Inside Greenwood Bonsai Studio | Corin Tomlinson Interview & Bonsai Bash Tour

So we are now at Greenwood Bonsai Studio for the Bonsai Bash and guess what? Xavier is holding up his hand to make sure yes it is raining just like last time here. So let's see whether we can get any nice shots and otherwise just have a little quick look around, say hi to Corin, have a look at a few trees. I think this is going to be a very short video, I don't think I'll be recording all this much. But a lot is going on and look behind us or in front of us. Look at this gorgeous view, look at all those trees there. Let's have a little quick look around and see whether we can find some Atlas Cedars. Like this one, did you see this one? And have a quick look at the demo area and see, I think it is Corin himself who's working the tree there. Which is so much easier here because we're having like this amount of clutter, yeah? So we'll have a little look at this section. So what's this going to give us? This is mainly going to give us some foliage on the right hand side to balance the movement and the direction of the tree. See if I can get you a little closer. And of course one of the things that you always see at Bonsai events is Bonsai YouTubers. And just look at that. I think this is Xavier from Xavier's Bonsai Routines in the middle of an interview. I think it's one of his big longtime fans, it's John doing a bit of an interview. And of course outside there's plenty to see. One of the key displays right now here in the, I think it's a sales area to be honest, this gorgeous Japanese maple forest. Look at this. Lots of people here so I have to be a little bit careful that I don't go full screen with people that don't want to be on camera. So if you see me jerk or switch off, that's going to be it. It's genuinely incredible to see it up start. I mean you watch the video, we watch all the videos. Beautiful. But you don't get to see, do you know what I mean? Because it's a 2D effect of television, but honestly. But also a video, that would be an half an hour video and it's an hour and a half demonstration. So best case scenario you're only getting a third of it, aren't you? Yeah. But that's, that's quite, that's, that's quite, I'm an hour and a half. It's good timing. I mean you have to read it because you go back in and go, oh I didn't know that. No, I'm happy with that. The lump's a nuisance. I knew it was going to be a nuisance, it always was. And you can't do much with it. If you don't like that, if you really don't like that lump, I shouldn't have walked the tree. It's cooking really well. It's there, it's neat. It's there. That side is there. But on a Tsugar you wouldn't expect any backcutting anymore, right? On the more mature Treventius? Yeah, that is absolutely marvellous. Well, that'll just look better and better now, won't you? I mean, that's his first, you know, that's like the first coat of paint on a wall, isn't it? Now, if this is the first time to my channel, you have to realize that most of my videos are not about visiting nurseries or shows. Most of them are about how do you grow better bonsai and how do you do it from raw stock or very nicely well-developed trees. How you do further, how do you do further development of these trees. And if you have not subscribed, then this might be a good moment to do that. If you want to know more about trees, of course, look at that foliage. This must be Saigon as well. So we're walking around here together with Corin. Hi, Corin Connorson, owner, of course, of Greenwood Bonsai. You know him from the videos, the stylings, the works. And I just showed you the tree that he made and it is getting quiet. He wants to kick us out and said, well, before you kick us out, let me know, because we want to do a very quick, short look at the nursery. And what has happened here? Last year, last time I was here was one and a half years ago. I think this was not here. Is this all new? No, this whole area is new. About two and a half years ago, we redid the shop and then we've just bought a 60 foot, 18 meter greenhouse here with all the indoor bonsai in. We've got heated benching in there to keep them on. And then this garden area that we're stood in, this is all new. There's about 50 to 60 specimen bonsai in here that are for sale. We've managed to move them off the main benches and have them in a bit more of a garden setting to give people a bit of an idea of what they might have in their own garden on sort of monkey posts, on poles, so they're easy to care for. And they just look much better, right? Yeah, easier to appreciate. And we've got some garden tables so people can stop and spend 10 minutes just sitting, enjoying the trees. It's a really nice environment. This weekend is our open weekend, so it's the first time, you know, we've had hundreds of people here today and a lot it's the first time they've seen this garden and it was brilliant. I've been doing a demonstration this afternoon, but you can, I can still glance over, there's people enjoying this area. So many people are saying how wonderful it is. It took a lot of hard work and time to do it. It's really good to see people come in and saying that they really enjoy it, you know. And it's an amazing collection that you've put together here on trees and you've been doing this a long time, right? Because I think this store was started by a dad. Yeah, my father Harry Tomlinson started the business in 1978. Yeah. So we're approaching our 50th year. Does that make you one of the oldest bonsai nurseries in the UK? Yeah. I think Hennings might be the first. Are you the number two? We're the oldest. You're the oldest? Yeah, we're the oldest. Yeah. Sorry about that. That's all right. Yeah, no, we started in 78. We've got a 12-acre site. For me, when I left school, I did a diploma in horticulture, a bonsai apprenticeship with Bill Valvanis at the International Bonsai Arboretum in Rochester, New York. And then since then, I've worked here. So I've been doing this now for probably 35 years or so. I took the business over in 2008, which doesn't seem long ago, but it is, you know. It's 18 years. Nearly 20 years ago now. And just if you're watching this, just think back, what were you doing in 2008? It is a long time ago. Yeah, probably is a long time ago. And then we've just continued what my father set off doing, but we've expanded quite a lot, you know, with a number of trees, the caliber of trees, you know, more traveling, more teaching than ever before, you know. And also, you know, more recent years, as with everybody, you know, website, YouTube, Facebook, all that stuff. Yeah, I'll pop a link into your channel later on. Yeah, we've got a little channel we fiddle about with. It's good. We get a good response from it. So it works quite well for us. People get to see the trees that I work on. They get to see the nursery and it encourages them to come along. And we've had a brilliant day today. It's been really good. You've been grinding away at a tree quite well. I can see it all over your cap. Oh yeah, probably covered in sawdust. That's deliberate. So when I go home, my wife thinks I've been working. Yeah, just covered in sawdust and that. But yeah, and we've got the same again tomorrow. So tomorrow I've got a different tree to work on and we'll see. So now I've got a lot of people on my channel that are quite young in bonsai, a couple of years in. Now, if you think of the sort of people that you get in here, they're working three, four or five years on bonsai, what would you recommend them to do to get the best bonsai out there for themselves and to get most out of their hobby? We put a lot of people, a lot of people start doing our introductory bonsai courses, you know, so not just us, but find a bonsai place, try and learn to do like a beginner's course, introductory course, learn how to trim, learn how to wire, you know, start with some basic trees if you need to, if you can afford slightly better tree, don't be afraid to get a slightly better tree, as long as you can get advice and help with it from somebody, you know, a little bit of a bigger tree is more mature tree, so it's going to last a little bit longer and be easy to look after. Just buy trees that you like, you know, easy to grow trees, Japanese larch, Japanese maple, cotoneaster, species, locality, climate, yeah, yeah, just, you know, all sorts of things. And you'll favour some trees and others. Somebody today said they want to buy a specimen tree, what should they buy? I said, well, if it's a specimen tree, you should know, you've got to buy something that you, you know, that you're perhaps spending a bit more money than usual, buy something you really like. I can't tell, I can't tell them what to buy. And if you buy a tree of that calibre then you should know what you like, otherwise maybe you shouldn't buy that tree. No, we cannot, you know, I've got some people they'll buy a specimen tree with help and guidance from us, they're no more difficult to look after, you know, it's like people, some people want to start off with something basic, that's okay, but buying a specimen tree, you know, some people buy a specimen tree and look after it fine, it's just like, definitely buying a slow car as your first car or a fast car, doesn't mean you can't, doesn't mean you can't buy a fast car if you can afford one, might not be the most sensible option, but people buy a specimen and if they want it wiring, they want it repotting, they bring it to us, you know, or we visit them and we do it and we work together with them and the tree, you know, but also, you know, we sell a range of like little seedling trees that are inexpensive, people buy them, you know, there's been lots of people walking through the shop today, you know, with trees that are like £7, £10, that sort of price, and they're just buying basic trees to have a go with because that's what they like to do, or one guy wanted to do a clump style of maples, somebody else is doing a little group planting of Japanese larch, so all that sort of material we have, you know, as most bonsai centers probably do as well. And you do here courses, I see the workshop is right behind us? Yeah, my teaching studio is behind us at the moment, there's a display of my trees in there, but we normally do all our teaching in there, we do about, there's probably 300 students a year, book on to our introductory bonsai courses. So people want to come here, where should they go, where are you located? Because I know, I'm right here now, you're right here now, but for people who don't know... Well, a lot of people know, but we're in Nottingham, so we're in the UK, we're right in the middle of the UK, so if you're driving, we're like two hours north of London, we're quite accessible. An hour east of Birmingham? An hour sort of northeast of Birmingham on a good day, two hours north of London on a good day, right in the middle of the country, it's only a small country anyway, if you're visiting the UK it's pretty easy to make a bit of a detour. He says it's a small country, but you know of course in the Netherlands it's a lot smaller than that, right? Okay, that's wonderful. Is there anything that you want to shout out to the world about bonsai and what you say, well what does bonsai do to you, what does it mean and how do you see bonsai for yourself? I enjoy it, it's a business, but it's a business that I've got a passion for, so it's not just a business, you know, it's a lifestyle business, it's something you've got to be passionate about. I have my own collection of trees which are not like saleable stock, they're like my own trees and that maintains my interest and passion in bonsai. The only thing you don't get from it as a business is that as a hobbyist, people say they find it quite relaxing and therapeutic, it's not quite as relaxing when you're doing it as a business. It's work. Yeah, it's work, but it's enjoyable work, yeah, so I wouldn't be doing it, yeah, if I didn't enjoy it. I mean, standing here in the garden, you know, if you have a rotate around with that camera in a bit, you can't not be excited and pleased with all these surrounded by these trees. It isn't a bad place to work, is it, at the end of the day. It's an amazing place to work by the looks of it. I'm really enjoying this visit. Unfortunately, you also want your evening back at some point. I think the trees that you have on exhibition inside, that's your personal collection? Some of it, yeah, some of it. There's about 20 trees on display. I've probably got, I probably maintain about 80, yeah. Do you have a favorite species that you really think, this is my favorite, this is what I really enjoy? I've got a lot, about half my collection is made up of maples, primarily Aesopalmatum cultivars, Katsura, Benishidori, Serio, Shishigashira, that sort of thing. So, hard to get cultivars, make up about half of my collection. Evergreens I tend to like, unusual evergreens. I work a lot with cedar and hemlocks because I've been in Bonsai a long time and every show you go to, juniper, juniper, juniper, pine, pine, pine. It's not like I don't like them but I like more unusual stuff. So, I reckon I can put a display on, we were talking about it earlier, at some time I'm going to do this evergreen bonsai display, no pines, no junipers allowed. That's cool. So, it's just going to be hemlock, cedar, spruce. I love this big Atlas cedar that you have there at the entrance. That's nice, yeah, it was a garden tree, we've been working on that. I've got, I bought a nice Hinoki cypress, maybe we'll let Hinoki cypress into that exhibition. So, evergreens, I like cedars and deciduous. It's going to have to be like Shishigashira maple. Pretty much plants like, you just like every tree as long as it's healthy and it's not standard. My friend said, oh blue cedars, he says I thought blue cedars were hard to get. I realised they're not hard to get, it's just that you've got them all. Yeah, yeah. That's why we've got about four or five nice ones around here but we have them on display for people to enjoy when they come up to the nursery and I hope people enjoy having a look around all the trees. Well, thank you so much. That's all right, no bother. Great show that you put on today. Thank you very much, pleasure. Thanks for the demo. Thank you, no bother. Okay, have a nice evening. And if you like junipers, of course, there's Rose and Rose and Rose. All really, really nice juniper stock here in different sizes, shapes, forms and development stages. This is one I really like. It looks a lot like the tree that Xavier has in his garden. Hey Xavier, where are you hanging out? We need you here. I found Xavier and he's of course recording a video behind me but I want to show him this juniper and I think that I can tease him to coming over. This guy just keeps on blabbing around in a camera. Mate, come on over. Have a look at this tree. I think he's just taking a piss. You can't say that. I can and I did. And look. So what's your response there, mate? One, two, three, four, five, six. Why are you talking? Because that's how many mines got at the moment. Yeah, but do you think that the branches in top here are not a lot more delicate than what you have in the top? Yeah, nowhere near as heavy. But you see how it is very close to what you're doing at home? I'm not. It's exactly the same. That is incredible. Actually, this is a good idea to actually get the branch spread on this. But it just goes to show that one that you picked out, you absolutely nailed it. Well, you shouldn't look at the green label of course now. More of a curve mine is and mine's three times the size and oh right yeah. I think that's a good investment. Big thumbs up for yellow over there. Cheers. Now what I really like about Greenwood Nursery is this nice mix between quite mature, well-developed trees and then you get some fairly strong rough stock. And then intermixed with that all of a sudden you get into the more commercial, younger material that are really accessible for people that are just starting off with bonsai for very reasonable prices. And then you look up a little bit and there you go again one of these much nicer, further, more mature trees. And that actually looks like it could be a Saigon hiding in the back here. Look at that color. And I said this just goes on and on and on and on right. So Xavier continues interviewing people here behind me. So I'm just going to walk around a little bit. And this is the for sale section here. These are all the material that comes from customers that is overgrown or people that don't want to continue with certain trees. And they are at more affordable prices. But you also find very, very interesting species that you don't see all that often. Like this smokebush. And this is not a small smokebush because you do see them in younger plants. But this is a very mature trunk. Again it's a pity that there's no open borders anymore. Actually I couldn't carry it anyway. But this is a nice one to have to your collection. A bit of color. Nice big trunk. Flowering tree. And look at that base. Pretty cool. But yeah lots and lots of material here for sale. This is all the rougher stock. And yeah you need a bit more adventurous taking these on. Look at this privet. And this is actually one of the pretty well styled privets. Because right in the background over there. That's all big privets. And besides Xavier you're not gonna imagine. Who do we find here? Say hi. Hi. And who are you? I'm Kaz. And what do you do? Bonsai. Do you have a YouTube channel? No. Do you have a store? I've got a website. Where can we find you? It is kazbonsai.co.uk And I'm on Facebook. And I'm on Instagram. And you can find me. And everybody knows me. I hope. Who are you? I don't know. I'm not sure. Right I'm going to stop harassing Kaz here. Because Xavier's being funny next to me. And he thinks I'm looking at him with the camera. But I'm not. I'm looking at me. Hey see you later. That was it ladies and gentlemen. This was Greenwood Bonsai. The Bonsai Bash. You might have seen this gentleman along the way. That's Xavier's Bonsai Retreat. Also a very nice Bonsai YouTube channel. And if you do not get enough from my face on my channel. You can go to his channel. Because I'm a guest there sometimes. Anyway if you are watching this video. You've never seen my videos before. Have a browse in the library. And if you like it. Hit subscribe. And otherwise send me an umbrella. Because it's raining. I need to go. Bye.