JOHN HANBY NOTES #1

[MelaQuin]

John Hanby, a prominent English Bonsai Master, gave a one day seminar on 1 November sponsored by the Australian National Bonsai Club. John has a quiet, laid back approach and a keen eye and insight into bonsai styling. Rather than have John spend the day styling a tree, the organisers asked attendees to bring problem trees for discussion and rectification. This proved to be an excellent way to covering styling problems on a lot of trees and proved to be a great showcase for John’s talents.

For indepth information you can access John’s website www.johnhanbybonsai.co.uk. He owns and runs the large Newstead Garden and Bonsai Centre in Wakehurst. The first part of the morning was spent with a Powerpoint presentation showing the extensive nursery, some of John’s work, a few of the wide range of bonsai classes available at Newstead and the large bonsai show the nursery puts on annually. Once it was apparent that John is indeed a Master of the art, our problem trees hit the demonstration table.

From John’s presentation…
You have to decide what commitment you want to make, how far you want to go, how involved you want to be. There is nothing wrong with dabbling but if you are keen you can only improve with good stock and good tools and time. Time is money – the more you pay for a tree the more time you buy. A $5 or $10 sapling means you have to work to grow it for years. A $50 stock plant means you have saved years.

Respect your trees. Bonsai is all about what you can do with your trees. Bonsai is a partnership – you work with the tree to develop it to its best. Watch and wait – some people work trees too much. Don’t be afraid to let your tree grow. You have to learn to work with the health and vigour of your tree.

[aaron_tas]

Time is money – the more you pay for a tree the more time you buy.

this is awesome, it's one liners like this that explain so much in so little time

thanks heaps for passing this on lee