I've never met someone who knew everything there was to know about bonsai.  The truth is that there is just too much to know.  You could learn all there is in a particular area for a particular species.  Travel a few hours in any direction and you could find that what you knew is incorrect or irrelevant in another region.

There will always be gaps in our knowledge with any subject.  Even experts in their field still keep and consult volumes of reference material.  There are entire libraries devoted solely to law and medicine.  I don't mean to imply that there is the same quantity of information available for bonsai as there is for law or medicine, but there is quite a bit and it continues to grow.

New and different techniques are developed for bonsai all the time.  The best example of a new technique that changed the landscape significantly was black pine decandling.  It was once normal to starve Japanese Black Pine bonsai of food and water in order to maintain short needles.  With the discovery and refinement of decandling techniques it is now normal to feed vigorously and provide plenty of water to pines.  This technique has been shared with the bonsai community, and is now almost universally accepted.

It's through 'trading of skills' that the bonsai community gains knowledge.  There are all kinds of opportunities to learn new techniques in bonsai. It is better to have others around us that might complement our own knowledge and fill the voids where we may be lacking.

Add a new dimension to your bonsai.  Work with others to learn new skills and take your trees to the next level.

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How do you learn new skills?  Are there things that you know you don't know?  Join the discussion below.