Thoughts on Peter Chan? (Herons Bonsai)

Peter Chan...
I just LOVE the way he snips his red pruners around any and every tree, without even looking at them! Amusing and interesting, and some good trees also.
 
Adair M said:
Here’s a thread opened by someone with a purchase from Heron’s:

Should I take the wire off newly bought brush cherry?

Hi I got this today, After all I’ve read im very concerned for the health of the trunk as the wire looks like it’s been cutting in for a while. Should I get it off right away as careful as possible? After that anything else? Any help very much appreciated, I have emailed the nursery to ask...
www.bonsainut.com www.bonsainut.com
Click to expand...
Tropicals grow fast in a tropical climate. Wire marks don’t last more than a few seasons. If you don’t let the wires bite in then the trees will not stay in place. Totally different process with tropicals.
this is just my experience- there are tropical growers who also hate wire scars. :)
 
amcoffeegirl said:
Tropicals grow fast in a tropical climate. Wire marks don’t last more than a few seasons. If you don’t let the wires bite in then the trees will not stay in place. Totally different process with tropicals.
this is just my experience- there are tropical growers who also hate wire scars. :)
Click to expand...
Well... yes and no. It’s true on a lot of trees that one wiring won’t fully set the branches. But once the wire starts cutting in, it should be removed, and rewired with the wire at a slightly different position. I know, some wire scars are unavoidable, but we should still try to minimize them.
 
I have much of my knowledge on bonsai from Herons youtube channel (though also from many others). However I shifted to prefer a bit more naturalistic bonsai now. Im not sure what to think of some of his trees, but I dont feel strongly about it either way. He has thousands of trees, and some of them I really like a lot.

Maybe you could use pictures of some of his trees to torture Walter Pall
 
Im only wondering how much he charges for that tree?
Looking at the root base of it, i would probably only walk by.
 
I greatly appreciate his enthusiastic way of communication but he is a bit chaotic in some of his videos. Personally I think from a didactic perspective Bjorn Bjorholm is the best video guide maker around.
 
R0b said:
Bjorn Bjorholm is the best video guide maker around.
Click to expand...

So good you might wonder if he is a YouTuber that is into Bonsai!

I started from the beginning again. Early BAoJ vids.
He has definitely come a long way.

Sorce
 
I think he is an odd guy. I saw a video about his satsuki bonsai trees recently and many of them had tons and tons of weeds in them, or dead branches. There there were even some trees that might be dead. He said he wasn't selling any of them and that he had had most of them for several decades. He seems as someone who does have a lot of experience, but isn't a very careful student of reality. Like in a chaotic laid-back person way.

So he is a really really good businessman? He has so many trees, many of them look very nice and properly designed, and they are his private collection and he bought them in Japan. But it doesn't seem like he has the time or interest to take really good care of them. I find it a bit strange. Maybe it is that he is getting older as well but his collection is the same size?

It is in the same way with his video. I think like halfway he says 'this will be the end of the video' but then he keeps going for 10 more minutes.
 
Last edited:
Joe Dupre' said:
number he said puts his habits in perspective........"20,000 tre
Click to expand...

Vance Wood said:
If I had done a bonsai like this I would have been banned from the site. Is this OK? Yeah I suppose so but this is not the direction I would have sent a beginner down.
Click to expand...
Absolutely agree.

When people say his videos are good for beginners (full of wrong content). Then when beginners began to advance, they will have to do a lot of unlearning and relearning.. why not go in the right direction in the first place...
such a contrast after watching Bjorn, Graham Potters video, and then you see Peter Chan's content.
Thank god I can atleast differentiate what is good and what is bad... some people in the forum are still can't. But I am happy for myself :)
 
win320 said:
Absolutely agree.

When people say his videos are good for beginners (full of wrong content). Then when beginners began to advance, they will have to do a lot of unlearning and relearning.. why not go in the right direction in the first place...
such a contrast after watching Bjorn, Graham Potters video, and then you see Peter Chan's content.
Thank god I can atleast differentiate what is good and what is bad... some people in the forum are still can't. But I am happy for myself :)
Click to expand...
i bet 75% or 3/4 people on this site alone will never have the multitude of quality trees or even a single specimen 'better' than peter has or has had. hed run circles around most of us.
hes earned his behavior. he oozes experience and tenure in the game i think.
 
hinmo24t said:
i bet 75% or 3/4 people on this site alone will never have the multitude of quality trees or even a single specimen 'better' than peter has or has had. hed run circles around most of us.
hes earned his behavior. he oozes experience and tenure in the game i think.
Click to expand...
Word!
 
The weeds in the pots and his choice of outdated substrate struck me when I visited Heron's. His practice of "thumbing the hose" resulted in a lot of pots with little substrate remaining.

I took a long look at the maples and many had dieback or uros that were obviously unplanned consequences of hard chops. His prices were very high too for stuff that was obviously assembled quickly, eg Beech hedging whips as groups in cheap trays for £200. I left without buying anything and have no desire to return given the much higher quality Greenwood Bonsai closer to me.
 
There is 2 different things we are talking about
1. Peter Chan
2. Herons Bonsai

1. HE knows his stuff but he wants to make it available to everyone with out putting anyone off (for example need to buy expensive chopsticks to work on the soil etc)
2. Thats the business, buy/produce cheap - sell expensive......

There is so many people to learn from - if you dont like him, dont go there or dont watch his videos.

READ HIS BOOKS!
 
I don't see any reason
eryk2kartman said:
There is 2 different things we are talking about
1. Peter Chan
2. Herons Bonsai

1. HE knows his stuff but he wants to make it available to everyone with out putting anyone off (for example need to buy expensive chopsticks to work on the soil etc)
2. Thats the business, buy/produce cheap - sell expensive......

There is so many people to learn from - if you dont like him, dont go there or dont watch his videos.

READ HIS BOOKS!
Click to expand...
I agree and don't see any reason to waste your time and ours criticizing the man! He has nicer trees and has done more teaching for the good than most of us will ever have or do.
 
win320 said:
Absolutely agree.

When people say his videos are good for beginners (full of wrong content). Then when beginners began to advance, they will have to do a lot of unlearning and relearning.. why not go in the right direction in the first place...
such a contrast after watching Bjorn, Graham Potters video, and then you see Peter Chan's content.
Thank god I can atleast differentiate what is good and what is bad... some people in the forum are still can't. But I am happy for myself :)
Click to expand...

The thing with youtube, whether you start out watching Chasx or Dallas bonsai (as i did lol) you get all sorts of bonsai related content showing up in your feed to subscribe to. eventually you will get exposed to anybody who's anybody in the bonsai world. whether you want to stay static or move on up the ladder is down to you as an individual. i still watch Chan btw, i enjoyed the last one he did with the tour of the nursery in later summer, i enjoyed every bit of him tackling the big old Field maple.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
"Australian pine" (Casuarina equisetifolia) grown from seed. Thoughts?
Replies
4
Views
204
Shibui
S
I_I_am_not_a_cat
1st Juniper Yamadori -- thoughts on design?
Replies
10
Views
2K
I_I_am_not_a_cat
I_I_am_not_a_cat
Brain Treez
Thoughts on this good sized J. horizontalis?
Replies
2
Views
225
Brain Treez
Brain Treez
J
Thoughts on this tree?
Replies
5
Views
309
JudyB
JudyB
J
Japanese maple considering to purchase .. any thoughts?
Replies
4
Views
300
Jphipps
J
Back
Top Bottom