California Shohin Seminar
It’s hard to create a good shohin display. With larger trees, we work to find trees, pots, stands, and accents that work well together. With shohin, the same is true but the number of trees can jump to 6 or more. When done well, shohin displays create truly unique experiences. Here are more photos from this year’s California Shohin Seminar, the biennial event held in Santa Nella, CA.
Shohin display
Even in smaller displays it’s hard to get trees that point the right way and complement each other well. The display below does a good job of mixing broadleaf, deciduous, and coniferous bonsai.
Shohin display
Shohin olive bonsai
Root over rock shohin trident maple
The tree above points clearly to the right making it a good fit for the left side of the display. But beyond that, the tree’s silhouette provides a bit of dissonance. It’s well done and very well ramified, but there’s little transition between the trunk and fine branches. I’ve thought about how I might develop it differently and can’t say that I’ve come up with much. It’s an interesting little tree.
Shohin bonsai display
Shohin bonsai display
More simple than the traditional box stands, single tree stands are a great way to show off a tree. I like this stand’s curved support and the way it creates an asymmetrical display.
Shohin juniper with accent
A few trees fell into the large shohin or chuhin categories. These larger trees were excellent.
Mendocino cypress
In sharp contrast to many of the antique pots featured in the exhibit, at least one contemporary pot made a colorful statement. It would be fun to see how these pots are received when they too become antiques.
Shohin ume bonsai in Bunzan pot
Another well-done chuhin bonsai.
Needle juniper bonsai
From what I can tell, the Hotel de Oro really gets into hosting the seminar. Even the front desk provides an excellent, albeit unorthodox, bonsai display.
Ilex serrata with service bell and Missions in California
Accenting itself
Last month’s California Shohin Seminar was a delight. Plenty of workshops, demonstrations, and vendors, plus a great exhibit of shohin bonsai. One display element that caught my attention was an accent plant – a wonderful mix of overflowing foliage on a relatively large slab.
Accent plant
I believe this accent would make a great compliment to many bonsai displays. I was curious which tree the accent was paired with when I noticed that the accent complemented not a tree but a scroll. Or the scroll complemented the accent – it’s hard to say which. Needless to say, the two work well together.
Accent/scroll display
I appreciate that the exhibit featured several less traditional displays like the one above and I look forward to seeing more of the like in the future.
Trunk grafting – black pine
Grafting is one of the most useful techniques for developing bonsai from rough stock. A pine I have been working on for the past few years needs a few more branches before I can reduce it to its final height. To do this, I need to graft into the trunk.
Grafting requires a bit of homework for success. I highly recommend grafting with someone experienced or reading about it before getting started. Although I’ve been doing it for years, I still have a lot to learn. For pine, I’ve found that the end of winter is a good time to graft. I like grafting when it’s really cold out. On warmer days, sap can fill the cuts before the scion makes contact with the tree’s cambium layer. This year I repotted the day before grafting to further slow the flow of sap. Although this goes against common wisdom on the topic, I wanted to give it a try to see what happens.
For scions, I use branches that are one to two years old. Vigorous, but not too vigorous. I avoid using summer growth – the buds that grew after decandling the previous year. And typically, I used less vigorous shoots than the one below whenever possible, but these strong and compact shoots work too.
Scion – a shoot that developed last spring
The first step in preparing the scion is removing extra needles with scissors. 8-10 pairs of needles are usually enough to keep the scion alive. I’ll leave extras if the needles are short, like below, or fewer if the needles are long.
Scion after removing extra needles – 8-10 pairs are usually enough
Next comes the cutting. This is where studying a drawing of cambium layers comes in handy. Knowing where the cambium layer is helps when inserting the scion.
Scion – ready to graft
Here’s another view from the side to show the angles of the cut. Note that the top cut is a bit curved – that’s no good. Straight cuts fit snugly into the incision – curves can leave gaps that fill with sap and prevent the cambium layers from meeting. This can be fixed with another cut.
Scion – side view
After cutting the scion, I place it in my mouth to keep it humid. I’m careful not to touch the cut surface. I don’t know how much of a difference this makes, but it’s a comforting habit.
The faster the rest of the process goes the better as delays provide time for sap to flow. I use a 1/2″ chisel to make a vertical incision almost one inch long and maybe 1/4″ deep. This prevents the trunk from tearing when making the main incision. This can be done with a number of chisels, though the best come from Japan and are made specifically for the purpose. I try to use chisels that are the same width as the scion.
Making the incision
I make the cut fairly deep as it has to match the size of the cut on the scion. Here’s a view from the side.
Making the incision – side view
Next I remove the scion from my mouth and place it in the incision. This part can be tricky. If the incision isn’t deep enough, the opening may close a bit before the scion makes it inside. This will force the scion to stick out too far and the cambium layers won’t line up.
Scion sticking out too far
When the cut is made properly the scion fits snug.
Scion inserted to proper depth
Scion inserted to proper depth- front view
Next I wrap the trunk with grafting tape. I make it snug but not overly tight. This keeps the scion in place.
I wish I knew of a better source for grafting tape. I’ve used a variety of materials, but the one I like best comes from a Home Depot-like store in Japan. I try to stock up when I get the chance.
Grafting tape holding the scion in place.
The final step is covering the scion with a grafting bag that contains moist sphagnum moss. This provides extra humidity that prevents the scion from drying out before new vasculature can keep it alive.
Graft completed
You may notice that the trunk is cut right above the graft. I don’t expect it to grow – if no sap flows past the graft it’s unlikely to succeed. I prepared this graft last so I could take my time and get pictures along the way. I’ve left it in place to see what happens – it will be fun to see if it works!
Developing black pine
I really like working with Japanese Black Pine. Although they keep needles year round, their appearance changes with the seasons. The pine below is flush with last year’s growth – a mix of spring and summer foliage.
Spring growth above – Summer growth below
As you might imagine, the future silhouette of this tree will be much smaller than it is now. I plan to remove the top half of the trunk when I get a few more grafts in place – more on that next week. After some cutback, needle pulling, grafting and repotting, the tree looked a bit more manageable.
All set for Spring
I learned years ago that bonsai folk can benefit from a deep sense of delayed gratification. Today this tree is both gangly and unbalanced – it looks like it’s waving its arms in the air in dismay. But it’s looking better every year and before long it will look great in an exhibit. The effort will be worth it.
I’ve also learned that there’s far more to bonsai than making trees “pretty.” Routine tasks like repotting provide me with plenty of gratification. While repotting this tree, I was very surprised to see the condition of the soil.
Bonsai soil after 3 years in the pot
After at least three years, the bonsai mix had barely begun to break down. I’d used Clay King – the pre-mixed bonsai soil that comes from Japan. It’s a mix of pumice, lava and akadama. Normally I’d expect to repot this tree every or at least every other year. It’s a large tree in a small pot and it’s growing vigorously. But because the soil is so hard, the drainage remained good and the roots developed well.
Combing out the roots
I also appreciate the time savings. Getting an extra year out of bonsai soil saves time and money. Getting that with no cost to the tree’s health is a super combination.
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