Have any of you moved to a different part of the country (or out to the country) for bonsai?

Agriff

Agriff

Mame
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Location
Minneapolis, MN
USDA Zone
4b
I'm just curious. Bonsai is obviously the life passion of many people on here, and it's not like many people know they want to do bonsai as kids. I started thinking about this because I live in Minneapolis, which is zone 4b. But I also live in the city, with a backyard that's just over 2,000 square feet, where only about 1/5 of it gets meaningful sun throughout the day (thanks, bur oaks).

I'm super new to bonsai, just started this spring. But if this became my life's work I could easily see myself selling my home and moving to at least zone 6 or 7, with a yard big enough to host a spacious greenhouse.

So I'm just wondering, did any of you do just that? Or do those of you who live in less fortunate climates suck it up because there are other things keeping you in the area?
 
Agriff said:
I'm just curious. Bonsai is obviously the life passion of many people on here, and it's not like many people know they want to do bonsai as kids. I started thinking about this because I live in Minneapolis, which is zone 4b. But I also live in the city, with a backyard that's just over 2,000 square feet, where only about 1/5 of it gets meaningful sun throughout the day (thanks, bur oaks).

I'm super new to bonsai, just started this spring. But if this became my life's work I could easily see myself selling my home and moving to at least zone 6 or 7, with a yard big enough to host a spacious greenhouse.

So I'm just wondering, did any of you do just that? Or do those of you who live in less fortunate climates suck it up because there are other things keeping you in the area?
Click to expand...
I moved three roads over as climate is not a concern for me as southern uk is great for trees, but I did rule out houses due to the direction the garden faces and it's size ( It was my first question to the estate agents even before I viewed the house none of them knew the orientation, I had to use google maps)
 
Lutonian said:
I moved three roads over as climate is not a concern for me as southern uk is great for trees, but I did rule out houses due to the direction the garden faces and it's size ( It was my first question to the estate agents even before I viewed the house none of them knew the orientation, I had to use google maps)
Click to expand...
Did you want south facing gardens?
 
Lutonian said:
managed to get a ssw facing garden in the end, the houses behind mine are lower so they don't block the light as well and I have access to the rear garden from the front of the house too, so I can get large trees in and out.
Click to expand...
You must have been so happy with that find!
 
I told my wife we couldn't buy a home with a North facing backyard when we were house hunting. I know that it's ridiculous so that was my only true stipulation besides staying inside our budget which was mandatory for obvious reasons. Now that I have my tiny slice of heaven my wife wants a bigger slice of heaven. My demands for the yard's orientation will remain the same but now there are a list of climates, states and countries I won't move to. I have curated my collection to with stand more heat than I currently have but no more cold than zone 6b, but that's also for mental health reasons. My trees are pollution tolerant and can handle light salt spray (dream is to be coastal, but I'm American-poor so..). To answer your question though, I factor in my bonsai as much as I can when it comes to moves and future moves. If I was single/when I am single, bonsai will be the sole determining factor in where I live
 
as a side note @Agriff , it's completely a matter of opinion but mine is that the most beautiful trees in bonsai are northern species. All of Americas best natives (IMO) will thrive in your zone. All Larch, all spruce, scots pine, Jack pine, elms and most junipers. Collected thuja can be as striking as any RMJ (which you can also grow). Careful of "zone envy", it side tracked me for many years.
 
Agriff said:
You must have been so happy with that find!
Click to expand...
I am, its one of the nicer areas of my town had to completely redo the house new everything. house was £182,500.00 renovation was around £8000 and had to pull a few favours to get the renovation price down. I will buy a second house (hopefully in the countryside) in the future and rent this one out.
 
PA_Penjing said:
as a side note @Agriff , it's completely a matter of opinion but mine is that the most beautiful trees in bonsai are northern species. All of Americas best natives (IMO) will thrive in your zone. All Larch, all spruce, scots pine, Jack pine, elms and most junipers. Collected thuja can be as striking as any RMJ (which you can also grow). Careful of "zone envy", it side tracked me for many years.
Click to expand...
I appreciate this comment 😁
 
Our next move will be entirely for the benefit of the family, any bonsai related perks will be strictly coincidental but i´d be lying if I said i wouldn´t take things like yardadori into account. And seeing as the plan(touch wood) is to move to Australia then the main bonsai perks will be having access to Australian species which is what I want to work with mostly anyway. In saying that its a big place so it depend where exactly you end up but we have a couple of areas we are keen on and don´t really expect orientation, land or size of yard to be an issue, you can get good bang for your buck in certain areas.
 
I moved two years ago to the countryside. I'm about to retire and divorced, so I bought this house thinking about my passion, nature in a general sense.
Once the house was reformed, I begun to develop my backyard, my garden, social area,...and then a bonsai gift triggered the bonsai passion.
Fotunatly, it seems my weather supports almost any tree species. So I reduced the social area and created my bonsai corner, south oriented , but also some shaded areas all directions oriented . Built a water deposit to collect the rain, and an inverse osmosis system.
So, everything came together, though now I would only move to a similar conditions place.....

As it was

Screenshot_20201029-120606.jpg

As it is: now

DSC_8040 (2).jpg
 
I didn't move for bonsai... but I have moved from Chicago to SoCal, and then from SoCal to NC. Each time I left trees behind and tailored my collection to fit my new location. SoCal was tough because you can't keep any cold hardy trees, and only a few deciduous. It is nirvana for Mediterranean and desert species... but if you are a Japanese maple or Japanese white pine lover, you can forget about it :)
 
Country!

I read somewhere you're supposed to go meet the neighbors before you decide.

I'd gather a great garden would be second to a good neighbor, or a neighbor who doesn't overspray their shrubs in the wind, blah blah blah.

I think if you can't enjoy what you can grow wherever you are, you won't be finding as much satisfaction anywhere else.

Sorce
 
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