Donations of specimen bonsai trees from bonsai artists and collections in Japan to the collection are being solicited. Three trees have been donated to date.
Develop and implement a bonsai loan program in which trees from other public and private collections are displayed on a temporary basis at the Regenstein Center to complement the Garden’s collection.
Create an archival database consisting of photos and records of training of all bonsai in the collection.
Hire a full time Bonsai curator to develop the preeminent teaching collection of bonsai in the United States. Hire a bonsai technician to provide consistent care for the collection. Annual consultations with a bonsai master cease. This would allow the collection to expand enough to encompass a wide enough range of styles and sizes to exhibit the breadth of the world of bonsai. This would also allow the Garden to conduct daily demonstrations of plant training in the bonsai
display area, and would allow the Curator to teach offsite and represent the Garden in bonsai circles throughout the world. Continue using skilled volunteers to perform the bulk of the training of the collection. Goal is to have one volunteer for each 10 trees in the collection. The full time bonsai curator will have a capacity to manage 25 volunteers. The consistent detail of maintenance on a collection, including bonsai as small as 6 inches in height and a wide range of styles, requires the constant time and attention of someone knowledgeable about the art and science of bonsai.