So as I have said it's amazing what reasons, myths, pre-conceptions, call them what you like that you can come up with when a group of Bonsai enthusiast get together over a cup of coffee between working on trees.

So where would I start ? Well it's easy for us to come up with a list, but is this list derived from the old Tunnel Vision syndrome, born by people that have been in the discipline for centuries ? ( no offence of course, more a sign of respect ) Are all the reasons etc valid ? or are some more valid than others ?
As one of the newer Members to the Society I decided to go on a bit of a mission if you like. I did say a mission and it's not a piece of Scientific Research, I have not spent millions of pounds to some Marketing Company, I have not stood in the centre of Swansea, Carmarthen, Cardiff or any other city in the United Kingdom asking people to fill in questionnaires. In fact I haven't spent a penny and my thoughts in no way intended to be absolute.
What I have done is built up My perception over time from casual conversations I have had with friends and family, other Society Members and more recently feedback from the General Public that visited the Dragon Bonsai display tent at the Welsh Game Fair this summer.

It was probably that couple of days at the Game Fair that spurred me to go beyond discussion and maybe find some ways to move the outcome in a more pragmatic direction.
Well what did people say ? Apart from the expected :

“ I do not have the time “,“ I do not have green fingers “,“ I've had one and it died “,“ I'm useless with my hands”,“I thought Bonsai trees are a particular species on their own “, “ I do not have the patience ,“ etc........

There were equally if not more people who have a perception that :“ It's too expensive as a hobby “, “ It's too difficult for me “

I have come to the conclusion that if you do not have time and patience then you can forget it. If you don't have Green Fingers but an enthusiasm to try then you can do it.
But without doubt Bonsai does not in my opinion need to be Expensive and neither does it need to be Difficult.

Next step, well what can I do with this information that may help to dispel the last two reasons, myths call them what you like?
Well I was not going to write a book if that's what some of you may be thinking. That is not to say of course that camouflaged within the text of many a good Bonsai book or article you can find the answers to these myths and there are certainly enough professionals out there doing an admirable job and plugging away.

There are at least 2 things that I and We at Dragon Bonsai are going to be doing.

1. At our Display Shows we are going to dedicate a fair proportion of our display space to “ Trees in Training “ and conduct Simple demonstrations of the Basic Techniques of Bonsai. ( simple wiring and styling of a Larch for example ) The reasoning is quite simple. More often than not at a Bonsai Show, people will see the finished product ( if there is such a thing, but you know what I mean ) You do not often see the early development of such trees, which feels to me like a huge void that has to be explained.( if you get the opportunity that is )

We tried this approach recently at our Society Show at the Welsh Game Fair. Our “ Trees in Training “ and “ Simple Demonstrations “ area sparked a huge amount of interest and gave all of us an opportunity to dispel some of the myths, and something that we will continue to develop.

2. The second thing we will do is to set up an additional area to our current website called “ Starting Up “ This area will not be designated to be a step by step and replacement for a book or magazine. It will be made up of material that can be easily purchased from a Garden Centre or Nursery or even material you can dig up from you own garden maybe. It is intended to demonstrate how cheaply you can create over time some very pleasing images and follow these trees through their development.

Please do not expect to much to soon. I hope the area will build up over time. I will be encouraging the members to share with everyone the pleasing images they have developed from seeds, seedling trees, garden centre stock and even material dug from the garden. The section will not include pieces of material that have collected from hillsides etc as “ Yamadori “ on the basis that not everyone has authority, access or the ability to collect.

I hope you will find this section of the website both interesting and going some way to dispelling those myths.
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