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So I'm looking for a good rated online store for an bonsai plant. Can someone suggest a place. Thank you.

I like herons bonsai. But I would never purshase a tree online. I want to see Them in person before buying. I buy tools, pots and wire online but never trees.

The best and most value for money is to buy material from your local garden center and start working on it. Check bonsai mirai beginner series about nurcery stock on Youtube.

Br
Magnus

Tropfrog wrote: I like herons bonsai. But I would never purshase a tree online. I want to see Them in person before buying. I buy tools, pots and wire online but never trees.

The best and most value for money is to buy material from your local garden center and start working on it. Check bonsai mirai beginner series about nurcery stock on Youtube.

There¡¯s certainly that, but unless you have a seriously good bonsai shop nearby some things can be hard: not many nurseries have yamadori, and if you¡¯re planning to step up your game a little bit that¡¯s something you¡¯re probably looking for.

So: online stores can be a good deal as long as they¡¯re managed by serious bonsai professionals who know how to treat, take photos and ship the plants properly.

Specifically for yamadori, I had very good experience with

But note that shipping plants cross-border is heavily regulated, so you need shops that can send you stuff too...

Which brings us to the question.. Shops in which part of the world?

In Europe Kaizen is good, they have interesting plants and you get what you see.

BofhSkull wrote: og" post=53342]


There¡¯s certainly that, but unless you have a seriously good bonsai shop nearby some things can be hard: not many nurseries have yamadori, and if you¡¯re planning to step up your game a little bit that¡¯s something you¡¯re probably looking for.

So: online stores can be a good deal as long as they¡¯re managed by serious bonsai professionals who know how to treat, take photos and ship the plants properly.

Specifically for yamadori, I had very good experience with

But note that shipping plants cross-border is heavily regulated, so you need shops that can send you stuff too...

Yes, if you want to step up to trees in the upper 1000 euro level there are really good trees there. On the lower price range the added value from good nurcery stock is limited. But you need to hurry, with brexit around the corner one never knows what the end bill will be.

And I am not sure the OP is at that level yet.

For yamadori, I look up good plants myself and give the landowner a call. Sometimes I get it for free and sometimes I have to buy him a bottle of wine or something. One landowner required me to help move some furnitures in his home in excange .

I am far from the level of purshasing plants for 1000 euros. And I am not sure I ever will. I appreciate spare time and keep employment work at a minimum. But arround me there are many old bonsai enthusiasts selling of their collections and very few young that wants to buy. So my best trees have been purshased at prices less than a quarter of a similar tree in Kaizen.

BR
Magnus

Tropfrog wrote: Yes, if you want to step up to trees in the upper 1000 euro level there are really good trees there. On the lower price range the added value from good nurcery stock is limited. But you need to hurry, with brexit around the corner one never knows what the end bill will be.

Yeah, don't tell me about Brexit

Anyway, I didn't go for anything that expensive; rather, in the €300 ballpark.
But yeah, I agree that's still way too much for a beginner (just don't know the skill level of the OP here, tho).
When beginning, cheap stuff in a pot is what you want to go for, rather than really nice plants...

Tropfrog wrote: For yamadori, I look up good plants myself and give the landowner a call. Sometimes I get it for free and sometimes I have to buy him a bottle of wine or something. One landowner required me to help move some furnitures in his home in excange .

That's a way too, but I'm way too shy for it...

However, there's also something else to consider: time and skills, as money is not the only factor.
Collecting a yamadori requires skill, and letting it recover from collection requires time.

The plant I received had already spent something like 3 years in a pot after collection, is/was extremely healthy and ready to be worked on.
How much do you value 2 or 3 years of your time spent taking care of the tree and waiting for it to be ready?
That's what makes the price, to me. Not necessarily the plant per-se...

That is a very cute tree, is it now in your posession?

Now I value my sparetime much more than employment work. Spending a few hours in the forest looking for trees, is not a cost to me. Spending countless hours educating myself both theoretical and practical is not a cost to me. Spending 2-3 years developing an yamadori is not a cost. All of obove is benefits that creates value in both time and product, which is the opposite of costs.

Yea, I understand that a well payed full time work will proboably dont give you time to develop your own materials. But on the other hand it will not develop the skills not doing it. After all we all value everything in our own ways.

But, if the OP is a beginner, at least we all agree that killing a sheap tree will most likelly scare away less from the hobby than killing an expensive tree .

BR
Magnus

Tropfrog wrote: That is a very cute tree, is it now in your posession?

Yep, purchased not long ago.
Currently went through a general cleanup (flaky bark removed, deadwood cleaned and whitened) and a very gentle pruning and initial structural wiring.
Quite minimal, since it's a nice tree already.
Repotting next february/march. Can be a good bonsai in 3 or 4 years.

Tropfrog wrote: Yea, I understand that a well payed full time work will proboably dont give you time to develop your own materials. But on the other hand it will not develop the skills not doing it. After all we all value everything in our own ways.

Yeah, I totally agree.
I also have other projects going on, including some self-made yamadori. That's indeed to get/refine those skills.
But my spare time is unfortunately quite limited, so I have to go with what I have...

Tropfrog wrote: But, if the OP is a beginner, at least we all agree that killing a sheap tree will most likelly scare away less from the hobby than killing an expensive tree .

No doubt about that.

Tropfrog wrote: Yes, if you want to step up to trees in the upper 1000 euro level there are really good trees there. On the lower price range the added value from good nurcery stock is limited. But you need to hurry, with brexit around the corner one never knows what the end bill will be.

Sorry but I 100% disagree. I do hope you meant 100 euro level. Becaue the majority is well below 500E and there are some REALLY good pieces there too. And most are very reasonably priced. Just the segment below 100 is worth leaving behind most of the time. Only in that segment could you consider looking at nurseries. However.. unless you have VERY different nurseries, around here regular nurseries sell trees of 3-5 years old, all trained straight upright for nedges and landscaping. Anything older is a stovepipe without lower branches and most of the time these are grafted.

The 100-300 range at Kaizen has a number of very nice trees, well established and healthy and 10-30 years of age, lifted from gardens or meadows etc. The Sabina shown is an excellent example. There I see a plant which I am 99% certain you will not find in a regular garden centre.

As for.. "killing a cheap tree vss a more expensive tree": It is not up to us to decide what someone considers too much money. I do know that if you have a bit more money invested in your trees, you might pay more attention to proper care, resulting in higher chances of getting it right. There are always two sides.

leatherback wrote:

Tropfrog wrote: Yes, if you want to step up to trees in the upper 1000 euro level there are really good trees there. On the lower price range the added value from good nurcery stock is limited. But you need to hurry, with brexit around the corner one never knows what the end bill will be.

Sorry but I 100% disagree. I do hope you meant 100 euro level. Becaue the majority is well below 500E and there are some REALLY good pieces there too. And most are very reasonably priced. Just the segment below 100 is worth leaving behind most of the time. Only in that segment could you consider looking at nurseries. However.. unless you have VERY different nurseries, around here regular nurseries sell trees of 3-5 years old, all trained straight upright for nedges and landscaping. Anything older is a stovepipe without lower branches and most of the time these are grafted.

The 100-300 range at Kaizen has a number of very nice trees, well established and healthy and 10-30 years of age, lifted from gardens or meadows etc. The Sabina shown is an excellent example. There I see a plant which I am 99% certain you will not find in a regular garden centre.

As for.. "killing a cheap tree vss a more expensive tree": It is not up to us to decide what someone considers too much money. I do know that if you have a bit more money invested in your trees, you might pay more attention to proper care, resulting in higher chances of getting it right. There are always two sides.

At least you didnt disagree 100% in the end. . It makes me happy

Br
Magnus