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Kyleboldy2003

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I will be going out to California in May hopefully. I think I will go to Lotus Bonsai in northern Cali. Later in my trip I will be going south to Los Angeles area. I am asking where are some good places to stop and look at raw material to semi finished material. Id like anyone that knows or could tell me the pro and cons of each place. thanks for your help in advanced. I will be traveling back home to Michigan through vegas and then Denver then Detroit. I will be taking a truck and trailer. Thanks
 
A truck and trailer! Then you need to load up!

Just trees? What about pots, akadama, pumice, or scoria?

I second Kimura Nursery for great prebonsai stock. If you have the time, Roy Nagatoshi in Slymar has trees in all stages and some containers. http://www.fujibonsainursery.com/

California Bonsai Studio has all stages of trees and is just NW of LA.

California Bonsai Studio – Californiabonsai.com

www.californiabonsai.com www.californiabonsai.com

Depending on your N-S route, the Fresno area has some. I haven’t been. But you could check out the Golden State Bonsai Federation collection. Search here or California Bonsai Art blog for info on nurseries. If you are on the coast side and go past Nipomo, call ahead and see if George Muranaka is available. He has field grown prebonsai.

Another neat place is David and June Nguy in Chino, Bonsai Jidai. Amazing trees and lots of pots and akadama. (https://www.bonsaijidai.com/)

Lastly, for something different you could look up Barry at Legacy Cork Oaks at his home nursery. He’s on Facebook.

Epic Road Trip!
 
Brian Van Fleet said:
I’ve only been to Chikugo-En-en in Gardena (bring your wallet), and one other near San Gabriel with @Bonsai Nut
Click to expand...

The one we went to was San Gabriel Nursery. A giant in its day... but not so sure how dedicated they are to bonsai today. The last time I went there was with you :)
 
From posts here about way more places to visit than time down there. Get pumice for sure. Hard to get/expensive back your way. Krapadama can be had easy and 🤬 anyway.
 
I would like to get multiple places to go to. Would also like good prices on Material that is in very early stages of development for bonsai, but older trees
 
Kimura Bonsai, Fuji Bonsai and California bonsai Studio are all pretty close to each other and all offer some nice raw older material. They are in the northern part of LA county.

I don't venture much into southern LA but the one time I went to Chikugo-En I noticed it had a pretty awesome selection of smaller trees.
 
ihaveaspaceship said:
Kimura Bonsai, Fuji Bonsai and California bonsai Studio are all pretty close to each other and all offer some nice raw older material. They are in the northern part of LA county.

I don't venture much into southern LA but the one time I went to Chikugo-En I noticed it had a pretty awesome selection of smaller trees.
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Any others that you can think of or does one stand out more then the other
 
It your coming from the north and want to make the most of a one day trip whats the best route to go??. Chikugo en first then kimura then Fuki then California Bonsai Studio? And end the day at san gabriel nursery?
 
Chikugo-en is not open to public right now. California Bonsai Studio had the best prices and stock, then Kimura. There are some other places like Yamaguchi, they have some nice display trees, but not much to buy there. San Gabriel Nursery and Florist is the same.
 
pamboys09 said:
It your coming from the north and want to make the most of a one day trip whats the best route to go??. Chikugo en first then kimura then Fuki then California Bonsai Studio? And end the day at san gabriel nursery?
Click to expand...
My honest advice, don’t even bother with SGN.

chikugo is closed to the public, but they will bring trees out to the front if you call and let them know what you’re looking for. Don’t know exactly how that works, never wanted to try it myself.
 
BonsaiDTLA said:
My honest advice, don’t even bother with SGN.

chikugo is closed to the public, but they will bring trees out to the front if you call and let them know what you’re looking for. Don’t know exactly how that works, never wanted to try it myself.
Click to expand...

Not for purchasing, but if he just wants to look at bonsai, it’s worth a stop. The Huntington Library and Garden is the real place to go see bonsai, if you can get in.
 
Ruddigger said:
Not for purchasing, but if he just wants to look at bonsai, it’s worth a stop. The Huntington Library and Garden is the real place to go see bonsai, if you can get in.
Click to expand...
Visits are currently by appointment while ticketed times are available. They release new tickets every Tuesday.

If you are coming down the I-5, Fuji Bonsai Nursery has been open in Sylmar.

Also, north of LA is Kim’s Bonsai in Phelan was an interesting stop. It’s north of the San Gabriel Mtns.
 
Ruddigger said:
Chikugo-en is not open to public right now. California Bonsai Studio had the best prices and stock, then Kimura. There are some other places like Yamaguchi, they have some nice display trees, but not much to buy there. San Gabriel Nursery and Florist is the same.
Click to expand...
must be nice. wonder if they sustain on cover-charges...

(lotta trust fund nurseries out there)
 
Ruddigger said:
Not for purchasing, but if he just wants to look at bonsai, it’s worth a stop. The Huntington Library and Garden is the real place to go see bonsai, if you can get in.
Click to expand...
Im planning to purchase. Why SGN is not worth to look? Just curious
 
Ruddigger said:
They dont have much in the way of material, the bonsai they have are priced at several thousand dollars.
Click to expand...

Lol. Not to mention that the bonsai are all neglected and they price their overly neglected material as if they don't want to sell their trees.

They had a fat trident, for example, just moved from the floor surrounding the bonsai tables to the tabletops.. asked price for that and a winged elm.

First, the winged elm: $5000, despite a few better and more developed ones sitting on the table top for about $2000, which, for those, was quite reasonable.

Trident: $5000.. The damn nursery pot had roots that looked like horse hooves, 2-3" thick, growing outside of and around the drainage holes.
 
pamboys09 said:
Im planning to purchase. Why SGN is not worth to look? Just curious
Click to expand...

Their long-time bonsai curator, Richard Ota, retired a few years ago and their bonsai stock has been neglected. In the early oughts, I remember they had some great stock but no longer. They have almost nothing for pre-bonsai and their potted trees are, as mentioned well overpriced. The one thing they have at reasonable prices are pots. If you really need a pot they have more of the mass-produced Yixing pots than the 3 nurseries in the valley.

If you were down for a full day trip you could go Fuki->Kimura->California Bonsai Studio then end your day at House of Bonsai. House of Bonsai also has a ton of pots (which the other ones are low in stock atm unless you really want an expensive Japanese pot). All four are great nurseries but it's really what you to purchase atm (HoB is the largest, CBS is the smallest).

Chikugo, as mentioned, is curbside only so I personally wouldn't prioritize them at this time.
 
Last edited:
Bagels said:
Their long-time bonsai curator, Richard Ota, retired a few years ago and their bonsai stock has been neglected. In the early oughts, I remember they had some great stock but no longer. They have almost nothing for pre-bonsai and their potted trees are, as mentioned well overpriced. The one thing they have at reasonable prices are pots. If you really need a pot they have more of the mass-produced Yixing pots than the 3 nurseries in the valley.

If you were down for a full day trip you could go Fuki->Kimura->California Bonsai Studio then end your day at House of Bonsai. House of Bonsai also has a ton of pots (which the other ones are low in stock atm unless you really want an expensive Japanese pot). All four are great nurseries but it's really what you to purchase atm (HoB is the largest, CBS is the smallest).

Chikugo, as mentioned, is curbside only so I personally wouldn't prioritize them at this time.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your suggestion. My trip got delayed because I got detoured to Round Valley Nursery and burn my cash there.

I will be in LA this weekend so I will take your advice. 👍😎

That sucks that Chikugo is only curbside. Hope everything go back to normal. Thanks!
 
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