In this week’s Bonsai Wire podcast I discuss this idea with John Eads.

John Eads owns Left Coast Bonsai, a young-tree bonsai development nursery left of Portland, Oregon, nestled up against the Coast Range. As a professional he talks of the need to balance speed with quality. Because of this limitation, it’s our opinion that the backyard hobbyist has the best laboratory for high-end, pot-grown bonsai.

Drone shot of Left Coast Bonsai, a premier bonsai growing grounds on the west coast

This isn’t just our opinion. Japanese professionals, such as Daisaku Nomoto (who teaches the Shohin School along with Jonas Dupuich and Andrew Robson), actively source trees from backyard hobbyists—and actively train them to grow stock.

John is a big fan of pot-grown plants, only planning to have 10% of his operation in the ground. John says in our podcast, “The ground is an accelerated pedal, so if a wheel is falling off the vehicle, it’s not going to improve by putting it in. You have to get the vehicle in good tune before you press on the accelerator, or you push forward all the problems.”

He also prefers raised beds to ground-growing. With a raised bed filled with pumice, a pot may be set on top of it, or nestled in partway, and then easily lifted for an annual trimming of the roots. Then we are not, as I put it in the podcast, “creating problems that are hard to uncreate.”

Pumice beds, which John sees as the sweet spot for professional growers

John said, “I think this is a big part of the work that I’m trying to do, how to skate that razor edge of development goals without creating internodes so large that they have to come off.”

We think the techniques of professional growers like John can help you skate that razor’s edge as well, and give you tools to consider in your backyard. 

Some of my favorite bonsai in my garden were pot-grown by hobbyists. Most were grown a bit slower than those of professionals.

We hope that our podcast chat this week will support your backyard work and maybe give you a couple tips about how to grow young trees.

Pines in a pumice bed

If you like growing young plants for bonsai, try out our podcast episode A Casual Conversation About Growing Trees With Michael And John for more tips (and humor…)