THE LATEST RANT
Trying to Right a Wrong
January 21, 2005
In response to Stone Lantern letting BTO Journal disappear from the Web, I've just published Bonsai Village.net. This is a bonsai article, gallery, and news resource site, freely available for enthusiasts. I hope that artists/writers will continue to contribute to it for the benefit of the worldwide community.
Not much there now, but I'll be working to fill it up over the coming weeks.
Restless Natives in the U.S.
January 1, 2005
Native trees are no more suitable for bonsai than are imported trees,
and vice versa. Growing imported species for bonsai is no less honorable
than is growing native species. Artists specializing in native species
are no better or worse than artists specializing in imported species.
And all of these facts are true no matter where in the world you happen
to be when you utter them.
But you’d never know this by reading online forum discussions.
It is disappointing to hear a conversation or read a forum thread where enthusiasts are trying desperately to convince others that it is better to use native or imported material for bonsai. It’s really disappointing because neither choice will make anyone a better bonsai artist nor facilitate better bonsai results.
The only relevant factor in this sort of discussion that of zone deprivation. Any plant deprived of optimum climate/environment conditions will make a less desirable candidate for bonsai. However, the suggestion that any or all “Japanese species” or “imported material” is zone-deprived plant material is simply false. The fact is that there is an appropriate location or climate in the United States for any non-native species. It is not “Japanese species” or “imported material” that US bonsai enthusiasts should avoid, but rather it is stupid choices we should guard against – like trying to grow sub-tropical species outdoors in northern states or trying to grow cold weather temperate species in sub-tropical southern areas.
And the idea that it is less than patriotic or that it is harmful to US bonsai to concentrate on or dabble in imported material is utterly inane. Those who make such suggestions should be ignored.
The idea that the United States is home to a vastly underutilized reservoir of native collectable material is a fact, but it has nothing to do with making good bonsai. I promise you that if you cannot make excellent bonsai today with imported species, switching to collected native material will have absolutely no effect on your skills. In fact, I implore all unskilled American bonsai enthusiasts to strictly avoid collecting our native material. ;-) Please leave it for those who will be able to better utilize those specimens and keep them around for future generations. Doing so is, I believe, a responsibility we enthusiasts must treat with gravity.
Now, there is one fact that is surely relevant to the native vs. imported debates. This is the fact that seldom if ever is excellent material exported out of the country of origin! In fact, there are laws in Japan that prevent the export of the best bonsai material. That means that countries that import bonsai are essentially getting the leavings and dregs. That is a fact that must not be ignored and is reason enough for talented and skilled bonsai artists to look to their own country for excellent bonsai material.
So truly while there is nothing inherently wrong with using either native or imported plants for bonsai, we should be careful not to let our discussions about doing so revolve around irrelevant issues while ignoring relevant ones. Our choices for material are best made for the right reasons and with the right information. So while the US struggles to improve its overall results in the worldwide bonsai community, floundering and flailing about by making choices based on nonsense will not help.
Enthusiasts should not be made to feel guilty or self-conscious about choosing imported material for their bonsai efforts any more than they should be made to feel superior for choosing native species to work with. This is just the sort of fodder that plays well in online forums and club discussions, but works against our doing anything useful.