shohin

I have a couple young-ish Yoshino cherry trees (Prunus × yedoensis) that were planted in my yard last spring and I am planning to take some hardwood cuttings sometime in the next few weeks before the buds open. How suitable are these trees are for the shohin size class? I can't find much...

I recently received this Chinese Elm via an online auction. I’m well aware of the preparations and patience it takes for a while to allow this tree to get back into a proper growth. However, if you were gifted this tree, what steps would you take and/or what experimentation would you take...

I have a Sitka spruce that I'm developing from sappling to be a Shohin tree. I put bend in it when I started and it has grown a ton straight up. I'm thinking of treating it like I've seen black pine developed and cutting most of the intermediate branches off and letting the trunk thickin with...

Hi all, I’m looking for some tips on long term progression of red maple saplings. I harvested this sapling from a field last year and it’s overwintered wonderfully buried in this plastic pot. Because of the angle that it’s growing, I want to eventually show this as a shohin semicascade, but at...

Hey folks! I've dabbled in bonsai for about a year, but I'm pretty new to this forum. I bought a tiny shimpaku today and thought that the young, flexible tree would lend itself well to a windswept! My questions are: 1) Which side should be the front? There are two long branches on one side, a...

I have this little J. H. elm. The goal is a 25cm high tree with round canopy. I've been working on it since 2019. Had to remove a few big branches since then. Carved the biggest scar and scoring the others every spring. They are healing quite well, but considering hollowing out the 2nd biggest...

So this is the tree that got me started. My wife bought me a class to make a bonsai and I don't think she knew what she was getting into. Jokes on her. The raw material was humble The initial styling was cute After a year it got some pads This year it grew really well. And then just got...

I moved into my current house a few years back. In 2021 we decided to put veg beds in one section of the garden that was pretty overgrown. During clearance of the area, I discovered two Euonymus alatus that had been planted in by the previous owner. The soil was dreadful sucky clay mess covered...

Just some photos of spring growth here at Shibui Bonsai. Hopefully some inspiration for all of you who are facing winter. Tridents: Shohin

Planning to make this shohin size but open to suggestions, i have never made a bonsai from pre-bonsai like this and i am curious as what you guys would do such as the first steps and ideas for shaping/wiring.

Three year progression on this Itoigawa Juniper whip originally sourced from Shoka Bonsai in the UK. Picture below from 2019 Picture below from yesterday. My wiring could still use a little refinement but overall I’m pretty happy with the progression & how much I’ve learnt in the process...

Hi! I wanted to share this little project I've been working on the past 3 years. In the fall of 2019 I took a bunch of cuttings from a field elm. The following year I made 2 clump-style plantings. One multi-trunk planting (of which only 3 survived...) and one triple trunk planting. The process...

Restyling this larch for a friend it’s been stuck in that tiny pot for 3/4 years so wasn’t doing much growing. Repotted into a basket out of the old soil into an inorganic mix, looking to try and get some roots growing to make the nebari a bit less 2D hopefully with time it will grow some and...

A thread for one of my favorites! Cranberry Cotoneaster as purchased Dec '19: Chopped up Spring '20: New growth after repot and close up of deadwood: A good season of growth in the pond basket: Pre repot Spring '21: Repot: New growth and berries '21: Coming out of winter storage '22...

Hi! It's been a while since I posted anything here because all my plants are still very small and thin and some were planted in the ground to thicken. But I still have some in my backyard like this Juniperus strickta (I don't know exactly). It's in this big pot but it's only in organic soil that...

Hello! This is my first post here, just wanted to get some opinions. I recently purchased a few Cryptomeria 'Radicans' (couldn't find the regular species apart from seeds) and was wondering if anyone has any experience growing them in arid climates? I've seen several cryptomeria as garden and...

Hi all, I'd love to sign up for the contest with this cutting of Prunus Mume. I purchsed it for 7.99 Euros few months ago (possibly May?). It's just been potted from a plastic container into this clay one, hasn't received any style whatsoever, yet.

I feel like this guy and I will be at a crossroads soon and I will be making the chop-chop. I thought I could make something out of the developing upper foliage... but I just don't see it anymore. Late Fall-Winter will tell. *posting to document the changes and/or development*

Brought this neglected little guy to the office so I can do some maintenance work...

Hello there everyone, this Februarya friend of mine gave me this little tree. We don’t know what it’s called as he found it in his garden. It look like a pretty interesting tree to me. I think i would like to develop it as a small shohin bonsai. I’d like to ask if anyone knows what tree it is...

Hi All - I picked this dwarf maple up Saturday after walking by it several times over the course of the day. I saw something in it or at the very least something I'd like to work on and improve. I've got some ideas for where to take it but I would love some advice or suggestions! The main...

Ordered this shohin potentilla from Shoka Bonsai - I love it! Think it's got a lovely trunk line, great nebari and looks super healthy. And it came in a beautiful pot! Really pleased with it and excited to see where it can go. No immediate plans, but I can see this becoming a favourite of mine...

I bought this small cotoneaster back at the beginning of Feb, purely because it was cheap (R150 - $8) and because I’d seen some cotoneaster bonsais on Bnut and wasn’t sure if they were common or not in South Africa, so thought why not! TBH back then (even if it was only 2 months ago) I didn’t...

I had one of these last year that I bought for my wife, which she killed, and it’s sad because it was a lot better looking. (I think, because this ones leaves look slightly different, look at this) Here’s a beautiful silhouette pic of my stick Now I don’t want a tall skinny thing, but I...

I've started training this maple about 3 years ago. It was a grafted cultivar. First season I ground layered it. The second season of having it, I put it on a board. No nails to spread out roots, just screwed to a board and left to grow. Third season, I skipped work. Just too busy with things...