Expressions of Grace Bonsai – The Future?

Expressions of Grace Bonsai has been an idea for so long that bringing it into a business reality has always seemed ‘just out of reach’. Learning and growing bonsai has been a hobby for over 20 years and has gradually overtaken my garden and my life! Many of these trees feel like ‘old friends’ and the actual prospect of selling them has always stopped me from progressing.

In 2018, I started running a bi-monthly market stall and enjoyed the 1:1 experience of selling my bonsai to local people. The joy of sharing my knowledge and experiences helped me overcome the reality of losing my ‘old friends’. It was fun seeing how many other people were caught by the bonsai bug – thankfully not a variant of the greenfly bug !

I also tried selling on EBay that year and though I had success, I found the lack of personal contact with customers difficult. For me, selling a bonsai requires more than just a ‘handing it over’ approach – it requires a sharing of all that is crucial to the ongoing health of that particular tree. They are not children but they are living entities and they do each have unique identifiable nuances that require understanding if they are to thrive.

I started this website as a means to satisfy that need to share experience and knowledge with anybody interested. I wanted to show that bonsai is NOT a mysterious and difficult art form. There are no secrets held in some bonsai equivalent of the ‘magicians circle’. I have also posted many articles on my Facebook site but now accept I am unable to run both effectively. Therefore, I have decided that all efforts will go into building a quality website that centres on growing a bonsai community (no pun intended) – with some sales.

I will be closing down Facebook and ask that all of those people who have followed me do me one big last favour. Go to my website and say ‘YES’ to accepting notifications. Then, when I post new blogs or add more trees to my collection, you will have the opportunity to drop in and see what is new. Perhaps even comment or put in a query to buy one. You could even plan a visit during a holiday break 🙂

I must also thank all of those wonderful new customers who purchased some of my bonsai and potensai. I will not pretend that the volume of interest shown through the various EBay auctions didn’t surprise me and some of the final winning bids left me feeling just a little overwhelmed. How do you put a true value on time and effort is the question? Anyway, rest assured that over the next week or two I will be posting numerous blog articles covering each of the bonsai species sold.

Thank you if you took the time to read this and please feel free to comment with any suggestions that may help me in the future. I have included various views of my garden nursery and I encourage anybody to make an appointment to visit. No purchases are necessary and coffee is always available. Just beware that once I start to talk it is very difficult to make me stop…