Bonsai Careers?

[TreeJunkie]

Vermont is no doubt beautiful, verdant, where you're currently from, and theoretically it's possible to start this anywhere. But, VT is also zone 5 ... and quite far away from other centers of bonsai activity. There are some basic realities you need to acknowledge if you want to get into the business of growing, selling, and teaching bonsai, and even moreso if you want to field grow pre-bonsai. No disrespect to Vermont or the Northeast intended, however:

If you're very serious about this, moving to the Pacific Northwest or spending a few years here would put you on the path to success years quicker on average.

In the Portland metro, you're surrounded by numerous professionals from whom you can learn continuously and collaborate with throughout the year, a large horticultural industry/nexus with everything you need in terms of supply chain (just as an example... anderson flats come from here, are made here), proximity to volcanic mountain ranges (access to pumice / lava), a climate that enables you to be engaged in bonsai or field growing work year-round. It's also a climate in which it is easy to recover, cultivate, and source (either from nature or from collectors) valuable yamadori from around the western US. These are a key source of both sales income and recurring income (maintenance). We also have a lot of field growers here locally producing material you can acquire, improve, and then sell, something that's a useful source of income while you wait for your own field growing operation to yield.

Anyway, if you're serious, I don't think you can ignore the geographic-clustering advantages. Every single bonsai professional I work or study with in this region regularly collaborates with others, learns from others, and teaches others. Doesn't matter if they are primarily a teacher, a field grower, an apprentice, or someone whose only business is working on wealthy folks' refined bonsai. Everyone here is in a constant cycle of working with, learning from, and teaching others. In my experience people also share equipment and genetics and those sorts of things.

There are other places in the US you can build this kind of career too, but look to geography and existing clusters as a major part of your investigation.

You know I hadn’t seriously considered moving that far until reading this but you make a great sales pitch. I don’t think I would be able to get the fiancee on board unfortunately. I guess I will see what happens over the next few years. Good to see you on here I always appreciate your advice over on reddit

 

[TreeJunkie]

There are a couple (or so) opportunities to get apprenticeships, some are paid, most are not.

This one is paid (but not much)-degrees with horticulture, museums etc. can be helpful.

National Bonsai Apprenticeship — National Bonsai Foundation

www.bonsai-nbf.org

There are also opportunities that come up with other places.

Careers | Pacific Bonsai Museum

pacificbonsaimuseum.org

There was a post here a while ago about an unpaid apprenticeship at Eisei-En bonsai in Tennessee. I hear that one was filled, but it was a controversial as it was unpaid and the ad for it was unvarnished truth about what the apprentice would face. The entire post is worth reading though to get a feel for what you're aiming at.

Bjorn Apprenticeship

For those interested. Quite a commitment! https://bjornbjorholm.com/apprenticeship/

www.bonsainut.com

For the most part, unpaid volunteer work with knowledgeable bonsai people is the way in. Join a club or two, ask around,meet people, ask if they need help repotting, etc. when the work gets heavy (like now with spring). A bonsai job is like any other, its about connections and people...

Home - Green Mountain Bonsai Society

Green Mountain Bonsai Society (GMBS) was founded in 1981 and is a non-profit educational organization. Our mission is to provide our members with a forum to exchange information, learn, teach, and promote the art of bonsai through lectures, classes, workshops, demonstrations, and field trips. We...

greenmountainbonsaisociety.org

FWIW, selling cuttings is fine, but it's going to teach you much (if anything) about bonsai. Learning bonsai means DOING bonsai...andyeah, if you want a job in bonsai, you're going to have to travel--possibly a lot and full time.

That was definitely interesting to read through about Bjorn’s apprenticeship. That sounds like something I would have loved to take on if I were single with a huge savings account.

I’ve been meaning to join GMBS but haven’t gotten around to it. I will soon!

 

[sorce]

Haha! Don't cue me!

Welcome to Crazy!

Engineering your life is no different than engineering any other system.

I was going to ask, "how is your marriage going to end?", But since it hasn't technically started yet, you kinda don't know, but when you can answer that question you can know if this is possible.

Sorce

 

[Canada Bonsai]

I’m feeling like I really want to have a career in bonsai but I can’t give up on having steady income especially right now

I hear you! There are many ways to develop a career in bonsai. Here are some thoughts and a quick summary of the path I've taken. I would not yet call it a career though.

I launched Canada Bonsai in July 2020. At least 5 years prior to that I already knew that I wanted to contribute to bonsai in some way. It was always clear to me that I did not have the talent, training, or experience--and most importantly, I did not have the interest in acquiring it--to develop a career like Ryan Neil or Bjorn, for example. I was also not willing to become a travelling teacher, nor did I want to become a bonsai 'democratizer' on YouTube. I decided to focus on propagation and the development of pre-bonsai using the species that have been commonly used in Japan.

Why propagation? First and foremost, I could not find the material that I myself wanted to buy so I decided to grow it. Second, I was always more interested in the technicalities of propagation and advanced bonsai procedures than wiring a show tree. Finally, with bonsai growing in North America and the number of professionals also on the rise it seemed reasonable to forecast an increase in demand for pre-bonsai material.

Why focus on the species that have been commonly used in Japan? 1) Personal interest; 2) reliable demand; 3) pre-existing and well-documented knowledge; 4) good examples of mature specimens. I'm also playing with things like Acer rubrum, Amelanchier canadensis, Cercis canadensis, etc., but it always seemed obvious to me (and this may change over time, who knows) that these unusual species were not going be as popular as the 'traditional' species used in Japan.

I built my own apprenticeship
There was no denying that becoming a propagator required training, but it was training that could be done on my own schedule and this was important for me because, like you, I needed to keep my 9-to-5 to pay the bills at home and fund the start of the business.

I spent 5 years speaking to professionals all over the world. I travelled to visit propagators across North America and learned a lot through full-day and multi-day workshops with them. I spoke to most of the pre-bonsai nurseries in the USA to learn from their practices, experience, and insight. I spent an absurd amount of time and money finding Japanese language teachers based in Japan, and gradually finding those instructors that were willing to be hired to visit bonsai nurseries for me with a list of questions. When possible, we used video calls from on site to allow me to ask questions myself. This opened doors to developing quite a few key relationships in Japan. I also worked hard to source International Bonsai and Bonsai Today magazines! Along with the works of Kyosuke Gun and the Kinbon series, these are all absolutely crucial and the investment has undeniably paid off. I also attend a number of horticulture courses at various institutions and universities where professors have been willing to allow me to 'observe'.

Education continues perpetually in the form of books/magazines/articles, courses, training-services, consultation, experimentation with physical material, etc. All of these factor into an ongoing operational cost.

Set-up costs & propagation delay
In addition to the cost of initial education which was itself quite high, physical infrastructure and operating costs exceeded 20k before I sold my first plant. I won't run through all of the costs one-by-one, but for me 'starting small' meant building a 20' x 20' propagation house, ordering trays in the hundreds and pots in the thousands, substrate by the palette, etc. Taking 100 cuttings in your yard is not 'starting small', it's too small. Initial volumes are important because of the 'propagation delay':

There is an approximate minimum 3-year propagation delay for most species. So if you're planning on starting a business in 2025, the ideal time to take cuttings was last year, and this year is cutting it close. Lesson learned: shipping younger material across the continent is risky because you want the roots to have a significant hold in the substrate. Just 1 or 2 refunds can easily eat the profit you might make on 20 sales, for example.

I have been able to off-set the propagation delay and increase volume by selling material imported from Japan, and by relying on established and well-trusted propagators and hobbyists in Canada who can produce material for me at higher volumes than I can at the moment given my current/temporary space constraints. Importation has also allowed me to access material that is otherwise inaccessible in North America (Acer palmatum 'Beni Chidori', 'Seigen', 'Yuki Hime' etc., Ilex serrata 'koshobai', etc.).

Being in New England is perfectly fine, and has some advantages! Here in Canada, there is some profit to be made by renting-out greenhouse space for overwintering trees. The cost of setting up a greenhouse for this purpose is very high (because you need an extremely reliable set-up with backups, and a good insurance policy!), but it does pay off both directly and indirectly: in addition to rental fees, you are also enabling people in your local market to enter the hobby and practice bonsai when they might otherwise not be able to due to a lack of overwintering space. People will also want to come repot their trees that you are caring for during winter, so sale of substrate, tools, wire, pots etc. all become revenue-generating, although the margins on these items is very low. During winter your time also becomes a stream of revenue: repotting workshops, grafting workshops, etc.

These are all ways of generating sales in a way that remains within a reasonable skillset; there is no pretending that one is a 'bonsai master' or any good at styling trees. Helping beginners with repots and other very basic skills is an honest and helpful way to get people heading down the right path towards working with more advanced local mentors and international professionals.

I followed my own interests
I was a Japanese Maple guy before I was a bonsai guy. I also love Ume (the company logo), Cherries, and Persimmons. These are all species that make fine bonsai, but are also great for larger potted specimens (48-60", for example) to display in the landscape.

In 2020 I offered over 80 varieties of pre-bonsai, and sold my entire inventory for the year in a few hours. I was flooded with emails that allowed me to better understand the demand in the market -- the same 10-15 varieties were clearly the highest in demand (all the ones you would imagine: Deshojo, Chojubai, Shimpaku, Sakura, etc.). I also actively reached out to my mailing list to ask for feedback.

In 2021 I reduced to 40 varieties, and sold my entire inventory for the year in an hour. Again, I learned a lot from the feedback that I received and again actively asked for it.

Now in 2022, it feels like I am gradually finding my place. My inventory for year was sold out in under 45 minutes, and I was able to offer the 25 varieties that I personally enjoy working with the most. I'm gradually specializing based on my own interests, and it seems financially sustainable for the business!

Yes, by focusing on only 25 varieties I did receive emails from people complaining that I did not have a single pine or juniper available this year. But in that flood of emails I also discovered 3 opportunities that I had not previously thought of:

• Every year I received many emails from Asian-Canadians who want nothing to do with bonsai but who would love to have Prunus mume for lunar new year.
• I also received emails from individuals and garden centres that are interested in landscape-size specimens that are 'nicer' than typical garden centre specimens and/or rare varieties like Beni Chidori and Seigen Maples, but also things like Wisteria and Japanese Cherries
• And finally I have been supplying clubs/societies across Canada and the USA with high-volumes of 3-4 species -- the contracts are important because they allow me to predict volumes/demand in advance.

These 3 opportunities are allowing me to focus on the species that I personally enjoy most, while maintaining the business at a size that can be managed by 1 person on my own land. My goal has been to increase production to satisfy demand so that by 2025 material is available all summer and does not sell out in an hour...

If I wanted to scale-up I could add additional species to my inventory: something like Satsuki Azaleas or Japanese Black Pines and White Pines are sure to work, but that scale might require that I quit my 9-to-5, hire seasonal help, etc. I could also host workshops by flying-in professionals, etc. But at some point you become a business man and stop being a propagator... so each individual needs to figure out what scale is right for them.

Last but not least, I have a very supportive and patient wife without whom the business would be inconceivable.

 

[rockm]

I hear you! There are many ways to develop a career in bonsai. Here are some thoughts and a quick summary of the path I've taken. I would not yet call it a career though.

I launched Canada Bonsai in July 2020. At least 5 years prior to that I already knew that I wanted to contribute to bonsai in some way. It was always clear to me that I did not have the talent, training, or experience--and most importantly, I did not have the interest in acquiring it--to develop a career like Ryan Neil or Bjorn, for example. I was also not willing to become a travelling teacher, nor did I want to become a bonsai 'democratizer' on YouTube. I decided to focus on propagation and the development of pre-bonsai using the species that have been commonly used in Japan.

Why propagation? First and foremost, I could not find the material that I myself wanted to buy so I decided to grow it. Second, I was always more interested in the technicalities of propagation and advanced bonsai procedures than wiring a show tree. Finally, with bonsai growing in North America and the number of professionals also on the rise it seemed reasonable to forecast an increase in demand for pre-bonsai material.

Why focus on the species that have been commonly used in Japan? 1) Personal interest; 2) reliable demand; 3) pre-existing and well-documented knowledge; 4) good examples of mature specimens. I'm also playing with things like Acer rubrum, Amelanchier canadensis, Cercis canadensis, etc., but it always seemed obvious to me (and this may change over time, who knows) that these unusual species were not going be as popular as the 'traditional' species used in Japan.

I built my own apprenticeship
There was no denying that becoming a propagator required training, but it was training that could be done on my own schedule and this was important for me because, like you, I needed to keep my 9-to-5 to pay the bills at home and fund the start of the business.

I spent 5 years speaking to professionals all over the world. I travelled to visit propagators across North America and learned a lot through full-day and multi-day workshops with them. I spoke to most of the pre-bonsai nurseries in the USA to learn from their practices, experience, and insight. I spent an absurd amount of time and money finding Japanese language teachers based in Japan, and gradually finding those instructors that were willing to be hired to visit bonsai nurseries for me with a list of questions. When possible, we used video calls from on site to allow me to ask questions myself. This opened doors to developing quite a few key relationships in Japan. I also worked hard to source International Bonsai and Bonsai Today magazines! Along with the works of Kyosuke Gun and the Kinbon series, these are all absolutely crucial and the investment has undeniably paid off. I also attend a number of horticulture courses at various institutions and universities where professors have been willing to allow me to 'observe'.

Education continues perpetually in the form of books/magazines/articles, courses, training-services, consultation, experimentation with physical material, etc. All of these factor into an ongoing operational cost.

Set-up costs & propagation delay
In addition to the cost of initial education which was itself quite high, physical infrastructure and operating costs exceeded 20k before I sold my first plant. I won't run through all of the costs one-by-one, but for me 'starting small' meant building a 20' x 20' propagation house, ordering trays in the hundreds and pots in the thousands, substrate by the palette, etc. Taking 100 cuttings in your yard is not 'starting small', it's too small. Initial volumes are important because of the 'propagation delay':

There is an approximate minimum 3-year propagation delay for most species. So if you're planning on starting a business in 2025, the ideal time to take cuttings was last year, and this year is cutting it close. Lesson learned: shipping younger material across the continent is risky because you want the roots to have a significant hold in the substrate. Just 1 or 2 refunds can easily eat the profit you might make on 20 sales, for example.

I have been able to off-set the propagation delay and increase volume by selling material imported from Japan, and by relying on established and well-trusted propagators and hobbyists in Canada who can produce material for me at higher volumes than I can at the moment given my current/temporary space constraints. Importation has also allowed me to access material that is otherwise inaccessible in North America (Acer palmatum 'Beni Chidori', 'Seigen', 'Yuki Hime' etc., Ilex serrata 'koshobai', etc.).

Being in New England is perfectly fine, and has some advantages! Here in Canada, there is some profit to be made by renting-out greenhouse space for overwintering trees. The cost of setting up a greenhouse for this purpose is very high (because you need an extremely reliable set-up with backups, and a good insurance policy!), but it does pay off both directly and indirectly: in addition to rental fees, you are also enabling people in your local market to enter the hobby and practice bonsai when they might otherwise not be able to due to a lack of overwintering space. People will also want to come repot their trees that you are caring for during winter, so sale of substrate, tools, wire, pots etc. all become revenue-generating, although the margins on these items is very low. During winter your time also becomes a stream of revenue: repotting workshops, grafting workshops, etc.

These are all ways of generating sales in a way that remains within a reasonable skillset; there is no pretending that one is a 'bonsai master' or any good at styling trees. Helping beginners with repots and other very basic skills is an honest and helpful way to get people heading down the right path towards working with more advanced local mentors and international professionals.

I followed my own interests
I was a Japanese Maple guy before I was a bonsai guy. I also love Ume (the company logo), Cherries, and Persimmons. These are all species that make fine bonsai, but are also great for larger potted specimens (48-60", for example) to display in the landscape.

In 2020 I offered over 80 varieties of pre-bonsai, and sold my entire inventory for the year in a few hours. I was flooded with emails that allowed me to better understand the demand in the market -- the same 10-15 varieties were clearly the highest in demand (all the ones you would imagine: Deshojo, Chojubai, Shimpaku, Sakura, etc.). I also actively reached out to my mailing list to ask for feedback.

In 2021 I reduced to 40 varieties, and sold my entire inventory for the year in an hour. Again, I learned a lot from the feedback that I received and again actively asked for it.

Now in 2022, it feels like I am gradually finding my place. My inventory for year was sold out in under 45 minutes, and I was able to offer the 25 varieties that I personally enjoy working with the most. I'm gradually specializing based on my own interests, and it seems financially sustainable for the business!

Yes, by focusing on only 25 varieties I did receive emails from people complaining that I did not have a single pine or juniper available this year. But in that flood of emails I also discovered 3 opportunities that I had not previously thought of:

• Every year I received many emails from Asian-Canadians who want nothing to do with bonsai but who would love to have Prunus mume for lunar new year.
• I also received emails from individuals and garden centres that are interested in landscape-size specimens that are 'nicer' than typical garden centre specimens and/or rare varieties like Beni Chidori and Seigen Maples, but also things like Wisteria and Japanese Cherries
• And finally I have been supplying clubs/societies across Canada and the USA with high-volumes of 3-4 species -- the contracts are important because they allow me to predict volumes/demand in advance.

These 3 opportunities are allowing me to focus on the species that I personally enjoy most, while maintaining the business at a size that can be managed by 1 person on my own land. My goal has been to increase production to satisfy demand so that by 2025 material is available all summer and does not sell out in an hour...

If I wanted to scale-up I could add additional species to my inventory: something like Satsuki Azaleas or Japanese Black Pines and White Pines are sure to work, but that scale might require that I quit my 9-to-5, hire seasonal help, etc. I could also host workshops by flying-in professionals, etc. But at some point you become a business man and stop being a propagator... so each individual needs to figure out what scale is right for them.

Last but not least, I have a very supportive and patient wife without whom the business would be inconceivable.

Excellent advice and experience that mirrors bonsai professionals I know here.

They began their own bonsai nursery by repotting and styling thousands of mallsai for a mass-market seller. No experience with bonsai at first, but with horticulture and landscape nurseries. That initial "sink or swim" experience with bonsai lead to a greenhouse and a cold greenhouse, as well as basic assistance on chores--repotting, hard pruning, soil and supplies sales. That investment in greenhouses has been substantial in time and money over the last 30 years. They now store trees for the winter, as well as board them. That means they have to invest substantially in heaters, infrastructure to be reliable. Gas and electric prices during a cold winter can wipe out your entire year's profit these days...It's a 24/7 commitment.

 

[MaciekA]

Have you ever experienced Larch , White Cedar etc there are great species for bonsai that can handle that zone no problem. Structures exist to aid and overcome seasonal challenges as well.

I moved to Oregon from a zone 5 location on the east side of this contient and have seen beautiful EWP, sugar maples, and virginia juniper and so on. I understand what makes that part of the world special, and understand your point and agree with the spirit of it, but let's say I compare the following two:

1) The PNW that I currently live in

2) A theoretical PNW which is 1-for-1 identical to the one I live in, except without any of the bonsai or horticulture people: No companies/supply chains, potters, growers, educators / apprentices, etc

I'd always choose option 1

OP is new to this ecosystem, so spending at least some significant time in some area where existing bonsai practitioners are active and can provide major support to skip past years of experiments/mistakes and learn from other growers would be preferable. This would be true even if VT was a 1:1 copy of Oregon, or other US locations where it's easier to become part of a bonsai business ecosystem. If you are exporting field grown material US-wide, or want to work on species that are grown US-wide, or house bonsai on behalf of clients during stages of development, etc, then it helps to have layers of support either from your local climate or your local bonsai community. I'll be spending several days watering bonsai at a professional garden in June when an apprentice is away to visit family. That's not a task they can trust to a gig worker, bonsai-naive friend, or automation, there's a lot of money at risk. These things are easy when there's an army of bonsai people around.

It's a less brutal business than when Brent Walston was interviewed back in 2006, but boom times come and go and it's optimal to not spend too much time retracing other people's mistakes or being isolated out on one's own island. It doesn't have to be the PNW but it upgrading from hobby to career demands some intense contact with folks who've walked the path, IMO.

 

[Shogun610]

I moved to Oregon from a zone 5 location on the east side of this contient and have seen beautiful EWP, sugar maples, and virginia juniper and so on. I understand what makes that part of the world special, and understand your point and agree with the spirit of it, but let's say I compare the following two:

1) The PNW that I currently live in

2) A theoretical PNW which is 1-for-1 identical to the one I live in, except without any of the bonsai or horticulture people: No companies/supply chains, potters, growers, educators / apprentices, etc

I'd always choose option 1

OP is new to this ecosystem, so spending at least some significant time in some area where existing bonsai practitioners are active and can provide major support to skip past years of experiments/mistakes and learn from other growers would be preferable. This would be true even if VT was a 1:1 copy of Oregon, or other US locations where it's easier to become part of a bonsai business ecosystem. If you are exporting field grown material US-wide, or want to work on species that are grown US-wide, or house bonsai on behalf of clients during stages of development, etc, then it helps to have layers of support either from your local climate or your local bonsai community. I'll be spending several days watering bonsai at a professional garden in June when an apprentice is away to visit family. That's not a task they can trust to a gig worker, bonsai-naive friend, or automation, there's a lot of money at risk. These things are easy when there's an army of bonsai people around.

It's a less brutal business than when Brent Walston was interviewed back in 2006, but boom times come and go and it's optimal to not spend too much time retracing other people's mistakes or being isolated out on one's own island. It doesn't have to be the PNW but it upgrading from hobby to career demands some intense contact with folks who've walked the path, IMO.

Yeah I hear you. But I also know the N.E is still thriving at least in my area but again I’m in PA so can’t speak for VT

 

[rockm]

FWIW, the middle Atlantic states have a deep, long history with bonsai and a pretty decent network of bonsai folks, from Bill Valavanis, Chase Rosade, Jim Doyle, the Kennett Collection, the list goes on.

The National Bonsai and Penjing Museum uses docents and volunteers drawn from local clubs for maintenance and daily upkeep. Has for decades. Know more than one of them. They're hobbyists, but have been doing bonsai for decades.

The East Coast has many growers, potters, etc. too.

There are many bonsai opportunities here and markets too...Just look at what high-end bonsai sales in Pa. can draw...

The Kennett Collection Reduction Sale

The Kennett Collection is the private bonsai collection of bonsai connoisseur Doug Paul who has created the finest bonsai collection in the United States. His fine eye and love of bonsai (and kopi)…

valavanisbonsaiblog.com

 

[rockm]

FWIW, the middle Atlantic states have a deep, long history with bonsai and a pretty decent network of bonsai folks, from Bill Valavanis, Chase Rosade, Jim Doyle, the Kennett Collection, the list goes on.

The National Bonsai and Penjing Museum uses docents and volunteers drawn from local clubs for maintenance and daily upkeep. Has for decades. Know more than one of them. They're hobbyists, but have been doing bonsai for decades.

The East Coast has many growers, potters, etc. too.

There are many bonsai opportunities here and markets too...Just look at what high-end bonsai sales in Pa. can draw...

The Kennett Collection Reduction Sale

The Kennett Collection is the private bonsai collection of bonsai connoisseur Doug Paul who has created the finest bonsai collection in the United States. His fine eye and love of bonsai (and kopi)…

valavanisbonsaiblog.com

And BTW, the Kennett Collection has a full-time staff to tend the trees from what I have heard...

The Kennett collection - Bonsai Empire

The Kennett Collection is a private bonsai garden located in Kennett, PA. Check our photo report and video in this article. The collection is comprised of a lar...

www.bonsaiempire.com

 

[TreeJunkie]

I hear you! There are many ways to develop a career in bonsai. Here are some thoughts and a quick summary of the path I've taken. I would not yet call it a career though.

I launched Canada Bonsai in July 2020. At least 5 years prior to that I already knew that I wanted to contribute to bonsai in some way. It was always clear to me that I did not have the talent, training, or experience--and most importantly, I did not have the interest in acquiring it--to develop a career like Ryan Neil or Bjorn, for example. I was also not willing to become a travelling teacher, nor did I want to become a bonsai 'democratizer' on YouTube. I decided to focus on propagation and the development of pre-bonsai using the species that have been commonly used in Japan.

Why propagation? First and foremost, I could not find the material that I myself wanted to buy so I decided to grow it. Second, I was always more interested in the technicalities of propagation and advanced bonsai procedures than wiring a show tree. Finally, with bonsai growing in North America and the number of professionals also on the rise it seemed reasonable to forecast an increase in demand for pre-bonsai material.

Why focus on the species that have been commonly used in Japan? 1) Personal interest; 2) reliable demand; 3) pre-existing and well-documented knowledge; 4) good examples of mature specimens. I'm also playing with things like Acer rubrum, Amelanchier canadensis, Cercis canadensis, etc., but it always seemed obvious to me (and this may change over time, who knows) that these unusual species were not going be as popular as the 'traditional' species used in Japan.

I built my own apprenticeship
There was no denying that becoming a propagator required training, but it was training that could be done on my own schedule and this was important for me because, like you, I needed to keep my 9-to-5 to pay the bills at home and fund the start of the business.

I spent 5 years speaking to professionals all over the world. I travelled to visit propagators across North America and learned a lot through full-day and multi-day workshops with them. I spoke to most of the pre-bonsai nurseries in the USA to learn from their practices, experience, and insight. I spent an absurd amount of time and money finding Japanese language teachers based in Japan, and gradually finding those instructors that were willing to be hired to visit bonsai nurseries for me with a list of questions. When possible, we used video calls from on site to allow me to ask questions myself. This opened doors to developing quite a few key relationships in Japan. I also worked hard to source International Bonsai and Bonsai Today magazines! Along with the works of Kyosuke Gun and the Kinbon series, these are all absolutely crucial and the investment has undeniably paid off. I also attend a number of horticulture courses at various institutions and universities where professors have been willing to allow me to 'observe'.

Education continues perpetually in the form of books/magazines/articles, courses, training-services, consultation, experimentation with physical material, etc. All of these factor into an ongoing operational cost.

Set-up costs & propagation delay
In addition to the cost of initial education which was itself quite high, physical infrastructure and operating costs exceeded 20k before I sold my first plant. I won't run through all of the costs one-by-one, but for me 'starting small' meant building a 20' x 20' propagation house, ordering trays in the hundreds and pots in the thousands, substrate by the palette, etc. Taking 100 cuttings in your yard is not 'starting small', it's too small. Initial volumes are important because of the 'propagation delay':

There is an approximate minimum 3-year propagation delay for most species. So if you're planning on starting a business in 2025, the ideal time to take cuttings was last year, and this year is cutting it close. Lesson learned: shipping younger material across the continent is risky because you want the roots to have a significant hold in the substrate. Just 1 or 2 refunds can easily eat the profit you might make on 20 sales, for example.

I have been able to off-set the propagation delay and increase volume by selling material imported from Japan, and by relying on established and well-trusted propagators and hobbyists in Canada who can produce material for me at higher volumes than I can at the moment given my current/temporary space constraints. Importation has also allowed me to access material that is otherwise inaccessible in North America (Acer palmatum 'Beni Chidori', 'Seigen', 'Yuki Hime' etc., Ilex serrata 'koshobai', etc.).

Being in New England is perfectly fine, and has some advantages! Here in Canada, there is some profit to be made by renting-out greenhouse space for overwintering trees. The cost of setting up a greenhouse for this purpose is very high (because you need an extremely reliable set-up with backups, and a good insurance policy!), but it does pay off both directly and indirectly: in addition to rental fees, you are also enabling people in your local market to enter the hobby and practice bonsai when they might otherwise not be able to due to a lack of overwintering space. People will also want to come repot their trees that you are caring for during winter, so sale of substrate, tools, wire, pots etc. all become revenue-generating, although the margins on these items is very low. During winter your time also becomes a stream of revenue: repotting workshops, grafting workshops, etc.

These are all ways of generating sales in a way that remains within a reasonable skillset; there is no pretending that one is a 'bonsai master' or any good at styling trees. Helping beginners with repots and other very basic skills is an honest and helpful way to get people heading down the right path towards working with more advanced local mentors and international professionals.

I followed my own interests
I was a Japanese Maple guy before I was a bonsai guy. I also love Ume (the company logo), Cherries, and Persimmons. These are all species that make fine bonsai, but are also great for larger potted specimens (48-60", for example) to display in the landscape.

In 2020 I offered over 80 varieties of pre-bonsai, and sold my entire inventory for the year in a few hours. I was flooded with emails that allowed me to better understand the demand in the market -- the same 10-15 varieties were clearly the highest in demand (all the ones you would imagine: Deshojo, Chojubai, Shimpaku, Sakura, etc.). I also actively reached out to my mailing list to ask for feedback.

In 2021 I reduced to 40 varieties, and sold my entire inventory for the year in an hour. Again, I learned a lot from the feedback that I received and again actively asked for it.

Now in 2022, it feels like I am gradually finding my place. My inventory for year was sold out in under 45 minutes, and I was able to offer the 25 varieties that I personally enjoy working with the most. I'm gradually specializing based on my own interests, and it seems financially sustainable for the business!

Yes, by focusing on only 25 varieties I did receive emails from people complaining that I did not have a single pine or juniper available this year. But in that flood of emails I also discovered 3 opportunities that I had not previously thought of:

• Every year I received many emails from Asian-Canadians who want nothing to do with bonsai but who would love to have Prunus mume for lunar new year.
• I also received emails from individuals and garden centres that are interested in landscape-size specimens that are 'nicer' than typical garden centre specimens and/or rare varieties like Beni Chidori and Seigen Maples, but also things like Wisteria and Japanese Cherries
• And finally I have been supplying clubs/societies across Canada and the USA with high-volumes of 3-4 species -- the contracts are important because they allow me to predict volumes/demand in advance.

These 3 opportunities are allowing me to focus on the species that I personally enjoy most, while maintaining the business at a size that can be managed by 1 person on my own land. My goal has been to increase production to satisfy demand so that by 2025 material is available all summer and does not sell out in an hour...

If I wanted to scale-up I could add additional species to my inventory: something like Satsuki Azaleas or Japanese Black Pines and White Pines are sure to work, but that scale might require that I quit my 9-to-5, hire seasonal help, etc. I could also host workshops by flying-in professionals, etc. But at some point you become a business man and stop being a propagator... so each individual needs to figure out what scale is right for them.

Last but not least, I have a very supportive and patient wife without whom the business would be inconceivable.

Wow so you really are doing almost exactly what I have envisioned. Sounds like its a lot of work just to get up and running but not totally unreasonable for someone with a 9-5. I like the outline that you’ve set up here and it’s probably something that I would try to emulate in my own journey. Can I ask how did you determine which horticulture courses to observe? How did you go about researching which nurseries to communicate and visit with in Japan and the US? The “build your own apprenticeship” idea is something I feel like I could definitely work on over the next few years while getting an idea of what the business might look like. It would be great to be able to pick your brain and have you point me in the right direction to maybe avoid making some of the same mistakes you did as I progress

 

[TN_Jim]

I am wondering if any of you wonderful people could give me some advice.

I am young and have an engineering degree, decent job, house, getting married this summer, going to be starting a family soon…

But for me bonsai is quickly developing from a hobby into a passion/obsession. I find myself thinking about trees nonstop and all I ever want to do is spend time in my garden. I’m feeling like I really want to have a career in bonsai but I can’t give up on having steady income especially right now. I honestly don’t know when it ever will be a “good” time.

My fiancee and I share a dream of owning a nursery/garden center some day but I know that I will need WAY more knowlege for that to even be a possibility, and at this rate I might not ever get there on my own. Everything I know I’ve learned through the internet and I’ve only been at this for a little over a year.

What suggestions would you have for someone like me? What opportunities exist out there? What would the path look like for me to eventually own my own nursery?

Work at a nursery, a good nursery, not one where they lean on counters, work your ass off

 

[MaciekA]

Wow so you really are doing almost exactly what I have envisioned. Sounds like its a lot of work just to get up and running but not totally unreasonable for someone with a 9-5. I like the outline that you’ve set up here and it’s probably something that I would try to emulate in my own journey. Can I ask how did you determine which horticulture courses to observe? How did you go about researching which nurseries to communicate and visit with in Japan and the US? The “build your own apprenticeship” idea is something I feel like I could definitely work on over the next few years while getting an idea of what the business might look like. It would be great to be able to pick your brain and have you point me in the right direction to maybe avoid making some of the same mistakes you did as I progress

Whatever else you decide to do in terms of familiarizing yourself with the general nursery business, you should build a list of bonsai field growers and dig through of all of their media output. There are a few on this forum. There is also Telperion Farms, which is now defunct due to their fire in 2020, but which is still a good reference (there are lots of remnant photos, text, videos, and collective community memory related to telfarms).

For Japanese growers who either do container-based or field-based growing, there are several on Instagram who post very regularly which gives you a sense of a lot of random useful details and overall seasonal rhythm. Take a stroll through Takamatsu on google street view, specifically around Kinashi station. There are many field-growing operations there where you can see rows of mounded black pines and a lot of other stuff. Ryuchi Kitadani gives tours of his family's operation to visitors and seems willing to answer detailed questions about field growing methods (also, that nursery is just 1 out of a long list of nurseries you can tour in that part of Takamatsu). You can find a couple videos of those tours on youtube, including on his own channel, which you should definitely study carefully if you want to grow any pines or conifers.

 

[August44]

To me, you have already made choices that will conflict seriously with your desire to have a bonsai business of sorts. Learning and understanding the bonsai business well enough to make anywhere near enough money to live on will take years of study and lots of hard work. I don't know how much money you have nor how much patience your soon to be wife has, but know that it takes a lot of time, patience, and hard work just to take care of a family let alone a bunch of trees that she might consider worthless. She might be on board today, but five years from now, with two kids in camp, little to no money, and you spending way more time with trees than the family...you won't like what is going to happen!

 

[Forestcat]

"Manageable on sunday afternoons if it isn't too large of an operation."

If you are doing pre-bonsai in the ground, maybe that could work, but I think this is unrealistic. Living in California, I end up watering my trees and doing something to at least one of them every day. Of course, my collection is mostly in pots. I don't like to go on vacations because I don't really trust anyone else to do the watering or other care for me, such as looking at the trees and deciding one is getting too much sun, etc. Weather happens, usually at an inconvenient time.

Besides taking care of the trees, you will find yourself spending several nights a week studying about bonsai care and styling on line to amass the bulk of knowledge you need to have in order to create successful trees.

Read as much as you can about Telperion Farms. Sadly they are no longer in business, but they were one of the premier bonsai development nurseries around. It was the endeavor and work of a lifetime to create what they did.

Professionals like Ryan Neil and Bjorn work extremely long, hard hours and are handy at a lot of things, such as carpentry, use of heavy machinery, etc. Both Bjorn and Ryan built structures on their properties, doing most or all of the work themselves. Any type of agriculture requires a lot of manual labor and it's hard to get rich on niche markets like bonsai. It's not for the faint of heart. One branch of my family was in the rose business so I have some idea about that

As others have said, keep your day job. The cost of health insurance alone is worth working for a company. You can have a very enjoyable hobby on the side, expanding along the way. You are still young. Save money and if in ten years you do decide to go all in on bonsai, you'll have a nest egg to help you get started.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

"Manageable on sunday afternoons if it isn't too large of an operation."

If you are doing pre-bonsai in the ground, maybe that could work, but I think this is unrealistic. Living in California, I end up watering my trees and doing something to at least one of them every day. Of course, my collection is mostly in pots. I don't like to go on vacations because I don't really trust anyone else to do the watering or other care for me, such as looking at the trees and deciding one is getting too much sun, etc. Weather happens, usually at an inconvenient time.

Besides taking care of the trees, you will find yourself spending several nights a week studying about bonsai care and styling on line to amass the bulk of knowledge you need to have in order to create successful trees.

Read as much as you can about Telperion Farms. Sadly they are no longer in business, but they were one of the premier bonsai development nurseries around. It was the endeavor and work of a lifetime to create what they did.

Professionals like Ryan Neil and Bjorn work extremely long, hard hours and are handy at a lot of things, such as carpentry, use of heavy machinery, etc. Both Bjorn and Ryan built structures on their properties, doing most or all of the work themselves. Any type of agriculture requires a lot of manual labor and it's hard to get rich on niche markets like bonsai. It's not for the faint of heart. One branch of my family was in the rose business so I have some idea about that

As others have said, keep your day job. The cost of health insurance alone is worth working for a company. You can have a very enjoyable hobby on the side, expanding along the way. You are still young. Save money and if in ten years you do decide to go all in on bonsai, you'll have a nest egg to help you get started.

I have around 200 potted plants destined for bonsai that are manageable on sunday afternoons. I'm stuffing 80 pines in the ground this fall and expect it to be a two-days-per-six-months operation: bud selection in winter, fertilization in spring, candle cutting and pruning in summer.
The key is knowing what to do when. You don't have to wire an entire tree at once if it's just about trunk structure, nor every branch this year exactly - some branches can be wired a years to decade from now. You don't have to repot most trees every 2 years, sometimes not even every 4 years.
Same goes for pruning, candle cutting, and so on.
For some people, repotting season has just begun, I've tackled that two months ago when I saw the weather forecasts. Got some snow and a couple frosty days afterwards but all repotted plants have zero damage.

Sure, watering is a daily operation. But stuff like aphid inspection and treatment can be something to do once every three weeks. Or treated pro-actively, way easier.
I've worked in laboratories and nurseries myself.. Doing 500+ cuttings a day within a controlled environment (sterilizing equipment in between etc.), or planting 800 plants from laboratory containers is a one man on one day job. We handled 45000 in vitro stock containers (each containing 4-5 plants, propagated at least 6 times a year) with 4 technicians and we had time to spare. I've seen Polish workers graft six rows of rose bushes before their lunch break - about 1400 to 2000 plants. The key to doing something fast and well is skill, homogenity (all pines, all roses, all prunus, etc.) concessions and planning. The concessions part is something like cutting wire off instead of unwinding it; saves you hours.

A nursery isn't an established bonsai collection, it's a nursery. People expect some things to be rough around the edges. Sure, if you ponder 15 minutes on branch positioning, absolutely, it's an insane amount of work - and you'd be asking prime money for those kind of things with good reason. If you instead slap a branch somewhat in the right position with sloppy wiring, it's a 25 seconds operation. Nobody is going to notice that in 6 or 10 years from now. If one can get skilled to do that kind of stuff, prime money can still be asked for the work.
Even better: offer apprenticeships and let someone else do the hard work!

 

[TreeJunkie]

But stuff like aphid inspection and treatment can be something to do once every three weeks. Or treated pro-actively, way easier.

Thanks for the advice and motivation! I agree that the trees would only need to be shaped generally and could be a little rough around the edges. I think the best part about starting on a new prebonsai is taking something with a lot of options for branching and being able to choose

Can I ask how you go about pro actively treating trees for pests and what you use?

 

[Forestcat]

Why focus on the species that have been commonly used in Japan? 1) Personal interest; 2) reliable demand; 3) pre-existing and well-documented knowledge; 4) good examples of mature specimens. I'm also playing with things like Acer rubrum, Amelanchier canadensis, Cercis canadensis, etc., but it always seemed obvious to me (and this may change over time, who knows) that these unusual species were not going be as popular as the 'traditional' species used in Japan.

You may want to consider North American trees. I think these will grow in popularity, as Ryan Neil has been emphasizing them in some of his streams. Japanese varieties will always be loved, but there's something to be said for the notion of developing what is unique about our native species.

Rocky Mountain Juniper, Lodgepole pines, Ponderosa pines as well as many others, can be made into special trees.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Thanks for the advice and motivation! I agree that the trees would only need to be shaped generally and could be a little rough around the edges. I think the best part about starting on a new prebonsai is taking something with a lot of options for branching and being able to choose

Can I ask how you go about pro actively treating trees for pests and what you use?

I use systemics for scaly aphids and neem oil for all the rest. But most importantly I keep the plants healthy and I remove potential insect host plants.
Ever since the weather here has been getting dryer, the ants have been less present and aphids are less of an issue.

 

[TreeJunkie]

I use systemics for scaly aphids and neem oil for all the rest. But most importantly I keep the plants healthy and I remove potential insect host plants.
Ever since the weather here has been getting dryer, the ants have been less present and aphids are less of an issue.

So you spray neem oil what, once a week, month?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

So you spray neem oil what, once a week, month?

Yes.
To be honest, I'm not very consistent in spraying. When new foliage has emerged, I spray once a week for two weeks. Then I do it whenever/if I see bad things happening. Last year that was the middle of December.
But once a month during spring and summer isn't a bad idea. I like to minimize the use of pesticides as much as possible because Europe has been a mess when it comes to those kind of things: there's so much resistance happening in bugs, bacteria and fungi that I want to keep all options (from minor to nuclear) available.
Showering the plants in neem constantly is pushing evolutionary pressure on bugs to become resistant. If they start surviving neem showers, I'd have to resort to something more dangerous to myself and the environment.