Most common beginner mistakes

[Kievnstavick]

Did you mean to link this video?

It was the intended video as what I took from it was reflection of knowledge gaps and taking a look at your garden to find the past faults.

The video you linked is also a good one that speaks about some of the points I had brought up.

To be honest though, I had just watched your reflection video before encountering this thread. So I had the idea of reflections and actually taking a critical look of the progress one had made that year (or years prior) brewing in my head at the time of writing.

 

[SeanS]

Others may have already mentioned it above -- sure buy a tree or two and have fun, kill it, but I tell all beginners to invest in yourself first - invest a lot more in yourself than in your material! Learning bonsai is like learning a language, immersion is best:

- Expose yourself to as many bonsai as possible through pictures and in-person visits to nurseries, exhibitions, and public collections. Take the time to appreciate each tree. Think about how that trunk line came to be. Look at where the branches are located. Don't fall for pretty silhouettes, and don't go in thinking everything is beautiful. Every tree has faults. Every tree can be improved. Distinguish species and build category distinctions. A pyracantha is not expected to look like maple. An ume is not expected to look like a pine.

- Make time in your day, every day, for bonsai. Only have 30 minutes, then 30 minutes it is. When I learn a language, I try to do 15 minutes every hour at first. For bonsai, I might do two 1-hour sessions per day. How to use that hour? Browse this forum, blogs, youtube, magazines, etc.

- Find good teachers - today, we have the luxury of learning simultaneously in-person and online. Join a local club, take their courses, find a mentor, but also subscribe to online teaching (e.g Bonsai Empire, Mirai Live), read blogs (e.g. Bonsai Tonight, Michael Hagedorn), get your hands on magazines, books, etc.

- Find casual conversation partners - I have 4-5 buddies that I talk bonsai with every day. I learn something new from them every day. They also keep my spirits open. I chose to specialize in Japanese species. When they talk about North American species, I listen just the same. I like 90's kokufu aesthetics, they like Hagedorn and Ryan Neil and Walter Pall and when they talk about it I listen just the same. There is always something to learn. We trade pictures of trees every day. When I send them a picture it doesn't have to be staged like it I would for social media. We see each other's real trees. We give each other real feedback positive and negative. Nobody is shy and it's always taken the right way

Saved me having to type this!

I’ve been wanting to put a presentation/write-up together on how I believe a beginner can fast track their development as a bonsai practitioner and these are some of the exact points I had in mind. (I’ll still write it and post it soon).

The first and 2nd points are paramount I believe. I consider the time I spend on social media, YouTube, b’nut each day as “study time”. I believe it’s a huge factor in how I’ve progressed my bonsai practise to where it is in the short time I’ve been doing it. Beginners need to look at as many good bonsai as possible! And then go look at and touch their trees every day!

Nice one @Canada Bonsai

 

[rockm]

Others may have already mentioned it above -- sure buy a tree or two and have fun, kill it, but I tell all beginners to invest in yourself first - invest a lot more in yourself than in your material! Learning bonsai is like learning a language, immersion is best:

- Expose yourself to as many bonsai as possible through pictures and in-person visits to nurseries, exhibitions, and public collections. Take the time to appreciate each tree. Think about how that trunk line came to be. Look at where the branches are located. Don't fall for pretty silhouettes, and don't go in thinking everything is beautiful. Every tree has faults. Every tree can be improved. Distinguish species and build category distinctions. A pyracantha is not expected to look like maple. An ume is not expected to look like a pine.

- Make time in your day, every day, for bonsai. Only have 30 minutes, then 30 minutes it is. When I learn a language, I try to do 15 minutes every hour at first. For bonsai, I might do two 1-hour sessions per day. How to use that hour? Browse this forum, blogs, youtube, magazines, etc.

- Find good teachers - today, we have the luxury of learning simultaneously in-person and online. Join a local club, take their courses, find a mentor, but also subscribe to online teaching (e.g Bonsai Empire, Mirai Live), read blogs (e.g. Bonsai Tonight, Michael Hagedorn), get your hands on magazines, books, etc.

- Find casual conversation partners - I have 4-5 buddies that I talk bonsai with every day. I learn something new from them every day. They also keep my spirits open. I chose to specialize in Japanese species. When they talk about North American species, I listen just the same. I like 90's kokufu aesthetics, they like Hagedorn and Ryan Neil and Walter Pall and when they talk about it I listen just the same. There is always something to learn. We trade pictures of trees every day. When I send them a picture it doesn't have to be staged like it I would for social media. We see each other's real trees. We give each other real feedback positive and negative. Nobody is shy and it's always taken the right way

Take this to heart. Can't emphasize the first point more--Going out and looking at GOOD to World Class bonsai is what got me going a very long time ago. I saw the trees at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in DC and it changed my world for the most part. The simple scale of those trees and their controlled wildness flipped a switch in my brain. Bonsai aren't delicate tiny hothouse plants. They're big, rugged and expressive. They embody wilderness not some kitschy ideal of Asia you put on your TV set.

T

 

[MaciekA]

Some common mistakes / missteps I've seen on reddit and egregiously-committed myself:

1. growing indoors / sheltering indoors
2. seed kits
3. stumbling through how to build bonsai through naive guesses as opposed to training / education, or put another way, "I'm already a bonsai expert, just tell me when to hedge trim" or some variation on this.
4. seeing bonsai through the lens of "care" as opposed to building trees iteratively, and seeking "care guides" instead of training / education about how to build.
5. overpotting, using highly-decaying, water-retentive soil media, getting into "tons of soil almost no foliage or vigor remaining" situations
6. taking the longest steepest roads to bonsai as opposed to having a few things in different stages (growing everything from scratch)
7. having one's only points of contact in the bonsai world be add-to-cart online retail / paved-parking-lot nursery retail / AI-generated slop / TikTok / sketchy internet commerce roulette / scattered googling
8. taking strongly-opinioned positions on bonsai aesthetics long before they've really seen and experienced the breadth of bonsai, especially Japanese bonsai. "I hate traditional", "kokufu cookie-cutter pines" etc. That Shinji Suzuki tree that I've accused of being traditional might be considered avant garde in Japan, and may look traditional to me simply because it's highly refined and loose. At least in public bonsai discourse, walk the walk for a few years until you "know what the shot is", as Al Pacino said in Glengarry Glen Ross.

For point #7, I love @Canada Bonsai 's response to this thread. Bonsai is learned through people and a lot of these "beginner don'ts" are cured in mere minutes / hours upon first contact with real life bonsai hobbyists who grow well-managed, styled, vigorous trees outside.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Don’t do anything to a tree before you are reasonably sure what results to expect. “Because I thought….” Is hardly ever a good reason to do something to your tree.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Not a beginner mistake but still very common: NOT READING THE LABEL OF YOUR INSECTICIDE AND FUNGICIDE.
There's valuable information there telling you how to not give your kids, cat, wife cancer or other issues.
It also tells you what you can use it for.
If it doesn't tell you it can be used for insect/fungus X, then it doesn't work on insect/fungus X. Manufacturers love selling stuff, so if it would even work a little, they would list it.

 

[Attmos]

Not understanding the stage their material is at?

Just so it doesn't drive me insane, to which stages do you refer? Seasonal stages or Lifetime stages?

Sorry. lol

 

[SFDrake]

I have no argument with this, but a question. What would you recommend for someone who lives in a bonsai desert, 5ish hours from any club or semi-legitimate bonsai nursery? I would love to do this, but there's nobody I know within at least 100 miles who even has any knowledge of bonsai at all. In my current situation, it's not feasible for me to travel with my family, or to leave my wife at home with my Asperger's son for extended times. If her health improves, it may become an option, but for now, this forum is my mentor. Definitely open to suggestions!
This wasn't supposed to sound whiny, so I must apologize; I really am looking for guidance.

You shouldn't have to apologize. some of us barely have the time to take care of our trees with work, life. Throwing extras on top of that is a luxury for me and not on the top of the list. So remote learning and internet is sometimes our only options.

 

[River's Edge]

Just so it doesn't drive me insane, to which stages do you refer? Seasonal stages or Lifetime stages?

Sorry. lol

seedling, sapling, tree in training, tree in refinement, nebari established, root ball for life in a pot developed, trunk basically proper size, primary branching in place, secondary branching established, compaction and density of foliage completed, time to shorten needles or reduce size of leaves.
Was not referring to applying correct techniques at the right time of year according to the season and horticultural growth calendar.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Also: enabling the highest amount of protection for fully hardened trees.
I get it, you want to keep your plants. Cool. I do too. I keep mine outdoor and unprotected, they all live.
The difference between the beginner and me is that I don't have to worry at all about anything for the whole winter.
The beginner however, set him/herself up for annual worrying and lifting shuffles. Because if you're not sure what lives and what dies, you can only play safe.

Do the tests while you're not yet attached and thousands of dollars into the hobby, it will save you a bunch later. That 15 dollar pommegranate will help you decide whether buying a 150 dollar one will be causing you back problems for the rest of your life or not.

Cheerio!

 

[August44]

Hey there! I'm wondering what the most common beginner mistakes are, haven't gotten my first tree yet but I plan to this coming spring. I know about the basic mistakes such as over watering as a quick example, but I can't seem to find some more common yet not to "picky" mistakes. Basically I just want a list of a couple more in-depth issues.

Thanks!

For me it has always been the wrong soil for a particular tree , over watering, and not paying attention to prevention control of bugs and fungus that you should have done in the early spring. Fungus and mites are the worst for me. Keep your eyes wide open looking for any sign of distress with your trees every time you're near them.