Three Taboos Beginners in Bonsai Making Must Avoid

1. Never seek out raw material blindly. Many people always want to own a great many bonsai so that they can enjoy them at any time and relieve their "hunger" and "thirst." But when they first begin learning the craft, their appreciation skills are not yet sufficient, so when collecting tree stumps in the wild they grab every stump they see and carry out "carpet-style" digging, which both wastes resources and damages the ecology. When buying at markets they likewise pay no attention to good or bad, superior or inferior, and buy in bulk. The result is mostly crude, substandard pieces that waste time, effort and money. Therefore, although a beginner's eagerness for stumps is understandable, one must have guidance from someone experienced, so as to avoid getting half the result with twice the effort. 2. Never grow stumps carelessly

2. Never grow stumps carelessly. The ancients said: "Success comes from thought, ruin from carelessness." The same is true of growing stumps. Stump care requires patience and attentiveness, and still more it requires knowledge of plant growth characteristics, soil structure, watering and fertilizing, pest and disease control, and so on. In caring for them, first, never handle the stump carelessly. Every stump must, according to your own design ideas, have its branches and roots carefully pruned and its wounds treated before it can be planted in the soil, otherwise the stump's survival will be jeopardized. Second, never prepare the soil carelessly. Soil is an important factor in whether a stump lives and grows well; if the soil is well prepared, the stump has a much greater hope of surviving. Third, never apply water and fertilizer carelessly. Plant growth cannot do without fertilizer and water, but fertilizer should be applied lightly and often, and watering should be timely and moderate; if you hastily apply heavy water and heavy fertilizer, the stump cannot absorb it, which will cause waterlogged, rotted roots or fertilizer damage, and its survival will be in danger. Fourth, never deal with pests and diseases carelessly. Many pests and diseases can endanger a plant's life within a few days, so they must not be treated lightly. Discovery and control must both be timely. Fifth, never move the stump around carelessly. After the stump is planted in the ground or in a large pot, you must wait until its root system is well developed and it has fully survived before, in a suitable season and suitable weather, repotting it and changing the soil. Never bury it in the ground one moment and then, in your eagerness, pot it up to admire, moving and carrying it back and forth, until even a living stump becomes a dead one.

3. Never rush the styling. Creating a work of your own with a distinctive style is undoubtedly the most exciting thing, but never rush it. First, do not rush to style when care has been inadequate. A stump's branches must grow to a certain degree of sturdiness and gradually form transition branches with the trunk before it can be pruned and styled. Never judge by length rather than sturdiness; when the branches have grown to a certain length, do not bind and wire them in a "twisted doughnut" fashion. On the surface it may look like a certain shape, but on closer inspection the "heat is insufficient." This is especially true of deciduous plants; when viewed in winter, their flaws become clearly apparent. Second, never style when your thinking is not yet mature. A stump needs repeated deliberation before the styling plan can be decided. Beginners, with only a smattering of styling technique and an eager hand, rush into it blindly and then keep making drastic corrections afterward, so that one stump is moved and shifted about, delaying the time and opportunity for it to take shape. It is suggested that beginners, when styling, had best first put forward their own views, then seek guidance from someone experienced; this way they take fewer detours and it also helps improve their own artistic accomplishment.