How did you get interested ? I think as a kid my interest evolved when I used to gaze in awe at a large garden, but not an everyday regular garden, it was laid out as a traditional Japanese garden. I was later in life to find out it was designed and laid out in the early 1900’s by a genuine Japanese designer. There were Bonsai, Japanese maples with fantastic coloration and Niwaki styled pine trees around the garden which I thought were fantastic…….the seeds were sown in my mind! What was your first bonsai? My first attempt to try my hand at growing a bonsai was a little ash tree which I took from my Mother’s garden when I was 15 back in 1969. That small little ash survived with me until 2021 when it sadly passed away possibly due to the ash disease which ravaged our locality as well as most of the country. How did you learn more about bonsai? When visiting the Royal Bath And West Show near Shepton Mallet I made a ‘bee line’ to the flower marquee where I gazed upon a display of bonsai owned by Anne Swinton….whom I was later in life to get to know very well. I asked Anne “how do you grow bonsai?” only to be told….. “its a closely guarded secret and cannot tell you!” What was that all about! So, my early years were basically self taught as there was little in the way of books to read. Just one book in my local public library. Were they really grown in half a grapefruit skin and trim the roots off as they came through holes in the peel? As it was shown on the Blue Peter children’s programme, I had to try it. The first 10 years or so was a slow affair as my teens took up time with playing football, cricket, darts and badminton, travelling the country to watch football and Somerset CCC and sampling the ales as many do. When I settled down with Anne and we got our own house my interest in bonsai grew as did our 2 children who entered my life. How and who helped you expand your bonsai knowledge? I was now a subscribing member of the National bonsai society based in Southport…….at last information! I joined the Bristol Bonsai Society who were one of the largest clubs in the country at that time with a top figure of 274 members (including corresponding members). One person who helped in my learning curve and I owe so much to was Dan Barton, who after all these years is still a very close friend of mine and incidentally one of the founder members of the Bristol bonsai society.
John, Dan, Ceceila & Mark
At the Bristol club a few years later I also met up with a person who became my bonsai buddy…. the late Ray Fordham. Most Sundays we would meet up and travel to what nurseries were available or spend the days working on our own development of bonsai. At that time one of the top bonsai nurseries was Bromage And Young in Surrey, I always remember the Chinese junipers laid out on the lawn and priced with a yardstick £1 per inch…..you wouldn’t get that nowadays! I was glad to have visited and learned in workshops etc. from the likes of Peter Adams, Ruth Stafford-Jones, Harry Tomlinson , John Naka and many more whom I apologise to for not naming as I’ve had so many inspirational friends during my lifetime in bonsai. The learning curve continues with my interest in horticulture expanding. Learning how to propagate plants by cuttings and grafting for example. My philosophy was to learn how the trees grow and use that for the welfare of bonsai development. You need to care and develop your bonsai in order for them to survive and flourish. Even with today’s knowledge available via the internet I cannot emphasis enough, joining a club meeting new people who are all interested in one common goal…….that is the learning of the art of bonsai. Yes! I did say art. Simply owning a tree or plant is not art, but when you go through the process of styling and development to end up with a finished miniature of a full-sized tree that is more of an art form. Art can be a definition worth looking up in a dictionary for those who argue bonsai is not art but simply horticultural practices. Most definitely it is an art form as recognised in most countries around the world. A bonsai tree may have a beginning but it is never finished, as a living entity it is always evolving through the ‘Annals of time’ What was your early working career? My working life was in the shoe making trade as an engineer and training instructor. As the years passed my skills at training evolved through coaching both children and adults in cricket, football and Badminton for which I held national qualifications. How did your business get set up? As my talks and demonstrations to local garden clubs etc expanded my next move was to teach the art of bonsai through adult education classes at nearby schools and colleges. It made for long days , working in industry then working 3/4 evenings a week. It was within the education structure that I gained my City and Guild certification to teach adults. Luckily enough, or was it not lucky, the training was paid for by the company whom I worked for setting up retraining schemes to help redundant workers with the impending factory closures. In the mid eighties I started planting hundreds of trees in what was originally secluded allotments hidden away from prying eyes. Eight allotments came under my control which gave me the best part of an acre to field grow my potential bonsai stock. My investment for the future when my full-time industry job might come to an end. This was the era of the change of direction!!!! I set up my own business and called it the Mendip Bonsai Studio in 1994, operating part time at weekends and running educational bonsai learning workshops alongside selling bonsai. At this time I also made the decision to start exhibiting and trading at Horticultural shows. I had to blame my good friend the late Harry Tomlinson who had exhibited for many years including at my local show. We would get together over a few beers in the evenings to chat and get rather intoxicated in the ‘stockmans’ tent, normally a rowdy atmosphere where the young farmers would let off steam to put it mildly as the odd brawl would break out. It was time to leave to avoid the fracas. Another person who helped with my transition into exhibiting was the late Cal Humphries, lovely guy to get on with, with a broad Barnsley accent and a vast knowledge of both bonsai and exhibiting. 1999 was when I decided to go full time, moved house more into the country to a place with plenty of land, this was split into 2 sections…..his and hers. Hers, or should I say Anne’s, is devoted to vegetables and fruit trees along with ponds for fish and wildlife. For a period of some 8/9 years I was travelling the country, at horticultural shows as an exhibitor and trader, plus trading and exhibiting at pure bonsai shows…..it was hard work as I was attending up to 25-30 shows a year. In around 2001 I called the RHS to enquire regarding my desire to exhibit at the world famous Chelsea Flower Show. The show manager at that time asked had I exhibited at the Halls in Vincent square or any other RHS shows? No! was my reply. She responded by telling me that it was basically a case of ‘dead man’s shoes’ So I replied with a quick answer! “Can you tell me when the next exhibitor pops his clogs?” or should I say her clogs. But that year some long standing RHS exhibitors who saw my displays at the non-RHS shows said they would put in a good word for me as they were on RHS show committees. The following year I was in the RHS Wisley show and gained a prestigious gold medal at the first attempt. We were over the moon …… yes…yes! Smiles all round
John & Anne at Wisley - 1st RHS display & Gold Medal 2002
The following year was a case of down to earth with a bump gaining a silver medal at the Chelsea flower show. At that time there were 8 or 9 bonsai exhibits … how the times have changed. But it was still in the heydays of bonsai being so popular. It was several years before I gained my first Chelsea gold medal in 2007. I went on to gain a record breaking 94 RHS medals for exhibiting bonsai before hanging up my boots as one would say in 2019. This ended a run of 70 consecutive gold medals. The Covid 19 basically made my mind up for me. Time to change. Now was the time to concentrate on the educational side of teaching bonsai to students of all levels. Even now I still get people attending my workshops who started attending over 35 years ago……it’s great to see how their trees have advanced and matured. I still attend pure bonsai shows as a trader and now and again exhibiting a tree or two. For the last 17/18 years we have been selling a vast range of small bronze figurines to accompany bonsai or purely as collectibles. These make up a large part of the business. This was made possible by meeting up with a bronze sculptor named Dave Meredith who became a close friend back about 18 years ago. Your involvement with clubs and shows? Over the years I’ve been an active member the Bristol Bonsai society Have been a committee member for years until standing down this year. A thriving club going from strength to strength. I was Vice Chairman of the Association of British Bonsai Artists until it was disbanded some years ago. I also had involvement with the Joy of Bonsai, the international Magical Bonsai Accents show and many others. I also hold the position of being president of the Somerset Bonsai Society based in Taunton. Very much a thriving club and been pleased to be at the helm for at least 15-18 years seeing it develop into a great club with a forward looking committee and healthy membership. What's your favourite species for bonsai? There cannot be many species that I have not tried training as bonsai. Bonsai can be very addictive and challenging as a hobby and it gets worse when it becomes your profession. If I had to pick several species I’ve loved growing they would probably be Japanese Maples,
Deshojo maple
Trident maple
Chinese juniper, Black pine and Satsuki Azalea to name a few. The one species that I would love to have in my possession is a variety of Hibiscus that I saw at shows whilst travelling in Taiwan. It can develop some of the finest ramification that I’ve ever come across, these trees are actually given a total leaf pruning just before they are exhibited.
Hibiscus
Countries visited for bonsai shows and work? Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Belgium, Holland, Cyprus, Sweden and Ireland. For quality of the shows Japan, Taiwan and Belgium are highly recommended. Who are your favourite potters? I always felt when I first started exhibiting at shows a long time ago that the pots were very much of a ‘sameness’ especially the colour, or should I say lack of colour…..normally they would be most shades of Brown or Grey. So, I wanted to add more interest to my displays and colour played a big part when choosing a pot for a tree. This was the time I was introducing Dan Barton pots to the world of RHS bonsai displays. I was also responsible for getting the RHS to accept that accent plants and other complimentary items such as bronzes should accompany a bonsai, similar to the way they exhibit in shows in Japan. It was hard work encouraging the judging structure to change. It probably helped when I gave a training seminar to about 75 RHS judges about 15 years ago. Although I have good interest in Japanese and Chinese potters I have always felt that we have a great range of UK potters and should support them. I have a vast collection of both pots and accent pots by Dan Barton and not forgetting Cecelia. Also many pots by John Pitt, Gordon Duffett and a big collection from Thor Holvila from Sweden. I am also very pleased to see how Graham Simpson (Dragonfly pots) has progressed and I am now both potting trees into his pots and also selling them. Check out his ‘industrial or steam-punk pots’…….mind blowing.
Pot made by Graham Simpson
Judging bonsai? Over the last 25 years or so I have had the pleasure of judging at many shows across the country together with some critique work. In 2021 I was approached by the Royal Horticultural Society to see if I would consider joining their team of judges. I accepted the invitation. After undergoing training and assessments I became a full judge for the RHS with specialist subject being bonsai in 2022. I can also be called upon to judge ferns, hostas, alpines, Acers and other trees and shrubs within the ‘woody plants’ section. These are plant genres that I have been involved with most of my life. Please help to Keep the knowledge of bonsai expanding but never forgotten. And to keep gaining more enthusiasts around the world. Cheers John Trott