The irony of my life just now is the fact that my bonsai business prevents me from actually doing bonsai. The less bonsai I do the more ya’ll can do because you have the stuff you need. That is unless you buy it of somebody else in which case stop reading at once!
Bonsai as a hobby is in for a major shaking very soon as global forces and political bullshit conspire to drown us in their effluent. I doubt anyone really understands the extent to which we are dependant upon imports. Virtually NOTHING we use is made here in Blighty, even the bark we use in our soil mixes comes from abroad now.
A little point that has not been reported on by the media is the fact that a container, shipped from China to the UK has gone up from about £1600 last summer to about £6000 today, some have been quoted up to £10,000. Also on the spot market yesterday shippers were charging £1000 extra to drop a container in Felixstowe as opposed to Rotterdam, just the other side of the channel. Somebody needs to ask Boris what the hell he thinks he is doing.
That is just one of a dozen simply incredible circumstances that is about to change life in the UK forever. Take Akadama, there is simply not enough to satisfy the world and lead times can be literally months on end, the price is rising and the shipping has increased by up to 500%. For the first time in history our price is over £20 and when new stocks arrive it could reach £30 or more.
Here’s another example. One of our European tree suppliers was charging us under £200 for a massive pallet up to 8 feet high. Pointless customs documentation and delays has now added exactly £250 to that price and by the time I get it cleared through an agent I expect another £125 this side of the water. Assuming 50 little trees that increases the price per item from £4 to £11.50 which is £13.80 including the VAT you have to pay. That’s actually more than the cost of a lot of little starter trees. Add UK shipping and you are up to £21.45. Add a decent cardboard box at £1, a glue slug at 75p and you reach £23.20. I then have to photograph and list the tree, we have to pack it and label the box and at a paltry £10 an hour that adds another £10.80 which brings us to £34 and so far there is not a single penny in there for the plant, it’s all just processing costs and with overheads running at around 40% of sales value………………… F**k i’d give an Asprin a headache.
So gird your loins folks and pucker up there are fun times coming. It’s time to be appreciative of just how much we have and just how lucky we are. It’s time to stop constantly looking for more, more, more. It’s time to look hard at our ‘consumtion’ and it’s time to be very grateful for what we have. Our great grandparents were very happy just to have a roof over their heads and food on the table. May God grant us all the grace to do the same.
Having less plants on the nursery (we dropped our stock by over 1200 plants in the last quarter) has given me chance to spend time on those special little bits and bobs I have been holding back over the last few years. Seeing as it’s spring it’s time for the obligatory flower pictures. So, here are a couple of recently potted trees.
First up is a crab apple, we sold a massive number of these but this one had to stay. It’s only three years out of the ground and will take at least another ten years to turn into bonsai but if you squint at it through a drunken haze it looks pretty good.
Secondly is my mahaleb. Collected in southern Italy just 3/4 years ago I offered this for sale at around £500 before thinking better of it. Work has been focused on creating substantial primary branching in keeping with the trunk proportions. I didn’t do the carving, that needs work. This is it’s first pot, it’s vital NOT to put trees into bonsai pots too early in their development but now IS the time for this one and it’s a nice Tokoname signature pot I had cluttering the place up.
G.
Crab apple in it’s first bonsai pot. An old Chinese pot I have had for 30 years.
From southern Italy and just 4 years in development from a bare stump. Early days but happy so far.
Not my carving work but the branches are. Another 10 years and this will be good.
Compulsory spring flower picture. Prunus mahaleb.
Dear Mr. Graham.
It’s always great pleasure reading your statements /essays/poems!!!
I living here in UK 16 years and I adore some aspects of your island.
Iam deeply disappointed from Brexshit, iam ultra pro future, pro Earth fan.. Can’t describe it better.
I deeply respect your work and honesty.
Thank you for all you do!!
And not just bonsai wise!!!
All the best, handsome to you and all your family!!!
Jozef from Haywards heath (ex Slovakia/Hungary)
Bless youuuu!!!!!
Hello!
This is a good time for many projects! Think of many things in the future!
Bonsai – Nivaki will be one of them! Really, congratulations on the beautiful Prumus mahaleb!
Maybe, you could rent some land cheaply, from a friendly farmer nearby and grow a lot more stock yourself. I hardly ever use Akadama. So not having that wouldn’t be a problem for me. So long as a good supply of feed is available to give my trees, most any other material would suffice. We have plenty of good potters ( Including yourself ) in the UK that can produce an excellent pot, when asked to do so. It’s just a status symbol growing a tree in a named and signed pot from the Far East! I have approx. 100 trees around my garden and could probably count the number of imported trees on one hand. WE WILL OVERCOME.
The crab apple and prunus look lovely but what you have written about the cost of importing stuff is very depressing.. It looks as though we will all soon be unable to afford even the compost in which to maintain our trees let alone purchase any new bonsai material from abroad. Time, perhaps, to reduce our collections and keep just a few, valued trees.
I bought a Fuji Cherry ‘Kojo-no-mai’ from you around five years ago and planted it in our garden on a tile.
Last week I dug it up, the trunk had thickened really well and the root system was amazing. I’ve put it in a training pot to work on the branch development and ramification over the next couple of years before potting it into a bonsai pot which has been in my garage for a few years as well.
The point is, when reading the last two of your blogs, I think this is probably going to be the future for many Bonsai enthusiasts like me. Try and get a good quality starter tree and spend time on it.
Perhaps there will be opportunities for purchasing trees from local clubs at a reasonable price, but as you point out the top nurseries such as Kaizen will certainly suffer in the short term if not longer.
Nobody has a magic wand to wave, let’s hope that common sense can prevail and obstacles can be removed.
an obvious and unavoidable result of BrexitLots more bad news to come
If only there was an interoperable customs union with harmonised documentation and plant passports that the UK could join.
Paul.
There is it’s EU plant passports and it’s UK law. However OUR government has piled absolutely insane additional requirements on top of it as well as banning all sorts of species from import regardless of what measures are taken to ensure they are clean.
We shall have to go back to growing trees ourselves from native stock, growing in a mix of John Innes and grit! That’s how it was when I started and you too I bet Graham. Not ideal for your business though! I hope we can still enjoy bonsai, without overpriced imported goods. If they want silly money for it they can keep it. The cat litter boom starts now!
I think it looks great. I’m new to the hobby so still looking at topiary and thinking “What a great Bonsai!” I’m totally addicted now, and concerned to read about rising prices, I guess we’ll all pay a price for breaking away from the EU? We’ll need to work harder at finding home produced substitute materials?
Keep up the good work Graham, excellent tutorials!
I completely agree with your analysis of worldwide financial and political influence, manipulation with intent to destroy, by certain factions who would like to be considered heavyweights in international ideology whose name begins with China. They have bought and paid for the tool Joe Biden, whose name will be synonymous with Benedict Arnold in history books, only if democracy wins out. “History is written by the victors”. Bonsai is another casualty as we fiddle while Rome burns. It’s time for all American and Brit patriots to turn to what worked the last two times we had to support ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’.
Any reason why my previous comment has no been shown.
Greatings Graham.
With all the world upside down nowadays I like to give my thanks to you and yours at Kaizen Bonsai.
Bought some carving stuff from you last year and been having the best time of my life carving my native collected trees. Reading your blogs and watching your videos has given my life a new meaning.
I feel like 20years and that everything is once again possible.
Big thank you Graham and I even go so far to try and bend my old stumps for a humble bow to you.
Kind regards
Tor Holmgren
As always Graham your accuracy and straight to the point talk have summarised the corrupt and incompetent government officials wonderfully. I’m super excited on your up and coming review of the great reset, new world order and agenda 2030, where we’ll own nothing but be happy about it!! I wonder how bonsai folk with revolt then?! A mass of folk with scissors, concave knob cutters and wire for hanging said politicians from lamposts will be impossible to stop. Onwards to freedom, truth and health general potter.
Dear Mr. Graham.
You are infinite, humble inspiration!!!
Thank you for all you do for us all these years!!
Regards
Jozef (Haywards heath)