bonsai apprentice

So, what does it mean to be a bonsai apprentice? What will I be doing? I don’t really know what all Brent has in mind for me. When I was out there in June I did alot of pruning, some repotting, and some weeding. I loved every minute of it! I imagine that I will do more of the same – whatever needs doing. While doing so, I hope to learn all I can about bonsai horticulture and propagation. I am especially looking forward to learning about grafting, as I have never tried that before.

Here’s a cool link – its a blog of sorts that actually inspired me to start this one. This guys in doing an apprenticeship in Japan!

http://www.crataegus.com/JapanJournal.htm

Tomorrow is my last day in my old job. Next comes packing, and then a little bit of traveling for Thanksgiving, then more packing. Hitting the road for California Dec 13th! Wish me luck! I may not be able to add much to this until I get out there and re-establish internet access.

Due to the fact that my job has not been very busy for the last 4 years, I have spent a fair ammount of time on the internet. Most of my time is spent surfing on several bonsai forums or other sites. Early on I discovered a website with so much good information that I went back again and again to read. It was www.evergreengardenworks.com

In the bonsai forums I would frequently see other people refer to this site, and speak very highly of Brent, the owner. Also, Brent himself would sometimes post to these groups and I always eagerly read every word.

As time went on, and work continued to be slower than it should be, I realized I needed to find a new job. When I started searching I limited it to the Chicago area. But I kept coming up with nothing.

Then, in the spring of 2004, my wife lost her job. Now we were no longer tied to this area, and I could look for jobs elsewhere. At this point I had an idea. I wondered if Brent would be interested in taking me on as an apprentice, if i could find a good paying job somewhere near his nursery.

So I started putting out some feelers, and it turns out that there was a clinic not 30 min. from his nursery that was looking to hire a new doc. I started the process to apply for the job, and then sent an email to Brent, asking if he would be interested in taking me on.

We cooresponded via email for a month or so, getting to know each other. Eventually he invited me out to came take a look, and see how we got along together. I arranged to interview for the clinic job at the same time.

That was May of this year. The trip was great! I spent 3 days working with Brent in Bonsai Heaven! He has over 25,000 trees growing on his property! Around every corner was a new treasure to discover. I didn’t want it to end.

The interview at the clinic went well also. Long story short, they offered me the job and Brent offered me the apprenticeship! Since then I’ve been busy trying to wrap up all the details to sell my practice here and get out there.

I am now 3 days away from closing my practice. Then I will pack up my trees and head West to sunny California!

After taking a few classes I decided to get more involved in the local bonsai “scene” by joining the Midewest Bonsai Society http://www.midwestbonsai.org/

Each year they host a judged exhibition of bonsai, so I decided to enter a tree in the show in August 2002. To my surprise, my tree won a ribbon in the novice catagory!

After the show I started to attend the monthly meetings, which are held at the Chicago Botanic garden http://www.chicagobotanic.org/

The club allowed my knowlege and skills to advance further through great lectures, demos, workshops and discussions with other members. After a year in the club I was asked by the club president to become a board member, and was appointed as the club librarian. I was in charge of the club’s collection of bonsai books, which the mebers can check out.

It was very interesting to be involved with the running of an organization like this. i learned quite a bit in the process. I will be sorry to leave this group behind, as they are a good group of people.

I entered a tree in the 2003 show, but did not win a prize that time. I entered again in the 2004 show, and to my surprised won a blue rosette – only 11 are given out each year, out of the over 140 trees entered.

My Mame Display from the 2004 MBS show 

Discovering the local bonsai shop, Yasukunai, was the next step up in my Bonsai Journey. The owner, Ivan Waters, was to become my first “sensai” or teacher. He has been studying for the last 20 years with Satsumu Nakamura, a bonsai master from Japan.

I signed up for my first formal class at Yasukunai in the summer of 2000. I thought I knew a thing or two from all the books I read, but I rapidly discovered there was still much more to learn. And then teaching my hands how to do the things I read about was another thing.

I continued to aquire more trees. The hobby was rapidly approaching addiction levels. Many of my trees continued to die, as I tried to do too much to them too fast. I wanted to try every new technique I learned.

It was also around this time that I started getting more involved with some of the online bonsai discussion forums. Primarily the bonsai forum at www.gardenweb.com . I learned quite a bit from the experienced people there, and made some good friends as well.

The next step in my bonsai journey was in the summer of 2002, when I became more involved in the local bonsai club, Midwest Bonsai Society. (www.midwestbonsai.org)

More on that in Chapter 3.

The BonsaiSite Forums -> Gallery

here is a link to my gallery on bonsaisite. Just a few of my trees, and other odds and ends.

I received my first bonsai tree as a gift from my wife in 1998. I had been interested in bonsai, and Japanese art/culture in general for the last several years.

Unfortunately, I had not taken any time to actually learn anything about how to take care of a bonsai tree. So this poor defenceless juniper died a gruesome death slowly desicating on top of my TV in my den. Not very surprising, as it got no sunlight and no where near enough water.

So I decided I needed to learn a bit. I got some books and started reading. The following spring I decided to try again. This time I picked up a pot of ficus trees from Home Depot. I think there were 4 or 5 of them in the pot. I separated them out into several different small bonsai pots. Woo-hoo I was doing bonsai!

Surprsingly, 2 of those trees are still with me. I still didn’t know what I was doing, but it was fun. I gradually aquired a few more trees that year, some from garden centers, some from ebay or other places on the net. Then, I discovered that there was a bonsai nursery right in Chicago, only 30 min from where I lived. I stopped by – it was my first taste of bonsai heaven. Things began to change after that.

Stay tuned for chapeter 2

teaching a beginer bonsai class

I suppose my first post in my new blog should be something deep and profound, as there is only one “first post.” However, I’m not full of profundity today, so we will have to settle for utilitarian.

I have started this blog as a way to document my daily activity and what I learn during my apprenticeship with brent walston at www.evergreengardenworks.com

I have not done real well in the past with journal-type things, but I’m hoping this time will be an improvent.

Today is November 11. In one month and 2 days I will be loading up a truck and moving from Chicago Illinois to Kelseyville California. I will be starting a new job at a clinic there. But the real reason I am moving there is to become a bonsai apprentice.

Stay tuned for more of the “back story.” Hopefully by the time I get out there, it will be all caught up.