Bonsai Practice

Where one ends up or sets up to practice something often determines how easily or well one can practice.  This is much less true than it used to be, thanks to the internet and all the written and visual information and teaching it provides.  And, it is still true that location supplies a kind of immediacy, convenience, and tactile experience that the internet does not.  So I am very glad that my location for bonsai practice is Boston, Massachusetts, USA.  Boston is a great bonsai town.

Part of what I love about bonsai practice is the way it engages the senses.  I love the feel of the leaves and bark between my fingers, the smell of the leaves, flowers, and soil, the glazes and colors of the pots.  I feel very fortunate to have not one, but two LBSs (Local Bonsai Shops) within a day-trip’s drive so that I can indulge my senses when I go to purchase supplies, learn a technique, or buy a new tree.  Bonsai West and New England Bonsai Gardens both are full-service shops offering a wide variety of trees, supplies, services, and teaching with experienced and helpful local and guest teachers.  They both have beautiful gardens that delight and inspire.

Sign on the Larz Anderson Bonsai House

Speaking of inspiration, the  Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University hosts the Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection.  Some of the trees in this collection have been under cultivation longer than any other bonsai in the country, and the oldest tree (a compact hinoki cypress “Chabo-hiba’) was started as a bonsai in 1787.  Think of all that that tree has seen!  The oldest trees in the collection, all “Chabo-hibas”, are being rejuvenated and reshaped by Colin Lewis, who lives and teaches within a day’s drive.  If Sunday and Monday were not such heavy work days for me, there would also be the Bonsai Study Group of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, that meets Sunday nights down the road a few towns.  And I always enjoy the bonsai display every year at the Boston Flower and Garden Show.

1787!

Perhaps the best thing about Boston as a bonsai town is that you just never know.  You enter the home of the music director of your singing group, and there are her husband’s lovingly tended ficus benjaminas, one in the living room and one in the dining room.  You are on the back porch, and the new neighbor two doors over calls from her backyard, “Nice bonsai!” and it turns out that she has been given her first, a juniper.  The friend you have known as a backyard gardener for years suddenly starts growing conifers from seed.  Location isn’t everything, but it sure can be fun.

How does your location help you in your bonsai practice?