Lee Verhorevoort Profile
Lee Verhorevoort first became interested in Bonsai as a teenager. Having kept Bonsai, initially as a hobby, Lee took a Saturday job on a Bonsai nursery in his early teens, which became permanent on completion of his schooling. When he was 18, Lee took the commendable step to live and work in Japan, gaining valuable, first-hand experience of growing and refining Bonsai trees. Having lived and worked on some of the best and oldest Bonsai nurseries in Japan, Lee was able to experience techniques and skills that have been passed down through generations of Bonsai producing families.
By his mid-twenties, Lee had established a firm fan base for his work in Bonsai and founded his own nursery in Kent. An accomplished public speaker, Lee regularly visits a large number of Bonsai clubs in the U.K giving slide shows on his time in Japan, as well as talks and workshops on Bonsai, as dictated by the needs of the members of the club. These have included lectures, group tuition, workshops and demonstrations by Lee himself on Bonsai material, both raw material and refined. Having gained exposure to the country where Bonsai has been developed, Lee was able to bring back to the UK market a number of new techniques for cultivating Bonsai and also a range of new varieties that were not previously available for purchase in the UK. His time in Japan also gave Lee exposure to some of the greatest Bonsai displays and shows. It is with this knowledge that Lee has been able to produce some outstanding exhibits at horticulture shows around the world. As times have progressed his trees have been displayed on gold medal awarded exhibits at both the world renowned Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows. The quality of his work, and his reputation, shines through outside of the UK, with a number of his trees having been displayed at shows internationally, including the Maifu show Japan.
Lee continues to travel extensively around the globe to ensure that the materials, techniques and varieties that are available in the UK are at the forefront of the Bonsai industry internationally.
