Some Thoughts After Swindon (Display Tables)

While visiting the recent Swindon Winter Image Show, I noticed that a number of bonsai/pots appeared to be too large for their display tables. On the top surface of most display tables there is an inner square/rectangle (anybody know what the correct terminology is?) and I was always lead to believe that for the pot to come outside of these lines was classed as a fault. I even noticed one pot that was actually hanging over the sides of it's stand! So my question is, does it really matter if the pot fits within these lines? For me personally, I feel that it shows a lack of attention to detail and I was surprised to see it so many times at a show of this level. Any thoughts?
Lee.

well spotted

i agree with you that the pot/stand relationship is poorly understood and a great many trees are put on stands that are way too small.

i think the main reason for this is that people are not willing to invest in stands very often, and because they are seen as expensive they take the cheaper option of buying a little one. it used to be the same as pots but now people at shows are slowly starting to invest in the better pots to do their trees justice.

i think using current UK 'average' prices you can easily invest equal amounts in a good pot and a good stand - i'd say both together could easily be £1000.00 or more for a large show tree yet many people want to invest all their money in new trees I think.

The display looks really good when the stand width is just a little narrower than the total tree canopy width, so the pot may be 2/3 of the stands width at most. Height of a stand.....it should bring the main viewing point of the tree up to eye level and it should be taller than the accent planting i believe as well, but taller stands can cost more too so you see short narrow ones more often.

My stand was 75cm across, 25cm high and worked well with the Chinese elm (it was a little too tall for the hinoki at noelanders but my budget could only get one stand this year and this one works with 3 of my trees, so was money well spent). The perfect hinoki stand is similar width but not so tall like the second picture.


https://i.servimg.com/u/f71/17/20/75/25/00712.jpg

https://servimg.com/view/17207525/623

Cost and availability are issues with larger stands. I have a number of larger trees for which I don't have the appropriate stand. As pointed out above a satisfactory stand can cost as much as the pot and will probably have to be custom made.

You make a good point Lee, but I have looked through some of the photographs that I have and only found one example. A lot of the stands do not have an inner banding line.

This is a club show with invited clubs, societies and individuals and although you say 'a show of this level' it is still a club show and NOT a National, where it is set up by loads of helpers. I will agree that it has a very good standard of trees on display

ALL of the halls were set up by only 14 members although some couldn't do much of the heavy lifting work, due to many aspects.

With the large number of trees it is not always possible to have a specific table for each individual tree and has to be selected from a stock pile of tables from club members. It also has to be done within a very short time span, about 4 hours..........otherwise the show wouldn't have been put together. I just wish that we had more time to look at items such as this....but alas not.

It has been noted and hopefully can be improved on in the future.

Thanks folks (and to Paul especially) I should say, how much I did enjoye the show, and with the high quality of the trees, it is easy to forget that this is after all a club show. I didn't meen any disrespect to the organisers of the show and the owners of the trees in my comment - I was just curious as to whether it was generally considered to be a point of importance after I noticed several examples on display.
Lee.

I do think this is a problem for individuals and for shows. tables like pots, no matter how many you have or have access to are never the right one when it comes to repotting or displaying.

With our club, members will bring their tables to a show and allow others to use theirs if it is more appropriate to thier tree. It helps but is not the total answer.

Lee, I think your concerns are valid about the rules of what makes a good looking display. But wouldn't it be a shame if a tree had to be omitted for lack of an appropriate table.

if we wanted to show that tree without finding a proper sized table, any options to fall back on

is stand lease / rental a viable option ??? would people be willing to rent stands for a percentage of their value?

My opinion is based on other japanese hobbies, like Koi and Suiseki including bonsai. I find the average person hesitant to spend any additional
money unless they are really into the very top end of that particular hobby. I think from a retail point of view, you'd have to be located in a pretty dense active market to make that work. If a retail establishment had high end customers, it might be worth offering that service, as the right stand is just as important as the right pot for an award winning tree.

When our club has a show, I load as many stands as possible in my vehicle and make them available to members who don't have stands. I think a few other members do the same.

I think we all need to clone billy a few times for all the clubs