Things that drive me crazy about bonsai people

[pandacular]

People with YouTube channels spouting bad and downright incorrect bonsai technique yet the have thousands of worshipping followers.

A corollary to this: YouTube channels that don't show the results! This is the biggest red flag in a YouTube channel.

"Here, I styled and root pruned this tree in June, doesn't it look nice?"

 

[Cajunrider]

A corollary to this: YouTube channels that don't show the results! This is the biggest red flag in a YouTube channel.

"Here, I styled and root pruned this tree in June, doesn't it look nice?"

That's why I like the progression threads here better. For my trees, the thread of a tree lives on until a)Ownership change or b)Tree dies or c)BNut site doesn't want me here anymore.

 

[pandacular]

That's why I like the progression threads here better. For my trees, the thread of a tree lives on until a)Ownership change or b)Tree dies or c)BNut site doesn't want me here anymore.

I like both, but I have much greater appreciation for those YouTuber creators, like Jelle, who show the patience of sharing results, and the humility of sharing failures.

 

[Cajunrider]

I like both, but I have much greater appreciation for those YouTuber creators, like Jelle, who show the patience of sharing results, and the humility of sharing failures.

Jelle's channel is exceptional! Lots to learn from his videos.

 

[leatherback]

Jelle's channel is exceptional! Lots to learn from his videos.

Except for his latest video. That's a drag with only music and no explanation whatsoever!

 

[shohin_branches]

The problem is that it takes a long time to do any one of those things, and in that time, it's easy to read a few dozen books on the topic and feel like an expert, even though you have very little experience actually doing a thing. It magnifies the Dunning-Kruger effect. Add on top of that the fact that it's common to dabble before diving in, and you end up with people who feel like they have years of experience and lots of knowledge to share, but none of that knowledge comes from real first-hand experience.

I know that my experience on this site has been a series of realizations that I don't know as much as I thought I did. When I post a comment with advice, I'm careful to ask myself, Is this something I know from experience or is it from something I watched or read about?

I try to remind people that learning something and applying it to the point you've comprehended and can perform the skill are two different things. That's why I really encourage beginners to wire everything. It takes a lot of practice to get some of these skills down.

 

[Mad Tabby]

Are there things other bonsai folk say or do that just make you want to scream? I’ll start with two.

“Crepe” is a fabric or a paper. “Crape” is a myrtle.

Natal plum is not pronounced “NAY-tul”, like a word referring to birth. It’s “nah-TAHL”, as in the part of South Africa to which the tree is indigenous.

You want fun? Have someone in your family that’s fluent in Latin and a botanist.

We dun pro nunce nuffin rite! And it drives him nuts! I’m sorry I decided to study things like math instead of 4 years on a language that only the Vatican uses “correctly”. Yes he corrects other botanists.

 

[Mad Tabby]

Or people who insist on using Japanese words to show how hip they are….like sashi-eda, when they could just use feature branch. We could also short-cut to simpler expressions like ‘slanting’, or ‘informal upright’.

Hubbys Japanese. Pretty sure he’d just stare at them & say “huh?” I mean I try with certain common phrases, but even “Arigato Gozaimasu” (the very formal thank you, which is kind of important if you want granny to like you) is a tongue twister.

 

[shohin_branches]

Hubbys Japanese. Pretty sure he’d just stare at them & say “huh?” I mean I try with certain common phrases, but even “Arigato Gozaimasu” (the very formal thank you, which is kind of important if you want granny to like you) is a tongue twister.

When I was in Japan only one person ever said the full "Arigato Gozaimasu" it was usually more like "Arigato Gozaimaaaaaa." I'm terminally Midwestern though so I mostly went around saying "Sumimasen"

 

[Mad Tabby]

When I was in Japan only one person ever said the full "Arigato Gozaimasu" it was usually more like "Arigato Gozaimaaaaaa." I'm terminally Midwestern though so I mostly went around saying "Sumimasen"

I try to stick to doumo as much as possible, but that’s the most informal version. Still works for 99% of my needs.

 

[Cookie]

You don't have to mention name but I think you are talking about me.

N me too

 

[leatherback]

why so sad, @snowman04

 

[Rivian]

@Bonsai Nut

 

[Bonsai Nut]

@Bonsai Nut

???

 

[Rivian]

???

Ah, my bad. Let me explain the joke
I found your pet peeve in this video at the 7:44 timestamp.
He says he bought it as just a regular JM, "but look at the leaves, it is a Tsuma Beni"
The crime being identifying a cultivar by phenotype
And hes a bonsai professional in second generation
So I, being a bit silly, posted it in this thread

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Found a new one: giving European plant species a Japanese name.
Sure, the Japanese refined bonsai, but we did nomenclature and phylogeny first and best!
I reject any and all Japanese names for European and US species.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Ah, my bad. Let me explain the joke
I found your pet peeve in this video at the 7:44 timestamp.
He says he bought it as just a regular JM, "but look at the leaves, it is a Tsuma Beni"
The crime being identifying a cultivar by phenotype
And hes a bonsai professional in second generation
So I, being a bit silly, posted it in this thread

Lol oh I thought you were referring to how he pronounced " bonsai" which sounded fine to me.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Ah, my bad. Let me explain the joke
I found your pet peeve in this video at the 7:44 timestamp.
He says he bought it as just a regular JM, "but look at the leaves, it is a Tsuma Beni"
The crime being identifying a cultivar by phenotype
And hes a bonsai professional in second generation
So I, being a bit silly, posted it in this thread

Well... we all know that is the sin of sins... particularly when it was sold to him as a green JM. I just hope he doesn't resell the tree as that cultivar. I'd be very upset if I bought a cultivar from him and found out he sold me it because it "looked like" the cultivar I wanted. It is the reason why I now have three different groups of JM in landscape - all labeled bloodgood. Or two different groups of seigens.

 

[Mad Tabby]

Not particularly Bonsai, but I joined the local community garden. Figured I can then use my backyard gardens for perennials, and veggies that need more care. So pert of it was having to go to the rules meeting. The expert was just weird. Weed barriers are bad because the micro plastics will break down and get sucked up by the roots & end up in your tomatoes. Tilling is bad because you should fork! I guess us crippled folk don’t deserve gardens. Square foot gardening is bad because it’s abusive. And of course you’re not allowed to question her since she has a masters. I don’t know. We will see what happens. I’ll garden like I always garden and if I get run out with torches and pitchforks, so be it.

 

[jradics]

That I would have paid money to watch.

ROOTSLAYER. DONT LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT