BIO

Lesley comes from a family of avid gardeners and growing up always enjoyed time with her grandparents and parents experimenting and creating gardens. She first got introduced to Bonsai through her father-in-law John, who, together with her mother-in-law, Freda opened a Bonsai Nursery, in the late 90’s.  She was fascinated and quickly got hooked.  Every birthday, Lesley would get a Bonsai, of varying species – shamefully she admits to killed most of them! Lesley would quickly purchase replacements, not always successfully.  This did not deter her, she just got more determined. She considered herself to have been in a very ideal position as she had access to people who ate, slept, and drank bonsai daily, and were full of advice and willing to help.   Her initial bonsai club was her family, and it was not until she took over the management and running of Jo-Da Bonsai that she joined a Bonsai club – she had only met a small group of other bonsai enthusiasts, so to enter a community of "bonsaist’s" was captivating.  Bonsai, for Lesley is a perfect marriage of art and horticulture, she loves the structure and the freedom to create.  It’s an exciting new journey for her, having left the corporate world after more than 25 years, and now entered a new, more intriguing world.