I’ve been busy going through the trees; pruning, seeing what needs repotting, checking for winter damage, and all the other wonderful tasks that tell me we’re on the heels of spring.  As I was checking each tree, the winter’s rest and browsing of other sites started flooding back.  It got me thinking about what makes a truly great mini-bonsai that bit better than a similar, just not “great”, tree.  I think I put my finger on it.  It’s not just wire, nor is it just pruning.  The determining factor between good and great lies in the courage of the artist.

Courage to take a tree you’ve spent several years caring for, and lop off a heavy branch or an apex.  Courage to take the time required to detail wire every little branch when necessary, risking the possibilities of knocking off a bud or breaking a fairly fragile branch or twig.  Courage is quite possibly the most underutilized tool we have.  Like other tools, if you don’t pull it out and treat it with care, courage can become dull.

Courage allows us to risk the well-being of a healthy, if mediocre, tree with the promise of something far better over time.  That risk should always be mitigated by performing tasks at the right time and only with healthy, vigorous plants.  Courage + carelessness = recklessness.  That’s not what we’re after.  Courage + knowledge = success.  Successful survival and successful execution of turning of the vision in our mind to a well-executed, delightful design!

Normally, I prefer to think about radical changes for a while (day, week, year or more) before committing myself …and my courage, to any major change.  I find that talking it over with others really helps cement my decision, or gives me something else to think about that I might decide is incorrect for now.  One thing I can guarantee is that courage and careful risk now might set the tree back a couple years, the patience will be handsomely rewarded down the road.

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