How to enjoy bonsai - and not make it a chore

[Bonsai Nut]

I thought this might be an interesting discussion, because every now and then I hear of people who get frustrated with bonsai because it becomes too much work / too much stress. So I thought I would start a discussion about "how to ENJOY bonsai".

My own personal experience includes:

(1) Design your low-maintenance bonsai garden first... and then add your trees. This includes automation/technology. Automatic sprinklers, Internet cameras, etc. I didn't really start enjoying bonsai until I could walk away for two weeks of vacation and not worry about them.
(2) Be realistic about the care requirements of various trees/species.
(3) Prioritize your labor. Spend time only where it will yield results. If you have trees "in development" stick them in the ground and don't look at them for two years. If you have trees in refinement - spend the appropriate time with them.

 

[Colorado]

Good post!

I think the main thing holding me back from being able to not stress about bonsai is not having a reliable person to water my trees when I am on work trip, vacation, etc.

I do have an automatic system which has been great, but I still worry about the “what ifs”. For example what if a pipe burst or something unexpected….then my whole collection would be toast.

I have recently been trying the app TaskRabbit to try to hire someone reliable to do this, but it’s easier said than done, so far.

Any additional suggestions on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

I did have an idea of starting a group within my local club of people who could water for each other as needed. That way you know that the people watering are “bonsai people” and understand the importance, how to water properly, etc. … but I haven’t really explored with the club whether there would be any interest.

 

[vp999]

I personally enjoy almost everything there is to do regarding bonsai ...except cutting off azaleas flowers after bloom and defoliation. My favorite is repotting.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I’ll second the automatic watering and cameras. It’s important to feel like you can walk away for a week or so and not come back to disaster.

Also, grow what grows well outside in your area.

 

[bonsaichile]

Reduce your collection. If you have a hundred seedlings, 20 trees in development, and every spring you buy more nursery material, you will end up stressed. On the contrary, if you only have a few well chosen trees, you will probably be happier and you will have more time to enjoy other things in life, including (gasp!) other hobbies

 

[Kievnstavick]

I think one of the biggest factors to enjoy this hobby is to just know what you are in for. Setting and managing your expectations correctly.

I spent a full year debating on if this was a hobby I really wanted to get into or not. I don't think I would be nearly as happy with the hobby if I just jumped in while learning about it.

I was already a plant person and a home gardener before I started collecting trees. I am perfectly content with having to play with hundreds of seedlings, but I know quite a few people who don't. I feel like it is very important to figure out what part of bonsai really resonates with you and focus the bulk of your collection around that aspect.

I enjoy the developing and refining aspects of bonsai, but I really love growing them and setting the plants up for success later on.

 

[Hartinez]

I’ve been lucky to have great people locally who are happy to house sit for me and get paid to water my trees.

What @Brian Van Fleet said also, as soon as I began focusing most exclusively on suitable material that thrives in my environment, I find I have less infections, pests and have to deal with the shuffle far less.

 

[ShadyStump]

I'm with @Kievnstavick on managing your expectations.
I believe this is one of, if not THE, most important part of enjoying anything. You absolutely WILL have to make compromises.
For example I only very recently acquired pots of high quality. Just about everything else was a lucky yard sale find or the equivalent. Even then, I only have a couple of trees in anything but training pots.
I also have essentially given up on developing great nebari for now. I do the best I can, but unless I want to give up other important activities in my life I need to water a maximum of once a day. That means substrate of small particle size, and lots of organics. Not the most conducive to good nebari, but I can water in the morning in summer, and then be out in the mountains admiring full size trees the rest of the day without a thought. (Summers here are hot and dry. It's a very real concern)

The next rule is just a basic rule for everything in life.
If it's stupid, but works, it isn't stupid.
Forget the "right" way. If it's not working for you, stop doing it.

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

Reduce your collection. If you have a hundred seedlings, 20 trees in development, and every spring you buy more nursery material, you will end up stressed. On the contrary, if you only have a few well chosen trees, you will probably be happier and you will have more time to enjoy other things in life, including (gasp!) other hobbies

I have seen this get more people stressed than anything else! There is no prize for having 1000 trees in your yard. While something may be a good deal, it still requires soil, fertilizer, a pot, water, regular maintenance, etc. which all adds up to more time and money spent on material.

I thinned out the collection a lot this season and it felt so much more manageable this spring. Another thinning is coming before winter because I am in the process of moving to a house with less yard (but it has a sweet inground pool!). Having more refined trees, and doing less propagation is not a bad thing, trust me!

 

[Maros]

Agree with most previous points, automatic irrigation, security etc.
I grow only stuff growing in my climate. No tropicals, nothing what cant handle -20°C outside. All overwinter strictly outside, trees must survive it or they are not part of the collection.
Using slow release fertilizer (in my case Osmocote, different variants) greately helps. Mixing it into the substrate when potting, reppoting and applying on top of other trees. You never know when shit hits the fan during the year, so you know trees have at least some food when your feeding schedule is suboptimal when you are sick, away or whatever.

 

[rockm]

All of the above, particularly getting rid of some of your trees. Focus on a dozen or less, also get a tree (almost finished or even finished) to actually admire, instead of being stressed about not having anything that looks like bonsai among the 1,000 starter trees/seedlings/etc.

 

[mj_barb]

I set up automatic watering before going on a 1 week vacation last year. I came back from vacation with Covid, and then had another vacation after I recovered. It was a real life saver. It’s good to see some of the experienced folks praise it, because I feel like some people just despise it. I’m looking to hook up a more permanent solution this year.

I was also just looking at cameras. I think that would add peace of mind to the auto watering.

I think the difficulty sourcing material in this hobby leads people (myself included) to think planting seeds ever year will solve that problem. It’s crazy how quickly seedlings can take up a ton of room.

 

[Clicio]

All of the above, particularly getting rid of some of your trees. Focus on a dozen or less, also get a tree (almost finished or even finished) to actually admire, instead of being stressed about not having anything that looks like bonsai among the 1,000 starter trees/seedlings/etc.

Yes, I guess this is THE most important lesson that comes only with time.
Quality, not quantity.
But...
I still grow dozens of seedlings and cuttings every season, and distribute them as gifts to all my friends and family.

 

[Cajunrider]

1. Automatic watering + camera + Wifi connection to system to adjust as needed.
2. Managing expectations
3. Understanding that to everything there are the seasons. Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Matching the seasons of your life with the seasons of your activities is the key. When winter comes, prepare to let go so you can do it without pain and regret. Don't wind up with a masterpiece instrument, music in your mind, and arthritic hands that frustrate you. Hand the instrument to a prodigy, close your eyes, and enjoy the music.

 

[Wood]

Don't wind up with a masterpiece instrument, music in your mind, and arthritic hands that frustrate you. Hand the instrument to a prodigy, close your eyes, and enjoy the music.

Donald Richie had an excellent line in A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics (excellent book) that is a less poetic version of this and has always stuck with me. I'm poorly paraphrasing it but:

Westerners will fight their aging by dying their hair. A Japanese person will see grey hair in the mirror and say "Good, things are progressing as they must."

 

[River's Edge]

When torn between the daily routine of managing your collection and enjoying your Bonsai. Choose to sit and work on a tree. Take the time to enjoy, create and do it well. I find that completing a tree to ones satisfaction is far more rewarding than completing a long list of routines. Everything being partly done is not the same sense of accomplishment.
This is only possible if one manages the overall size of the enterprise!
Reduce the number of trees and increase the time and satisfaction working with the remaining group. You can always add another if you catch up.
Well at least this works for me!

 

[dbonsaiw]

All good points. It is very helpful having a neighbor who runs a small micro-greens business. When she goes away, I care for her plants (as well as birds). She's more than happy to return the favor by watering my trees if I'm away.

"chores" are also relative. It is indeed a chore to water etc., but I very much enjoy it. So it isn't a chore to me. You couldn't pay me to clean my son's bearded lizard tank and feed it daily. But he loves his beardie and I never have to remind him.

It is easy to get carried away with bonsai and before you blink you have dozens of trees.

 

[Tieball]

Fewer trees and care the best for those trees. Avoid nursery trees when you don’t know what to do with the tree once brought home. Don’t feel that propagation is a requirement. Focus on trees appropriate for the local environment. I’m satisfied with the few trees I have. I don’t need or want a massive collection.

 

[BrianBay9]

I agree with most of the above. But playing with seedlings and trying new things out on "lesser" trees is one of the thing I enjoy. So I end up with more than the nice trees. Also I'd suggest focusing on species that thrive with the care you're willing to provide. For instance, I was much happier when I gave up on coastal redwoods. I began to hate the daily pinching and pruning for most of the year needed to manage their foliage.

 

[badatusernames]

Reduce your collection. If you have a hundred seedlings, 20 trees in development, and every spring you buy more nursery material, you will end up stressed. On the contrary, if you only have a few well chosen trees, you will probably be happier and you will have more time to enjoy other things in life, including (gasp!) other hobbies

This is me right now haha

Not stressed (yet) but I've told myself that with my started material, I'm starting a handful of each species and then whittling it down to one as I find the one with the best motion / nebari. But it'll be 4-5 years before I can start assessing... hoping the pot growing I'm doing will effectively be putting them in the ground and forgetting about them since I'm outside watering anyways, but we will see.

Definitely starting to realize that as things mature, as it stands this will end up being too much. Hopefully, if they make it, the ones that don't pass muster will be worth passing on.