Think About It! by Dierk Neugebauer Now before you know it, June will be here again, and you will be picking which trees you will be bringing to our June Show & Sale. On what do you base that decision? Do you consider the quality of the trees you have or the appropriateness of the stands you own? From observations over the last few years, I have come to the conclusion that your choice is based on the former, namely the quality of the trees in your posession. My belief here is based on the conviction that most of the Toronto Bonsai Society's memberships does not own a stand on which to put a tree, and those few who do, likely own no more than two or three stands, ... maybe four or five on the outside. From perusing many of the marvellous books our club has in its library, I have also observed that there are strict rules for how to design a tree, just as there are good rules for which kind of pot to plant that tree in. However, I can't say the same thing about stands that might be suitable for a particular tree one might wish to display. I grant you, any stand may seem better than no stand at all. But again, I suspect that both of us may be wrong in that observation. Think about it! Would you go to a classy restaurant in your dirty bonsai collecting clothes when everyone else is decked out in their finery? Would you visit the beach for the afternoon in your nice party dress and stiletto heels? Then why would you place your beautiful tree on a stand that does it less than justice? Think about it! So, that begs the next question, just how does a stand do justice to a tree? Is it really possible to have the wrong stand under a tree?... I suspect the answer to that question is "yes." Well, then, how do you know which stand is the right stand for a particular tree? Several club members no doubt have some ideas about how to answer that question. And yet, how many "show" quality trees do they have? ... and how many stands? Can they truly pick the right stand for the specific tree in front of them, or are stands really not that important? I'd like to hear from you ... not one on one, but in a response to this article ... in writing! Because if you have ten great trees and only two stands, what's the likelihood of the appropriateness of those stands for any one of your trees? Or does it matter? Think about it! Well, I suspect you know that it matters, and I believe you're right. So let's assume that we live in the best of all bonsai worlds, and that we have not only great trees, but also great stands that show them off at their best. How do we decide which stand is best? Here are some questions I'd like answered (in writing) by you: 1. Does the specific tree and the pot in which it's growing affect your choice of stand? 2. What criteria do you use to make your decision? (This is a tough one!) 3. How long/wide should the stand be in relation to the length/width of the pot? ...to the height of the tree? 4. Would you place a round pot on a rectangular stand? Why or why not? 5. Or what about a rectangular pot on a round stand? These may have been easy to answer, but the next few may give us more to think about! 6. Does the height of the pot or the height of the tree have anything to do with the height of the stand? If so, what ... and why? 7. Do the legs matter? Why or why not? 8. What kind of legs should a stand have that displays a literati type of tree? How thick? How short? 9. What kind of legs would you use for a thick-based, short, heavy-weight of a tree? Again why? And which types would not be appropriate? 10. All other things being equal, would the same stand be appropriate if the tree were an evergreen or a deciduous one? I think 10 questions is enough for today. Think about them! Yes, June is coming soon enough, and we'll all be anxious to display some of our collections in the best way possible and on the best stand we have for each particular tree ...won't we?