I’ve been hooked on my own starting with YouTube and forums / websites .. all the way to going to Kifu and asking if I can study on weekends in return for working/ doing tasks that are asked of me… tremendous opportunity I was nervous to not knowing how I would be received.. it was tough bar first but since then I’m trusted , and have met very talented people and professionals and made connections along the way. We’re going to be submitting trees for the National show next year and it would be awesome to meet some of you, and get out in the public eye.

 

[eugenev2]

So for me it started in about 1990, also with karate kid, but with a different spin, I was completely enthralled with karate, so for years I immersed myself in martial arts and eventually Japanese culture and the traditions that surrounds it, at some point I wanted a bonsai as well, but my parents did not want to give a "expensive pot plant" to a kid. I soon discovered that garden nursery my parents frequented had a bonsai section, which for the next numbers of years i simply admired weekend after weekend. This went on for a number of years until about 2006 when I was finishing varsity where I was chatting to my dad and he mentioned that he was always interested in bonsai, but never took the chance. So that December I bought both of us a tree for a Christmas present and set of on the adventure.

We started off very much clueless, our only direction came from library books we borrowed, which were by all accounts outdated already back then, but we did not know this. It provided us with information such repotting every year, constantly prune the tree back, use rocks as drainage layers, shelter trees in winter. Which all seemed perfectly fine at the time, not knowing any better and as the internet was not quiet wat is today and youtube was only starting off, we had little to no information to contradict this. I also didn't have much money at this stage as i was only starting to work, so a lot of my starter material were seedling i grew from seed and little plants i found out and about. For all intents and purposes everything was going swimmingly until 3 years later one winter all 10 our trees died. To this day i have no idea wat caused it, my father was sure it was the black frost we got that year that killed them, but i wasn't so sure as they were in a unheated garage. Regardless we were complete and utterly devastated, my father completely gave up and I decided to take it up a bit later again as work was getting more demanding and i had less and less time to give my trees attention.

Fast-forward 10 years or so, living in a apartment during lockdown, i was constantly looking for things to keep me busy and had a craving for more greenery, as this tiny apartment had very little of that. I mentioned to my girlfriend that i once was into bonsai and really missed it, so she decided to buy a tree for me as a Christmas gift (odd turn of events considering how this started). Ja, two years later into my second attempt and now realize how little i knew back then and also a little sad that i didn't push through and continued, i would have had much better material by now. But so grateful for the internet explosion and sites like bonsainut that has happened since then, as this has helped a lot with gathering information and learning new things. But my approach to bonsai has changed significantly as well, not longer just plodding in mindlessly, now i research trees before hand, read up on different approaches and ideas. I also now have a systematic approach of seedlings, pre-bonsai trees, trees in development, no trees in refinement yet to learn how to care for trees in different stages as well as having trees that i call the experiments, trees that are said to not make good bonsai and tree i use to learn trunk chops/grafting/air layering and things like that.

 

[Gabler]

My parents sent my sister and me to a private school on their teachers' salaries, so we didn't have a ton of spare cash, not that I'm complaining. Needless to say, when I asked for money to buy things, the answer was always no. However, both being teachers, when I asked to buy a book, they were never able to say no. When our school passed around Scholastic book order catalogues for the students to buy books from the publisher, the catalogues always included educational kits with some kind of educational project accompanied by an instructional book. One such kit was a bonsai tree kit. It took a little convincing, because it wasn't just a book, but it was educational, so my parents bought it for me.

I soaked the puck of peat moss to expand it into "soil," and I planted the little black seeds included in the kit. One of them germinated. My dad told me it looked like a cedar seedling, referring to eastern red cedar. I now suspect it was a Chinese juniper. I kept it indoors, and it died. The following summer, my dad pointed out a cedar seedling in some gravel: "That's the same kind of tree you were growing in that little pot on your window sill." I pulled it up, stuck it in a disposable plastic cup, and brought it home. It died. But later that summer, my dad was pulling weeds from beneath the back deck, and he pointed out another eastern red cedar, probably two years old. I potted it, kept it indoors and killed it.

In middle school, during a visit to the bookstore, I stumbled on a Peter Chan book, and I bought it, hoping to learn why I kept killing trees. I learned that even though conifers don't lose their leaves, they still go dormant, and they need a period of winter temperatures. I also learned that there was a whole lot more that I didn't know I didn't know. I bought more books, and through high school, I grew mostly pines and beeches, plus some other various material, with mixed success. I didn't understand the importance of using good bonsai substrate. I thought it was best to use the same kind of soil I found the trees growing in. Miraculously, one pine and one boxwood survived until I went away to college, when my dad forgot to water the pine, and it died. I planted the boxwood in the ground, where it is still growing.

The pandemic hit while I was in law school, and like many who joined this site at that time, I was stuck at home, looking for things to do, and I realized I had more time to devote to trees, so I could try growing them again. I've since taken a more careful, methodical approach to growing trees, and I've had good success rates collecting wild trees, compared to my time in middle and high school. Using primarily pumice and perlite in my substrate made a world of difference.

On top of that, at about the same time I joined this site, two interesting contests sprung up to provide some direction to my renewed interest: The Native Tree Native Pot Challenge and The Forest from Seed or Seedling Contest. My frenzied collecting generated a lot of material both for the contests and for later, after the material grows out a bit more.

 

[PaulH]

In college in the early 1970s I came across a paperback booklet on bonsai by the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. I was fascinated . I tried several times to collect little trees and killed them all. Then, in 1978 I married my wife . When I walked into her parent's back yard for the first time I was confronted with my father - in -law's large collection of bonsai. Turns out he was a serious bonsai practitioner and long time member of the Descanso Bonsai Club in Pasadena. Every time I visited I went to the backyard and stared in amazement at these magical trees. My father in law taught me some bonsai basics, gave me my first tree, a little Catlin Elm, and strongly suggested that I find and join a Bonsai club. Shortly after, I was at a local flea market and there was a man selling bonsai. Turns out he was the President of American Bonsai Association of Sacramento and he invited me to the next meeting. I went and was hooked. I was immediately welcomed and mentored by some of the older club members who even gave me some starter trees. Since then I have rarely missed a monthly meeting or GSBF convention. I've been club president twice and now its my turn to be the old guy who mentors the newer young members. Around 1985 I was invited by a Japanese American friend to visit the Sacramento Bonsai Club, the oldest club in the U.S.. At that time all the meetings were in Japanese and I was the only Caucasian in the club. My friend sat next to me and translated. Mas Imazumi was club sensei and my first real teacher. I belong to a local small study group and we've had workshops with Peter Adams, Ryan Neil, Bjorn Bjorholm, David Nguy, And most recently Peter Tea. The fascination and learning never ends.

 

[Wulfskaar]

Christmas 2019: I received a "bonsai seed" kit as a gift from a good friend.

Lockdown 2020: Working from home and already loving trees for their beauty, I began researching how I would grow these seeds. I found Bonsainut.com and have been learning ever since. Much of my journey so far has been documented here on this site.

I see many people mocking the seed kits, but the kit really did plant a seed in my heart and mind as well as in my pots. I still have a bunch of the trees that grew from that original seed kit, including several JBP and bristlecone pines. The jacarandas and spruce did not last very long.

Now, I am out collecting seeds and acorns whenever I see them. I've got a small collection of seedlings, a couple boxwoods, and a couple pre-bonsai nursery trees.

Please Note: While the seed kit sparked my interest, bonsainut.com has really helped me to not only keep my trees alive, but keep my interest alive.

 

[GreatLakesBrad]

I grew up near Kalamazoo, Michigan on an inland lake. My grandfather and father both taught me an appreciation of nature and the seasons, pointing out small observations. This included a particular focus on trees. My favorite memory is how excited my grandpa would get when Loons would visit during the shoulder seasons and how quickly he'd get the binoculars out.

We traveled a lot as a family by car to national parks. Enhancing the above.

Bought a house once I graduated college in 2010 and started gardening (veggies), and really began enjoying the horticultural aspect of managing growth.

After a short and combustible 'starter marriage,' I went full 'disposable income bachelor' mode, and decided I was going to travel to the best forests in the world. I visited the Pyrenees mountain range in northern spain and saw some incredible pines and european beech (ordesa national park in particular), to the Alps, and to Northern Michigan. And that couple year tree traveling binge ended with what I called my tree pilgrimage to Humboldt county in 2018 to see the GOATs - the redwoods. I had been to Muir woods and many of the national parks in central california, but nothing compares to Humboldt and the redwood curtain. For my money, I put those forests on par with Yellowstone, Banff, etc. - I was inspired.

Having added a few unique landscape trees to my back yard, I thought "there's got to be a way for me to own a coastal redwood" - and then I remembered a mallsai ficus that my parents had given me in 2017- complete with zero drainage and poor substrate. I owned it for about a year and thought - I wonder if I could 'bonsai' a redwood - keep it indoors in the winter and outside in the summer and keep it small and manageable? I bought one of those seedling plugs and took it back home. And the rabbit hole opened! Turns out bonsai isn't a species, blah blah blah, BonsaiNut becomes my default phone scrolling site, etc.

These days the redwood is about 1.5 inches thick and getting ready for a first styling next year. The ficus roots fully rotted out, but I managed to get a cutting from that tree and it is a few years away from being ready for a show. I've joined my local bonsai club and was show chair for our fall club show, and really enjoy the club environment. Took a class with Mauro at our all state show, but need to expand into a bit more education. Have done plenty of collecting and plan to do more. Few Youtube videos out there to document progress (should be called Great Lakes Pre-Bonsai). No show stoppers yet, but have about 100 or so in training someday!

I find the culture (stylistic expressions, methods, people) of bonsai, the process of it, and the connection I feel with the natural world so enjoyable. Most of all, I love how deep the rabbit hole goes (infinite?) and the sense that I will be learning until the end.

 

[BrightsideB]

Bonsai was something I was doing without even knowing. I used techniques on my trees that I used to use on herbs to promote more branches and buds. Basic ramification process. As well as trunk chops. I started taking it more seriously and learning more about 5 years ago. I finally have some trees that are looking like bonsai and a lot in development still.

 

[ChristianDGreat]

Way back in the Philippines, theres a hobbyist that tell me to go to the mountain and If i see a specific kind of tree with the leaves/foliage hes describing, Dig it with its soil and bring it back to him.
I dont know bonsai back then, but when I saw what hes doing I was impressed and try it for a couple of times.
Fast forward went here in USA and once i got the time and money I revive this old hobby of mine. Thats the quick summary

 

[Frozentreehugger]

As a child of the 80’s myself, like many others the karate kid movies sparked my interest early. Then in 1999 while traveling with family we were in Montreal for a week. While exploring the city we stumbled upon the Montreal botanical gardens. While exploring the gardens I fell in love with the Japanese garden. Something about it instilled peace in my teenager self. When I came across the bonsai pavilion, which is quite spectacular, (Montreal royal gardens bonsai pavilion) was the first time I had actually gotten to see a real bonsai in person. I was in awe at the age of some of their trees. Seeing that was the real start. Ever since then I’ve always had a love of trees, forests, woods and bonsai.
About five or six years ago I started growing trees for the fun of it. Seeing what I could sprout and finding places to plant them… the world needs more green right?… this lead me back to the memories of the Japanese gardens in Montreal. The huge maples, the twisty pines… just the peacefulness of it all. I finally jumped in head first at the start of covid and I havent looked back since. Even though I don’t have any trees that are anything near show quality and a lot of them are “sticks in pots”, it’s the journey with the trees that I love and that’s where I find my peace.

Hi bro great you got your inspiration to start . In Canada . I. Case you were not aware . Check out David Easterbrook on YouTube. . David is a great guy pioneer of bonsai not just in Canada but the north east . Long time teacher spreader of bonsai . Not only is he recently retired as the curator of the bonsai at the botanical gardens in Montreal . But more accurately stated the driving force behind its development to what is is .and all round great guy . With a great personal collection

 

[Frozentreehugger]

My start in bonsai is traced back to . Multiple sources . A interest in preferring 3 d art . Sculptures over paintings . Interest in oriental cultural history lack of interest like my wife in gardening . To short lived results . Kick started by my wife giving me a bonsai book as a present . Slightly before we were married in 2000 . Several factors contributed to my choice to stop
Being a practitioner of bonsai for 10 years . But I’m man enough to admit that addiction to alcohol . Was a large contributing factor . And absolutely bonsai is a big part of my sobriety . Restarted bonsai about 18 months ago been 100 percent sober will celebrate 1 year this Sunday . Seems so foolish in hindsight . But life is a journey . Just way better sober with trees .

 

[DrBonsai]

Back in the late 70's, still in Highschool, I saw the typical Juniper Procumbens Mallsai in the local Jewel/Osco and had to have it. It was hard to find information about Bonsai at that time and I did the best I could to keep it alive.
Knowing what we know now, It was probably all ready dead when I bought it. The loss of my first Bonsai discouraged me from buying any more. Fast forward to about 9 years ago and my wife and I visited the Morikami Gardens in Del Ray FL.
We were both impressed with the Bonsai there and looked into getting into the hobby. So glad we immediately took Beginner Bonsai Classes with Ivan Watters at the Chicago Botanic Garden. My education and obsession continues to this day.

 

[NamesakE]

I tell people I got bored with houseplants, and I haven’t been bored since.

Started in late 1994 in Iowa with the obligatory p. nana juniper, a 5-hawthorn forest (which I rearranged until 5 was 3, which became 2 and then all were dead by spring), and an olive. Took my first classes from Dave Lowman (DaSu Studios).

Graduated college in 1999 and moved a decent-sized collection of not-that-decent trees in a 4x6 U-Haul trailer pulled by a brown on brown 1983 Chrysler New Yorker with my dog in the back seat and my wife following in “the good car” as we moved to Nashville…did bonsai on a balcony for 3 months there, got promoted to Birmingham and moved everything again to another apartment with a balcony for a year.

Hired Colin Lewis to do a workshop for the Nashville club, but by the time it rolled around, we were already in Alabama…of course I made the trip back. Met Gary Wood and Kathy Shaner in Alabama and have been fortunate enough to work with them both over the years.

By the time we bought our first house in 2000, I had maybe 4 of the trees I moved from Iowa in that U-Haul. Today I only have a single cutting from a Chinese elm that made the original move. This photo is a few years old, but it’s still alive, better than the parent, and currently in the ground.
View attachment 426736

Great movement on that elm. I can really identify with you (and everyone else) commenting on killing trees in the beginning. My first year I collected four yamadori and they all survived which made me feel like a bonsai God... until all but one died in the following years along with a few nursery trees I sent to the grave. Talk about force-fed humble pie.