Hello, all!

Being brand-spanking-new to bonsai, I need to start somewhere. Has anyone here taken the Online Bonsai Classes BE offers?

Thanks!

I have and they are very well put together. Having to pay a little bit for a class is better then trying to get lucky on Youtube.

Agreed. As good as some of the videos on YouTube are, they often raise more questions than they answer.

Not sure if this blog will appreciate plugging another bonsai channel, but there are plenty of youtubers who know what they are doing and explain things from a beginners point of view. I have a dozen bonsai books, but most are about species development and techniques, i havent really found one that is a comprehensive beginners guide. My favorite Youtuber is Nigel Saunders. I have learned a ton watching his videos, Many are repetitive, but he will teach you the basics of root and branch development, soil, repotting and general care. hes great.
I have watched the fundamentals course from Bonsai Empire. They are informative but may be a little advanced for the absolute beginner.

I have gone through all three courses here on the website. I would personally start with the basic, then the intermediate then the fundamentals course, as the main concern of beginners is keeping the tree alive. The fundamentals course does say things about water and plant physiology, which is important, but the basics course has more about directly applicable things. That's just my opinion. they are not that expensive, and they are a great resource for many different things.

Billymsu77 wrote: Not sure if this blog will appreciate plugging another bonsai channel, but there are plenty of youtubers who know what they are doing and explain things from a beginners point of view. I have a dozen bonsai books, but most are about species development and techniques, i havent really found one that is a comprehensive beginners guide. My favorite Youtuber is Nigel Saunders. I have learned a ton watching his videos, Many are repetitive, but he will teach you the basics of root and branch development, soil, repotting and general care. hes great.
I have watched the fundamentals course from Bonsai Empire. They are informative but may be a little advanced for the absolute beginner.

On the other hand, there are loads of amateurs giving pretty bad advice. For instance, have a look at the ¨bonsai new easy method" that is not easy and gives awful results.

I have seen Nigel Saunders videos and commented with my - on this forum - famous words: that is not a b..... ah well, you know, I really think a ponytail palm is not a bonsai. Admitting though that he does have videos of real bonsai too.

Still, there are quite a few others that I prefer, like Bjorn Bornhom (sp?), Ryan O´Neal, Graham Potter, and a few more.

Auk wrote:
On the other hand, there are loads of amateurs giving pretty bad advice. For instance, have a look at the ¨bonsai new easy method" that is not easy and gives awful results.

lol. I just looked this up, and came up with a video of a very young maple tree. The trunk of the tree was green!!! not even harden off yet. And the process was not easy at all. Seriously? all that work for a seedling?

This is terrible because it teaches the opposite of patience.

eangola wrote: lol. I just looked this up, and came up with a video of a very young maple tree. The trunk of the tree was green!!! not even harden off yet. And the process was not easy at all. Seriously? all that work for a seedling?

Thatś probably not the worst video. There are videoś where he shows his collection - including empty benches and lots of dead and dying trees.
Thereś a video where replaces rotten planks of his bonsai bench - in a very clumsy way.
He makes pots too. On the video about this you can see the pots came out of the oven broken.
In some of the videos, when he repots, you can see whatś inside the pot: lots of bugs.

All what he demonstrates is dirty, clumsy and the way he treats his plants is rude. The way he prunes looks... random.
Thereś a juniper in one of his first videos thatś also in one of the last ones - many years later. It made no progression, at all.

This is terrible because it teaches the opposite of patience.

It does. What strikes me is that he has (or had, the original series was deleted) so many likes. I guess it is because people like to believe they can make a bonsai easily this way.

Yes, I have watched many YouTube videos. The only problem there is it's a scattered hodgepodge of topics. When starting out, it's always good to move through the information in a logical progression. At least that's the case for me.

I did sign up for the online course . The only thing I find annoying is the lectures are cut up into short two and a half minute snippets. Just as you're getting settled into the video, it's time to change to the next lecture. On the other hand, the videos are well done and I'm enjoying what I've seen thus far.