Here is but a small sample of the shohin pines at Gashou-en.
Japanese black pine
Black pine
Black pine
Sasaki clearly appreciates black pines as there was no lack of the variety at his nursery. Some had large trunks, others slender trunks with good movement, and almost all of them were under 8″.
Black pine
Black pine
Black pine
Shohin pines
Less developed black and white pines were legion on the benches.
Young shohin pines
There were also a few larger trees, including this medium-sized exposed root black pine.
Black pine
A number of these larger pines had recently come to the nursery from Shikoku. Their rootballs were buried in the ground until the time could be found to repot them all.
Black and white pines
White pines
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Patrick says
This owner must really like cloud feet! I believe every single pine in a bonsai container had cloud feet. There ia man that knows what he likes.
Mills says
Did you take any close-ups of his specimen white pines? Would like to see some of those shots.
Jonas Dupuich says
I may have some shots of his white pines at the Green Club – more on that in coming weeks.
Keith says
Is it uncommon to see pines with sacrifice branches at most Japanese nurseries? Are nurseries like this one simply “finishing” superbly grown stock, or do they grow these from seedlings? I would love to see the nurseries that grow these pines for the first 10, 20, 30 years or however long they get developed.
Thanks for more great pics!
Jonas Dupuich says
Hi Keith – good question about escape or sacrifice branches at bonsai nurseries. It depends on the nursery. The many young trees pictured here came from growers and will likely be sold without a lot of additional development, leaving time for the more advanced trees, often purchased at auction, that require higher levels of care. To date, I’ve seen far more trees in development in hobbyists’ gardens than I have at nurseries. For some shots of growers: http://bonsaitonight.com/2012/12/21/kinashi-bonsai-district/