by George Buehler

The World Wide Web is a place where almost anything can be found. If you need information about a particular topic, it generally can be found on the web. I must caution that just because it is found on the web, doesn’t mean that it is either correct or accurate. Use the information found with caution.

Where to Start

There are a number of search engines on the web. You simply start your favorite search engine and type in what you are looking for – for instance Bonsai. Depending on the search engine used, page after page of information on Bonsai will come up. Some of the ‘links’ will lead you to bonsai shops, some to Bonsai organizations, while others will simply be information. Another word of caution that I recently ran into while I was ‘surfing’ the web looking for interesting sites is that if one day you are using a particular search engine like Google, and you type in “Bonsai”, you may get different links on different days. I haven’t figured out why this is but I repeated the process several times and got the same thing.

Before you start searching the web, please, please have a ‘fire wall’ and an anti virus program installed and up to date. There are many rascals out there who are waiting to get into your computer or to put a virus on it. Take it from one who knows, a virus on your computer, either at home or at the office, will cause you to have more headaches than it is worth.

Here are a number of search engines you can use to find information (the number in parenthesis are the hits when bonsai was entered):

• Google (www.google.com) - probably the most widely used and maybe the easiest – (1,690,000 – that’s right!)
• Dogpile (www.dogpile.com) - one I have in my favorites just because of the name – (127)
• Search (www.search.com) - Stated to be one that uses other search engines to find things – (41)
• Mamma (www.mamma.com) - just another name – (100)
• Lycos (www.lycos.com) - one that’s been around for a while – (50)

Start with one of the above and just keep reading. The next time you start a search, use a different engine and see which one you like best. A word of advice – don’t start a search on company time. You can easily let the time slip by and the next thing you know the search you started late in the morning while you were killing a few minutes till lunch quickly turns into almost time to go home. Most companies keep track of the time you spend on the web and using four or so hours of your eight-hour work day wouldn’t go over with most managers.

 

What I Found

Each of the sites listed below, have links to a variety of different sites along with links to some commercial sites they partner with. In addition, they have lots of pictures of various types of trees that you can down load. If you are interested in copying these pictures let me know and I will give instructions on how to do it in a future article. The listing is in no particular order of preference.

• www.bonsaisite.com - This site has a section for tree care for 20 different species. It also has a number of general articles on tree care and techniques
• www.bonsai-BCI.com - This site is the official site of the Bonsai Club International. There is a listing about becoming a member (recommended), the member services, and information on the upcoming convention in St Louis, along with a list of events in the Bonsai community. Under Bonsai Species Guide, they have general instructions for the care, propagation, potting and pest care for about 139 different species. This is an excellent site for getting general information on a particular type of tree.
• www.absbonsai.org - The official site of the American Bonsai Society. There are a number of articles here, some from recent ABS Journal issues. There is a training zone for essential articles and the ABS forum where you can leave questions for other members to answer (you need to be a member to participate in the forum – membership is $28/year). One irritating thing for me at this site is the crazy clock that moves around with the mouse.
• www.Bonsai4me.com – This site has a number of articles of general and specific interest, along with species guides for 88 different trees.
• www.bonsaiweb.com - In addition to the usual, this site has a bulletin board where questions can be posted and other bonsai people will give answers or suggestions. It also has a large number of pictures for your enjoyment.
• www.bonsaiprimer.com - This site is geared to new people to the hobby. Their main interest is to sell a CD entitled ‘Bonsai Primer’ ($30). However, there is plenty of information that the more experienced can benefit from.
• www.btinternet.com/~colinlewis.bonsai/ - This is the official site of the world renowned bonsai artist Colin Lewis. In addition to lots of useful information (some of which you will see in future newsletters), there is a yearly calendar where he lists where he will be participating at future shows and clubs.

These are just a few of the sites I found. In future issues, I will list international sites and sites specific to a particular type (i.e. Shohin). Happy surfing.