AusBonsai

Just read the post the Kingston may not be doing very well. How are the others? Like BonsaiSouth and RayNesci, are they doing ok?

We really need to support our nurseries. We only have three major ones. Can't let them close down.

Good thread Bonbon and well worth our serious consideration!

This was to form part of the summation of my recent thread on Pricing bonsai! I will post it here as it is worthy of a thread on its own.

One thing that i am surprised about that didn’t come to light in another thread was the support for our local bonsai nurseries. I personally know of three growers who are no longer growing material for bonsai, all were reasonably well setup and growing large numbers of trees. I believe the main reason being they found it difficult to make a living out of it. I know of another grower that has reduced production by over 10,000 trees PA in the last two years, because of the lack of commercial viability of doing so, instead opting to sell to a different market. I am aware that people are growing material themselves, but i don’t believe it goes close to what we have already lost and continue to lose. If this trend continues, not only will we have less material to choose from, we will find it more costly to get tools, pots and the list goes on. An avenue that i am going to look at is this, i know that if my tree (the swampy posted in the thread on pricing trees) were in a bonsai nursery, it would sell for more then i am asking for it, i know that already, so with that in mind i am going to take the tree to a nursery and offer it to them to sell. There is still plenty of opportunity there for them to make a tidy little profit with little outlay other then watering cost and bench space. I will let you know how this goes if and when it happens. Food for thought!
B.

A large nursery i regulally speak to on the gold coast said some of his suppliers have also shut up shop or dramatically reduced tree numbers in the last two years , figures plucked from the air from 10,000 to less than 2000 PA we are at a risk for sure. I think property prices and location may have alot to do with it also. Why bust your hump to makes ends meat if you could sell the land for a mill or two.

Hi BB
Just to let you know that I was talking to Kingston Wang from Bonsai Environment a couple of weeks back and he is doing very well.
He is growing some brilliant stuff on his farm and the results should be seen, sooner rather than later.

It is interesting that some forum members are always talking down the prices of material, stating that they are overinflated and now the question is asked why growers are not planting material ??.
Funny that!!
cheers
Dave

Dave54 wrote:Hi BB
Just to let you know that I was talking to Kingston Wang from Bonsai Environment a couple of weeks back and he is doing very well.
He is growing some brilliant stuff on his farm and the results should be seen, sooner rather than later.

It is interesting that some forum members are always talking down the prices of material, stating that they are overinflated and now the question is asked why growers are not planting material ??.
Funny that!!
cheers
Dave

Dave as always you have a good answer. I dont have the time to wait for 20 years to have decent material so i rely on these nurserys and private growers. I think most experianced growers do set a fair price on most of there material.

Back to the post at hand, good to here that bonsai environment is doing well i will have to get there for a look one day soon.

It is interesting that some forum members are always talking down the prices of material, stating that they are overinflated and now the question is asked why growers are not planting material ??.
Funny that!!

The magic word there is some. I just arived home last night with 6 great trees and 5 pots From Ray Nesci's for $600 not including the discount he gave us because the 5 with Pots are for a comunity project. The night pic is my new one No compliants here. Your a treasure Mr Ray Nesci I must say though I wanted to cover Ray's ears when Peter was asked what Price the small cascade exposed root JBP of Rays he was using in a demo and he stated they could go for $2000 in USA. I wonder if that was American dollars?

it is a very simple equation. people who grow great stock for great value will always do well. end of story here for me.

Hi Brett
I reckon the recipient(s) of the five community project trees will be happy.

Good onya for thanking Ray - we are lucky to have some good nursery's in Sydney. Whilst they have a business to run, all have the progression of the art as a priority - yours is yet another example.
(same applies for the Mexicans )

Now why arent I surprised to see another hornbeam in your collection..........

Regards
Steve

I try to support my local bonsai industry , but.... its tight of everyone! I don't have a disposable income so buying large stock is rare for me, I buy smaller stock and grow it on. I have over 15 years exp in the horticultural industry and have a keen eye for ground grown stock , sadly I feel in the past few years I have seen large landscaping stock hacked off and passed of as expensive ground grown bonsai stock with no style or structure. So I agree with anttal63 .

On yet another visit to Leong Kwong's 'Bonsai South' in Caringbah there is little sign that he might be doing badly. The talk was of heaps of advanced trees being removed from the ground for sale. Leong was working on a number of trees while flanked by a host of VERY advanced apricots in full flower. His shop display of spring flowering trees was, as usual, somewhat stunning. Leong supplies a great variety of quality trees and what I like about his nursery is that many of his stock plants have shape and are not huge - easily manageable sizes for those who don't want monster trees. Mind you, he also has some biggies ready for the keen enthusiast. Leong's selection isn't as large as Ray's but anyone who misses his selections is definitely going to keep money in the bank.

Leong stocks the Scots Pine 'Jeremy' that Peter Adams was praising in $20 and $35 sizes.

To me, anyone who doesn't take the trek to Caringbah is losing out on finding good stock.