Kitsune Miko said .......

........ if we use the dog training technique that punishes the dog for
returning when called, they won't come anymore.


I agree Kitsune !!

I'm a newbie who started my Bonsai career with a sad looking mallsai my kids
gave me as a present.
Not knowing much about the art, I visited the local book store and purchased
a number of books by Colin Lewis, Herb Gustafson, Paul Lesniewicz and Amy
Lang. It took me another week to find this excellent mailing list and post a
few "newbie" questions.

I quickly discovered that my little juniper was not a bonsai at all, but in
fact nothing more than a little cutting that someone had poked into lousy
potting soil then held it in place with a bunch of glued rocks.

The short story is, a year later, I've taken 8 courses from Jim Doyle at
Natures Way, and my little mallsai looks great in it's new pot and soil,
sitting next to the 10 other beauties from my classes. Some day it may even
turn into a little shohin! At the moment, I'm proud that I managed to keep
the little critter alive.

If it wasn't for the kind and gentle words of members of this group, and my
insatiable appetite to educate myself, I may have moved onto other less
demanding sports. After all, it takes less effort to go golfing on the
weekend than to raise a dozen trees.

When someone posts "I just bought a bonsai at Wal-Mart and what should I do
with it?" don't get snooty and tell them it's not a bonsai and it probably
won't live anyway. Encourage them to read and learn, and ..... remember how
proud you where when you brought your first tree home !!

Rather than getting upset with *Mart for selling trees that may not live,
why not ask them if you could put a pile of your associations leaflets near
their display. Who knows, you might encourage someone to learn.

Remember .... we all started somewhere.

Mark Hill - Zone 6 - Mechanicsburg PA.

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