Why Bonsai Education Is The Best Tool In Your Tool Kit

The importance of bonsai education

Starting out in bonsai I wanted all the shiny tools, scissors, branch cutters, wire cutters etc etc but the one thing I discovered quickly was it didn’t matter how good the tools were that I bought if I didn’t know what I was doing with them or how to handle my trees then my trees never improved.

Now in saying that, in experienced hands higher quality tools do make a difference to both ease of work and quality of work, but in un educated hands they make little to no difference.

Why is bonsai education so important?

Taking bonsai classes can be the most beneficial thing you do in your bonsai practice, understanding your trees and their growth habits are paramount to creating excellent bonsai. Also understanding techniques rather than just learning techniques is very important. If you don’t understand why you are doing something but know how to do it this can be dangerous or only half useful to you. Lets take pruning for example, you can learn how to physically prune a bonsai tree in terms of where to cut for aesthetic purposes which might render you a half decent tree to look at for the meantime, but if you don’t understand timing of pruning you might actually go backwards. Too early and the tree might flush very strong resulting in extended internodes and larger leaves, too late and it might not flush properly leaving the tree weakened. Prune to early after the first spring flush and you might weaken the tree and get undesirable results throughout the remainder of the growing season.

One thing we want in bonsai is predictability, if I make this cut what is my expected result? If your unsure how the tree is going to respond or even why you are doing something at a particular time it might be a good idea to put the scissors down and pick up a bonsai lesson. This same concept works across the board with everything in bonsai including wiring, soils, fertilizing etc.

I know in my own bonsai journey my trees almost instantly improved after learning even just some basic concepts of bonsai design and horticulture.

If you are unsure or not confident in bonsai work then set yourself a goal to get some bonsai education, you can attend local workshops or even if you have a local club in your area this is a great start. You can also see our online education options here if you prefer a faster route to learning.