The steps are simple. 1) Remove spring shoots. Shohin black pine – 21 years old After removing spring shoots 2) Remove extra needles. After removing extra needles 3) Perform light cutback as needed. The first branch on the right is long After shortening the first branch on the right That’s it. In all I removed 14 […]
Shohin
Small bonsai and accents
After reviewing my photos of smaller trees and accents at Redwood Empire Bonsai Society’s 31st annual show, I’m reminded how easy it is to overlook smaller trees in a room full of large bonsai. These shohin and small-sized trees deserve as much attention as the large and medium sized bonsai they share tables with. Here they are […]
Shohin pines at Gashou-en
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 […]
Gashou-en
Masahiro Sasaki is doing his part to put Mifune, Kumamoto, on the map. The small Kyushu town is home to Gashou-en, a large nursery specializing in small-sized bonsai. Every other tree was worth a double-take. Here are some of their chojubai. Japanese flowering quince ‘Chojubai’ Chojubai (subtract two zeros to get an idea of the […]
Preparing a small pine for exhibit
Two years ago, I showed a young black pine at Bay Island Bonsai’s 13th annual exhibit. Shohin black pine – January 2012 The tree has continued to develop, so I thought I’d show it again at BIB’s 15th annual exhibit. Here’s what the tree looked like last week. January 2014 I brought the tree to […]