The California Shohin Seminar, held every other year in Santa Nella, California, features workshops, demonstrations, vendors, and an exhibit. For those who have attended the seminar, you know it’s one of the most fun bonsai events of the year. And for those who have yet to attend, the next seminar is scheduled for the first […]
Shohin
Shohin School Winter Seminar recap
A few weeks ago, Andrew Robson and I hosted the first Shohin School seminar at the Milwaukie Center in Milwaukie, Oregon. The two-day event focused on shohin display (Saturday) and development (Sunday). Our special guest for the weekend was shohin professional Daisaku Nomoto from Miyazaki, Japan. (All photos are courtesy Aki Yamakawa – thanks, Aki!) […]
Introducing Shohin School!
Over the past year, Andrew Robson and I spent a lot of time talking about small trees. The result is Shohin School, an effort to promote the understanding and appreciation of shohin bonsai. Andrew setting up an all-deciduous display Our first offering is Winter Shohin School, a two-day seminar held in Portland, Oregon, on January […]
Pruning shohin olive
Summer is a good time to prune olive bonsai. By pruning when the weather is warm, I can expect olives to produce new growth until the weather cools in fall. For two small shohin, cutback consisted of reducing long shoots and pruning to silhouette. Here’s what this looked like. Shohin olive – before pruning After […]
Decandling a shohin black pine
Late June through mid-July marks the end of the decandling season in my area. This means it’s time to start working on the smaller pines in my garden. The tree below is sixteen-years-old. It grew strong this spring which is a reflection of the fact that the tree is still young and not fully ramified. […]