If you carry this "natural" soil argument to its ultimate conclusion, we would
not grow bonsai at all. We would leave all the trees in the woods, live in
caves, and eat raw meat. If God didn't want us to develop technology, He would
not have given us a large brain and opposable thumbs. Even Betty the crow makes
tools. If you don't want to use modern methods which research has developed to
grow healthier trees, you don't have to. If your methods work for you, fine. I
will continue to use the methods that work for me, including soilless mixes,
weekly feeding with organic and inorganic fertilizers, and insecticides whan
necessary. And I will continue to keep myself & my plants indoors in the
winter.
By the way, the products we use in soilless potting media: crushed gravel,
bark, perlite, vermiculite, and charcoal, are just as natural as garden dirt,
only the charcoal and expanded clay have been heated.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Yogi Berra