US Bonsai in 20 years?

Vance Wood

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Trust me when I say it is a different world out west. And like I said earlier, I don't see it changing anytime soon out here. Sure the green movement is underway which I think is a very good thing. However, removing stunted twisty junipers or pines where you might collect 1 in a 100 that you see isn't going to destroy any habitats.

Not only that, but the small, twisted/stunted pines are precisely what the USFS wants gone, and are very happy to have them removed. They look at them as purely understory fuel.......


That seems to make sense but who says that environmentalist and the laws they manage to get passed make sense? I look at some of these issues like what I call the problem of the unseen treasure. The unseen treasure is the item, in this case a tree, that for the most part means nothing to the property owner and in some cases is even an annoyance. But; its value and importance grows astronomically the instant some out sider shows an interest in it and has a desire to acquire the item. When that happens, in many cases, the meaningless, worthless, and even annoying item becomes a prized possession to be protected at all costs. The reason being that it has some meaning and value to you it there fore must be meaningful and valuable to them even if they do not understand why; its human nature. It is in fact more important that it is kept out of your hands. In some cases it is better that the thing is destroyed than you should have it.
 

Smoke

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Only 18 years left......
 

yenling83

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Here's a fun little update to a thread that's now over 7 years old. We still have a decent chunk of time before we hit 20 yrs. It seem like one of the biggest influences over the last 7 years have been the influx of Bonsai Professionals that have come mostly from Japan. The use of technology-Blogs, Video's, Social media has and will continue to elevate the level of Bonsai as well.

It was fun looking back on this thread, here's a few quotes I found interesting below.


____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Smoke


"None of the above will happen.....

without education there is no growth.

Collecting will continue and probably be larger than it is today as the real people in bonsai move from urban lives to more rural areas in search of a smaller tax burdon."


____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Brian Van Fleet


"Actually, I agree with Al...I foresee a trend toward working with native trees, and with those field-grown just for bonsai. My guess is that we'll advance double from 2010-2030 than we did from 1990-2010...go back and look at "old" International Bonsai and BCI magazines...we've made quantum leaps in the last 20 years. Material is bigger and better, and we have easier access to images of the great trees being done in Japan and Europe.

Onward...Upward!!!

But I still wonder where my jetpack and hovercraft are...thought those were coming soon too..."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

davetree

"Maybe in 20 years the import ban will be lifted."
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JasonG

"My opinion is that there are a few key people in American bonsai that will drastically change the face of American bonsai in the 5-10 year time span. The quality of work and material will be elevated to another level and excitement for bonsai will be greater than ever before. I look forward to this and am excited to be a part of it, and know that right now the sky is the limit and we are just at a kicking off point.

20 years looks like an awesome time for bonsai, but I am most excited for now thru the 3, 5, 7 and 10 year mark. If we want 20 years to be killer then we need to make that happen today and it takes ALL of us to accept the challenge and elevate our games. The single biggest thing to elevate passion, your eye and your collection is to be around killer trees. It could be at a public garden, a friend’s collection, a person you met in the club (who you volunteer to help for free) that has a great collection, a nursery with great material, etc….. If you are not around good trees on a regular basis then you will struggle to get to the next level. "
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Here's a few of my predictions in the next 13 years just for fun. Would love to hear yours?

-The highest quality Trees, Pots and Stands will be exponentially more expensive

-Mid and low quality Trees, Pots and Stands will only raise near the rate of inflation

-The average level of Bonsai knowledge will be much higher

-More of our Native Species will be championed by individuals resulting in more types of US Natives in our Bonsai shows

-We’ll see a $30,000 or greater first place prize in a Bonsai show.

-We’ll see a lot more Bonsai competition/exhibits
 
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MORE EXPENSIVE !:eek: I can't afford real bonsai equipment as it is if i ever even get slightly good at bonsai i will write a book called Bonsai - doing it on the cheap.:eek:
YOU gotta be on top of craigslist, fb etc. Sales once in a while you come across a gem :)
 

justBonsai

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Cost of bonsai seem to be more regionally affected. In Southern California I have access to a lot of decent cheaper material. Contrast that to the midwest where good material is not as accessible I saw lower end trees as expensive as the mid-high end stuff here.

The highest quality trees are already greatly out of my financial grasp. I wonder if pros will start shifting to a "higher-end" clientele selling expensive trees? I visited a professional bonsai nursery in Taiwan last year and that's what they do. Typically wealthy clients from China will come over and pay the super high prices.

Also the use of natives in the bonsai scene will undoubtedly grow. If you guys know Dan Turner, he's a student of Ryan Neil and pretty active in the midwest bonsai community, he will be putting together a US natives shohin show in the coming years. I believe it will be the first show of it's kind and will be something worth looking out for in the future.

Another prediction I have that I've discussed with many other people is that the age demographic in bonsai will shift back. Looking at the European bonsai scene many "younger" enthusiasts and pros are slowly taking the reins. I think in the US the same will/is happening over the course of the next 10 years. I've been meeting more younger enthusiasts and they share the same opinion as me. Because of this I believe it is worth my time to at least try to pursue bonsai professionally. There could be a potential market or niche where I can try to sustain an income in. Right now I've been checking with the timing and openings for both foreign and domestic apprenticeships. If it works out I most definitely want to pursue one after I graduate college or soon after.
 

Anthony

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Well @bleumeon,

My brother-in-law started at 16 /17 and is now 55, I joined him at 25, I am 54 now.
Still learning and enjoying.

This is how we see it. Technology on Holograms, will allow us to image our trees
as they hit the Design.
Thus young folk trained in Horticulture and Art , will work on Bonsai like they
do on paintings.
Exhibitions can be done, the holograms sold and the the trees are retrained every
8 to 10 years.

So the Artist grower keeps the stock and the holograms make the money.

We suspect that many more would prefer images that are 3d, can hang but not
need watering.
Let you know as it happens.
Good Day
Anthony

*Science and Art ---------- onward and upward
 

Vance Wood

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That assumes that things on the world stage do not go sideways with a world wide EMP that forces us back into the stone age.
 

yenling83

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Cost of bonsai seem to be more regionally affected. In Southern California I have access to a lot of decent cheaper material. Contrast that to the midwest where good material is not as accessible I saw lower end trees as expensive as the mid-high end stuff here.

The highest quality trees are already greatly out of my financial grasp. I wonder if pros will start shifting to a "higher-end" clientele selling expensive trees? I visited a professional bonsai nursery in Taiwan last year and that's what they do. Typically wealthy clients from China will come over and pay the super high prices.

Also the use of natives in the bonsai scene will undoubtedly grow. If you guys know Dan Turner, he's a student of Ryan Neil and pretty active in the midwest bonsai community, he will be putting together a US natives shohin show in the coming years. I believe it will be the first show of it's kind and will be something worth looking out for in the future.

Another prediction I have that I've discussed with many other people is that the age demographic in bonsai will shift back. Looking at the European bonsai scene many "younger" enthusiasts and pros are slowly taking the reins. I think in the US the same will/is happening over the course of the next 10 years. I've been meeting more younger enthusiasts and they share the same opinion as me. Because of this I believe it is worth my time to at least try to pursue bonsai professionally. There could be a potential market or niche where I can try to sustain an income in. Right now I've been checking with the timing and openings for both foreign and domestic apprenticeships. If it works out I most definitely want to pursue one after I graduate college or soon after.

Yah, if I were a pro i'd absolutely shift my attention to higher end clientele. I think most pro's know that's where they should focus. Dan Turner's Shohin show sounds cool, I've also heard about the possibilities of another Shohin or possibly Shohin through Medium sized contest/exhibit that could be huge. I'm a big fan of healthy competitive in the Bonsai scene, I hope and believe that our North American shows will continue to grow. I agree about Young people as well. Nice reply, thanks!!
 
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What will be differnt about Bonsai in the US in 20 years? Styles, popularity, resources, learning, and everything else?

If you had to bet a significant amount of money on something being differnt in 20 years, what would that be?
Trees will be 20 years older.
 

Paradox

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Be right back.....

*Enters time machine*
 

Adair M

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In twenty years...

We will still argue about soils.

We will still argue argue about pinching junipers.

We will still be arguing about what “American bonsai” is or should be.

Someone will still be saying they will be the one who figures out how to make Eastern White Pines into good bonsai.

But...

We will have better bonsai

We will have more nurserymen growing stock specifically for bonsai.

The bonsai community will be larger, but still not “mainstream”.

The yamadori trees shown at the Artsan’s Cup will have become more refined, and begin to resemble the old Japanese Junipers.

No one will understand Sorce’s posts.

Yenling’s child will be in college!
 

Dav4

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In twenty years...

We will still argue about soils.

We will still argue argue about pinching junipers.

We will still be arguing about what “American bonsai” is or should be.

Someone will still be saying they will be the one who figures out how to make Eastern White Pines into good bonsai.

But...

We will have better bonsai

We will have more nurserymen growing stock specifically for bonsai.

The bonsai community will be larger, but still not “mainstream”.

The yamadori trees shown at the Artsan’s Cup will have become more refined, and begin to resemble the old Japanese Junipers.

No one will understand Sorce’s posts.

Yenling’s child will be in college!
Nailed it!
 
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