Impatience and my Bonsai...

[alisios]

I really love my bonsais... but I believe I don't really have anything I could say is a really, really nice bonsai. All of my trees are rather young and just starting... I have some in pots, some in training boxes, and some in the ground, some collected, etc... and I grow impatient...

I guess I don't really have an "issue" with taking care of them, I only wanted to vent a little of my current state of mind - I want a tree where I go "Now THATS a great tree!" - but I think I have to wait another 5 years or something...

I don't really want to spend a lot of money on an existing bonsai tree and I'd like to have the satisfaction of having made the tree I like...

It could be also that I am so close to them that I don't see the little incremental growth and development that really is happening..

anyhoo.. *sigh* all is good - thanks for listening... I have to water now...

[Gnome]

alisios,

I know exactly what you mean. We are unusual in that most folks want to slow the passage of time but we want to speed things up. I keep thinking, in another three or five years that should start looking like something.

Norm

[GlassB]

Really? Fortunately or unfortunately I work often 7 days a week, 10 hrs a day. I still have time for 7 trees/perennials I hope to keep around for a long time. Before leaving for work in the morning I have just enough time to make sure they get their morning drinks and feedings (fertilizing). There is a willow tree in a pot that I've let grow for a few weeks and don't quite plan on touching for a few years.

They say bonsai is all about patience. I think it is mostly learning to cultivate other interests in life and learning to balance it all together so as to reap as much enjoyment from all things in life - not just bonsai.

There are many times I DO wish time would slow. Life and time is passing by in seconds for me. I wish rather that I could live more than one life!

[kdodds]

Ditto GlassB. It's easy for some to become mildly (or even greatly) obsessive about hobbies, especially if they're fairly new. Diving in head first and absorbing all there is to absorb, you get ahead of yourself sometimes. You learn SO much and see SO much, that you're ready for that 10yo tree, you feel and think like someone 10 years in the hobby. My other hobby is marine and reef fishkeeping. I keep 450, 180, 125, and 40 gallon tanks. I also write for TFH magazine. Anyway, it's much the same there in that hobby, especially when it comes to watching corals grow, which can be equally as exasperating when your vision doesn't come true day in and day out. And, I'm fairly certain that's exactly what Glass means. If you're sitting there day in and day out waiting for something to change, you're probably missing out on other things life has to offer. My tanks are there for me to observe, watch, enjoy, as are my plants, but there's only so much of a good thing one can take. If you find yourself getting annoyed, or something like it, even mildly, maybe it's time to go to a movie, read a book, take a hike, plant a rose, join a crafts club, something else, anything else.

[Gnome]

I must say I was a bit surprised at the attempt at long distance psychoanalysis of something that, at least on my part, was intended as light hearted and perhaps even a bit tongue in cheek. I certainly do not want my years to pass more quickly and I am in no shortage of other interests but in the context of this thread, on this particular forum, I do understand alisios' sentiment. Now if you'll excuse me I must go water my trees.

Norm

[alisios]

Mine was intended to be light hearted also - I was simply expressing a fleeting feeling about how slowly things seem to be going!

Thanks for all the responses! All have very good food for thought...

[constantstaticx3]

Alisios, I have to agree with you. I have plenty of and most are no where near being anything but I do have a few that are only a couple years away from being satisfied. I do enjoy watching them grow and when I check on them every day I do notice a subtle change or a new design idea. It keeps me thinking. I have been saving up to spend a bit of money for a developed trunk that should develop quickly, although the one I'm looking at has a large trunk chop that will need to be reduced and a new leader grown but its a Trident so it really shouldn't take more than a few years and in the mean time I can admire the base and work on the lower branches.

When I find myself getting bored with my trees, I shift my focus to my other gardens, in fact, I will be adding an addition to my garden in the front yard. Although I do wish to see some progress quickly, I'm in no hurry I want to live my life the best I can while I'm still young. My trees are just there for an enhancement but I do hope to make a life out of it. My dream is to own my own bonsai nursery but I can wait.

Tom

[sean117Ply]

I have no patience for small saplings or young trees what-so-ever, So I just bought slightly older trees with shape and worked on trunk size and branch/twig refining LOL couldn't be happier

[GlassB]

I must say I was a bit surprised at the attempt at long distance psychoanalysis of something that, at least on my part, was intended as light hearted and perhaps even a bit tongue in cheek. I certainly do not want my years to pass more quickly and I am in no shortage of other interests but in the context of this thread, on this particular forum, I do understand alisios' sentiment. Now if you'll excuse me I must go water my trees.

Norm

I'm curious what kind of psychoanalysis you were referring to? Just as his was lighthearted, so was my response! I don't really feel the "slowness" of things at all. If others do, that's wonderful and we enjoy our trees either way.

[GlassB]

Ditto GlassB. It's easy for some to become mildly (or even greatly) obsessive about hobbies, especially if they're fairly new. Diving in head first and absorbing all there is to absorb, you get ahead of yourself sometimes. You learn SO much and see SO much, that you're ready for that 10yo tree, you feel and think like someone 10 years in the hobby. My other hobby is marine and reef fishkeeping. I keep 450, 180, 125, and 40 gallon tanks. I also write for TFH magazine. Anyway, it's much the same there in that hobby, especially when it comes to watching corals grow, which can be equally as exasperating when your vision doesn't come true day in and day out. And, I'm fairly certain that's exactly what Glass means. If you're sitting there day in and day out waiting for something to change, you're probably missing out on other things life has to offer. My tanks are there for me to observe, watch, enjoy, as are my plants, but there's only so much of a good thing one can take. If you find yourself getting annoyed, or something like it, even mildly, maybe it's time to go to a movie, read a book, take a hike, plant a rose, join a crafts club, something else, anything else.

That sounds as time consuming as anything. Glad to hear. My other hobbies range from painting, reading and studying other things. It's just about to get a bit more hectic in a few months. Now I am off to watch a movie soon on the PC for a little wind down and "me" time. As always, happy gardening, all.

[kdodds]

Nah, set up properly, marine and reef tanks require very little maintenance. Feed daily, maybe 15 minutes for all tanks, other maintenance, maybe an hour per month.

[Kenshin14435]

I have to agree with alisios here.
I do wish that stuff like growing bonsai would take less time. But while it might help you now, in the long run it won't.
While I do agree with alisios, I think it would be cool to make stuff move faster and slower.
I'm an impatient person, but after doing bonsai for a while I have learned to be more and more patient.
I think some of us want things to go faster but ALSO things to go slower in life.
For instance, say someone wants to learn faster in a shorter amount of time, but at the same time want the ageing proccess to slow.
It's kinda confuzzeling(made up word)but life just happens.
All I can say is that EVERYONE should live life the way they want it, and most importantly live his/her life to it's fullist

Ken
PS-I kinda confuzed myself in my own post........weird.

[rlw1979777]

Bonsai is great for impatience. You rush a tree, it dies, you get all ambitious, it dies, sometimes it dies period. It takes a lot of time to get good at making them happy, but once you do you will be much more proud of keepiung it content and happy. Easier said then done though.