Ryan Neil question

How come Ryan Neil doesnt ever work on or have deciduous trees?

I have seen 'some' deciduous trees hidden here or there in photos of his nursery but they certainly are rare specs in an ocean of conifers..I too have wished he would do more with deciduous trees...

-Jay

I want to say it has to do something with him being an apprentice in japan. Also have you seen the his new demos?

Jake16 wrote:I want to say it has to do something with him being an apprentice in japan.

I'm not sure what you mean by that, but the person with whom he apprenticed isn't known for his work with deciduous material.

This might be some of my ignorance showing but It seems to me like conifers are rated higher in japan, also I know that Mr. Kimura is known for his conifers and I noticed that he has mostly conifers.

Not sure about the rating, but the rest of that sounds reasonable to me.

I think you've answered your own question.

Another factor may be that he lives in the mountain west. There are many fewer native (and suitable) species of deciduous trees in the west than there are here in the eastern third of the continent. So unless he wants to only grow Japanese species, he's a bit limited.

its all about personal taste and preference, a lot of which initially comes from your inspirations and teachings.

You are a bit off the mark Jake regarding japanese deciduous trees - you only need to look at the prices achieved by the high quality acers - it's not hard to find trees over 1 million yen for sale, and they appear in similar numbers to similar priced conifers. Closer to home you also will find it is much quicker to form conifer bonsai, they are more freely available and of a relatively lower price, while true high quality deciduous trees take decades to make with no short cuts - so in a country with limited imports lots of the deciduous material available is still very much on the first rungs of the bonsai ladder. .....more will appear as the quality and maturity improves across the entire country rather than in little pockets

the term jack of all trades master of none comes to mind too - bonsai is such a huge and complex subject due to the variety of species and techniques - better to master one aspect I guess.

cheers marcus

Why don't you ask Ryan himself?

Bob Pressler wrote:Why don't you ask Ryan himself?

Because it is not that easy?

If you know how to contact him easily (i.e. forum like setting & without being imposing)...I would love to know.

Poink88 wrote:

Bob Pressler wrote:Why don't you ask Ryan himself?

Because it is not that easy?

If you know how to contact him easily (i.e. forum like setting & without being imposing)...I would love to know.

How about;

ryan@bonsaimirai.com

Thats off his business card.

If that e-mail does'nt work try it with all capitals.

-Jay

Poink88 wrote:

Bob Pressler wrote:Why don't you ask Ryan himself?

Because it is not that easy?

If you know how to contact him easily (i.e. forum like setting & without being imposing)...I would love to know.

I kind of doubt he spends much time on forums- but he is in the bonsai business so he's pretty easily accessible, whether he'll go back and forth such as on a forum I don't know but I do know he answers emails and questions.

But . . . when you get right down to it, is it any of our business? Or just nosiness?

The world may be rude enough without bothering someone with such a silly little question. Why does it matter to us?

JimLewis wrote:But . . . when you get right down to it, is it any of our business? Or just nosiness?

The world may be rude enough without bothering someone with such a silly little question. Why does it matter to us?

Well put, I have to agree. Honestly some men like blondes and some men like brunettes I assume the same goes for trees lol

Marcus is right. Why spread yourself too thin and not be more specialised. Many top names are known for specialising in one aspect of bonsai or another. Whether it be deciduous, evergreen, shohin, mame, raw material or refinement, it would be difficult to master them all.

Jake16 wrote:How come Ryan Neil doesnt ever work on or have deciduous trees?

Hello Jake,

I don't think "ever work" is really accurate. Maybe you mean work with more? If you watch his commercial for Bonsai Mirai on youtube several can be seen in is Nursery/Garden ... and I've seen online he did a demo on a very large buttonwood in Florida. Like the others have covered and also imho I'm sure it's more a preference and/or location of his nursery.

a buttonwood at the 2011 Florida Convention
before

near after


his commercial for Bonsai Mirai

Ryan has a study group that meets every few months in San Jose, and I have attended the last 2 sessions. He has worked on deciduous trees with me, and other members of the group. But there does seem to be more conifers.

Our next session is in October, if I remember, I will ask him about his thoughts on the subject.

As an aside, I think he is great to work with, so if anyone has a chance to go to a workshop with him, take it.

- bob

cbobgo wrote:

As an aside, I think he is great to work with, so if anyone has a chance to go to a workshop with him, take it.

sounds great - I'm starting to get excited already as I have a 2 day small group workshop coming up with Ryan. I must admit that I felt the way to get the best from his experience was to find a good conifer to take as material - but as the workshop will be his first ever working trip to the UK I also wanted something unique and interesting for us both to enjoy. After about 6 months of hunting it looks like the perfect tree has appeared - a large very ancient native species common juniper that is now ready to be worked after 7 years since collection and 3 potting cycles.



for me this is a perfect piece to work with Ryan - centuries old, untouched & unusual.

cheers Marcus

awesome tree Marcus. Ryan will love it, make sure you post some pics of how it goes.

- bob

Hello Marcus. You do realise that native Junipers have a tendency to collapse after working? I hope it doesn't of course and hope you have a great weekend too.

will baddeley wrote:Hello Marcus. You do realise that native Junipers have a tendency to collapse after working? I hope it doesn't of course and hope you have a great weekend too.

hi Will,

yes I know a native juniper has to be very settled and needs to have been successfully repotted and fully recovered at least once before any work starts. Luckily this tree is coming from one of the best men in the UK for nurturing yamadori and not rushing them into sale. Steve Tolley has been looking after the tree, it is 7 years since collection, and he has repotted from the collection box into very large pot, and then into first bonsai pot,each time seeing a strong improvement in the fine roots and top growth.

It helps that I trust his reputation 100% and he knew before even offering the tree where it would be worked and with who. Understanding that you cant be too cavalier or indecisive with the bending helps, as does the experience of the group present - Ryan has worked communis and has at least one in his own collection, Dave Hannah makes them look easy and is attending , there are several thriving at Willowbog too so Peter isnt too shabby and I am more than happy with my thriving Rigidas to be happy with styling and more importantly after care. I've been waiting for the right tree for about 10 years now and this is potentially the best established raw communis in the UK, so is well worth taking a (small) chance on.

cheers as well, the weekend is going to be great - the cuspidata Ryans working on saturday is something else too - jaw droppingly good material.

thanks again Marcus

Marcus, Ryan is going to love that tree! I've worked with Ryan on several very old collected Rocky Mountain Junipers and he definitely brings out the best in them. I hope you've taken more pictures of your wonderful tree from other angles because I'm really interested in seeing where Ryan takes this one. Have fun!

What days are you doing your workshop Marcus? I'm there for the Saturday demo and Sunday workshop. I look forward to seeing what he does with that Juniper

Ian Young wrote:What days are you doing your workshop Marcus? I'm there for the Saturday demo and Sunday workshop. I look forward to seeing what he does with that Juniper

Hi Ian,
I'm workshopping thursday and friday but i'll leave the tree there until the saturday demo day as well. look forward to catching up face to face, nice blog m8

Thanks Dave, believe me i have been hunting for a really worthwhile material tree for months. the 2 pictures are from Steve, the sellers place, I pick it up this saturday so will get a few more pictures together over the weekend - it may not end up semi cascade ........i see many options from just the 2 pictures. the beauty with the tree is the live veins are totally established so we wont be disturbing them - the dead wood options are spectacular which was one of my other reasons for picking it too.

cheers all,

Marcus

Based on my time there at bonsai mirai, i got to thinking about this question. He does have a few deciduous trees(beech, vine maple, hornbeam(not sure what kind) but it was beautiful and huge, linden, and more but i forget what they were. The dominant majority is for sure the junipers like rockies, california, and sierras. I am sure it comes down to his source from Randy Knight and what he offers along with a few others up and down the west coast. Really, Ryan gets first dibs on all of Randys goodies so that explains alot for me. Everything he has however, deciduous and conifer, he has upped the level of their protential unlike any i have seen in the USA.