John pictured with an air-layered Beech Raft in a Gordon Duffett pot
How did you get started? Seems along time ago now, in 1991 a work college invited me along to the Wessex Bonsai Show at Kinson Community Centre at Pelhams Park near Bournmouth. I was immediately hooked, especially fascinated by two exhibits put on by David Martin, one a landscape garden on a slate tray and the other a Scots Pine.
How did you learn about bonsai? After visiting the Wessex Bonsai Show and deciding the hobby was for me, I joined the Wessex Club which met once a month at Pelham Park. I soaked up everything there was to know about bonsai with the help of fellow club experts like Ray Edwards, Manuel Gonzalez and Geoff Shakespear. The club held a monthly tree competition with a novices section, I keenly entered a tree every month and my work steadily improved over the years.
Who was your teacher? At the same time, I attended several workshops organised by fellow club members John Lee and Geoff Crowe located at Mervin and Brenda Brown's dairy farm, this was my first meeting with Peter Adams. I was told Peter Adams was a nortously difficult man to get on with and he did not suffer fools kindly, so I was on shakey ground when he asked me what I was going to do with the two Junipers I had taken along to the workshop. My quick reply was, no idea, that's why I have brought them along to the workshop, for you to advise me, you could have heard a pin drop at that point, but from that day on Peter and I immediately got on like a house on fire.
What is the most important thing you learned from him? Peter Adams was an amazingly talented man, but what sticks out by far is his ability to study a piece of raw material and imagine several different ways forward for the tree, and then his ability to put these ideas down on paper in the form of sketches, clearly showing you the different ways forward. The most important thing he taught me is not to think what I can do with a tree, but to read the tree and the tree will tell you the way forward, not the easiest concept to get your head round.
John's Yew tree in oval pot
Do you belong to a bonsai club? I remained a member of the Wessex Bonsai Society for possible twenty years, but sadly due to family circumstances and also the sad death of Manuel Gonzalez in 2012, I drifted from the Wessex Club. At about the same time I joined Allan Tolley and Geoff Crowe who started up a new group called Phoenix Bonsai Group. This group still met at Pelham Park but on another night to the Wessex club, but eventually moved there location and meeting day to Sunday mornings once a month meeting in the glass houses at my nursery. The new group had about twelve members to start with, our sole aim was to take our trees to a higher level, a group for the more established enthusiast.
Alan, Bill, Steve, Alan , Quin & John members of The Phoenix Group
Your thoughts on bonsai or dreams? Over the years I can safely say my bonsai hobby has moved from being a hobby, to being a passion, and then onto being an obsession. I love putting my trees into shows and receiving comments from fellow enthusiasts good or bad, but I always remember these trees are primarily for my own enjoyment back home. I have loved attending workshops or demonstrations at shows, building my knowledge up from people like Kevin Willson, Steve Tolley, Dan Barton, Colin Lewis, Salvatore Liporace, Marco Invernizzi, Ryan Neil, Paul Finch, John Naka, Dan Robinson and many others along the way that I cannot remember right now. Do you consider bonsai an art form? 100% Yes Why do you do bonsai? This is not an easy question to answer, but possibly the biggest buzz I get in bonsai is searching wild areas for raw material and safely returning home with this raw material and developing it on over the years. For many years, while a member of the Wessex Bonsai Club I collected raw material from New Forest, they had a permit issued to the club that allowed organised collecting once or twice a year. I became so hooked with the collecting bug, I obtained my own personal permit that allowed collecting of material where and when permitted in New Forest.
John with Bill collecting Hawthorne on a farm in Wiltshire
John working on a beech tree
Do you have a favourite tree species or size tree? An easy question to answer, 90% of my collection is made up of Scots Pine all collected over the years from the wilds of New Forest all shapes and sizes.
John working on a Scots Pine
Do you have a favourite bonsai? Even though I have many trees, I do not particularly have a favourite one tree, I am like a grass hopper, whatever tree I am currently working on, becomes my main focus and favourite tree.
John working on another Scots Pine
What mistakes have you made? My biggest mistake that i can remember was an Elm I bought many years ago from a local nursery in Lymington, on returning home I decided to remove an ugly air root and unfortunately to my horror killed the tree almost instantly. Have you experienced bonsai abroad? I have visited many countries over the years, visiting Poland for a European Bonsai Association show and Germany for the 2001 World Bonsai Convention held in Munich in the early nineties. My visits have also taken me to the Arco Show in Italy five times and the Bonsai San Show in France three times, you could say I am a seasoned bonsai traveller. Over the years what has been your favourite bonsai show? Over the years I have mainly enjoyed Belgium for its bonsai shows, firstly the Ginko shows organised by Danny Use, then the Noelander Trophy show organised by Marc Noelander and then finally the current show called the Trophy Show organised by the Belgium Bonsai Association, which I have visited many times. Can you recommend one or two bonsai books? From the very beginning I loved Peter Adam's work and over the years he published many books, I can not say that I have a particular favourite one book, but have enjoyed all of his books. Over the years I have always subscribed to whatever was the current bonsai magazine of choice and even today I eagerly await my latest copy of Bonsai Focus falling onto the front door matt. What is your best achievement? I have exhibited trees at many shows over the years, but one particular show held at Capel Manor some years ago, I managed to win 'best tree in show' and received an award, a beautiful pot made by Dave Jones of Walsall Ceramics. Also another personal achievement was one of my trees being chosen by Fobbs for inclusion in their display at Chelsea one year.
John pictured with his Scots Pine that went to Chelsea 2019
Do you have any future ambitions or goals? To become more focused on finishing trees, but at the same time never to give up collecting raw material from New Forest and finding that extra special tree and start it on its journey to become a thing of beauty. In one of the Bonsai Solo magazines published by Peter Adams and Geoff Crowe, Peter said of me, If my skill set was as equal to my passion for collecting, I would be a force to be reckoned with.
John offering members haircuts
Do you have any other interests or hobbies? I own many guns and have enjoyed shooting over the year, also fishing is high up there, but unfortunately due to my obsession with bonsai these other interests take a back seat. John Turner Phoenix Bonsai Group