The Shohin Tree Thread

[Adair M]

AdairM, A beautiful Juniper worthy of its !st Place Award... Shimpaku ?
Could you tell me/us what attributes qualify it for the award ???
Thank BVF for this Thread, so many great Shohin….

Ok...



First of all “Itoigawa” is a region in Japan, and shimpaku (also spelled “Shinpaku”) from that region are said to have a particularly nice foliage.

This tree is a yamadori from Japan, with a single graft of a strain of Itoigawa shimpaku cultivated by the Tanaka family in Japan. Juan Andrade developed this tree during his apprenticeship at Aichen. I was able to acquire it a couple years ago.

The judge, who was Japanese, said that this tree displayed all the elements that are popular now in Japan. It has a “natural look”, not overly stylized. Soft clouds of foliage, with some negative space. The ribbon deadwood is the highlight of the tree, but it is not stark white. (I last treated it with diluted lime sulfur about a year ago. I will do it again in the fall.)

The treatment of the foliage pads was another thing the judge liked. Notice that there is no green foliage below the brown supporting structure of the branches. In fact, you can see the brown wood, and the brown twigs that curve up, and then there’s the green foliage. That is actually how mountain junipers look. A couple years ago, I was fortunate to be able to climb up into the Sierra mountains at 10,000 feet and observe the junipers up close.

I made sure all the hanging and downward growing foliage bits were removed at all levels.

He also liked the tall stand, it brought the tree up to a comfortable viewing height.

The pot is antique Japanese. Some think it could be antique Chinese, but I think it’s a antique Japanese copy of an antique Chinese. Lol!! After I acquired the tree, I repotted it back into the same container. Juan had it mounded higher in the container, and I prefer not to mound. After the repotting, I did get a few bits of juvenile growth here and there, but nothing too major. (Itoigawa are bad about going juvenile whenever you repot or prune them! This strain is supposed to be better about that than others.)

This tree was also Best in Show at the Carolina Bonsai Expo last October where Bjorn was the judge.

I am honored to be its caretaker, and I feel a great responsibility to continue to improve it as it matures.

Here is a tree I had hoped to bring to the Shohin Exhibition, an Ume with fruit! Unfortunately, the fruit fell off about a week prior to the show:

 

[Bolero]

AdairM, thank you very much for the information, history, back story and judging info on your prize winning Juniper Itoigawa Shimpaku...you are very fortunate and have a good eye for quality Bonsai, you are obviously the right Caretaker for this tree and I'm sure you will find some way to improve on it....Thanks again

Chuck

 

[Adair M]

AdairM, thank you very much for the information, history, back story and judging info on your prize winning Juniper Itoigawa Shimpaku...you are very fortunate and have a good eye for quality Bonsai, you are obviously the right Caretaker for this tree and I'm sure you will find some way to improve on it....Thanks again

Chuck

@Bolero, the rules of this thread are to participate, you are supposed to include a picture of a Shohin tree and a bit of commentary about it, and the pot, if you can. (I know I bent the rules a bit with my shimpaku, but it WAS in the Shohin Show...)

JBP:



Pretty sweet little tree. In a Japanese pot, sorry, I don’t know the maker. I’ve only seen one other like it. Picture taken recently, prior to decandling. Hopefully I can get the needles reduced a bit more.

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

Yesterday, I got to follow up on a pretty cool tree. It's only a $5 nursery nana, but the cool thing is that this is the first tree that I worked on with my 2 1/2 year old son! He was the one who wanted to “take picture with the tree,” what a ham!!!

Right now, the canopy needs compacting, the apex needs to grow, and it needs a smaller pot, but I am happy with its progress in only two months!

 

[Housguy]

Starting them young, perfect. It is cool to do things with your family, looks like a fun son & father project.

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

Starting them young, perfect. It is cool to do things with your family, looks like a fun son & father project.

He is really serious about bonsai, Lol!!!

 

[Housguy]

Almost forgot the pic.
Here is my little project tree from Lowe's, no pot yet, still growing out. And another project tree I am working on.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Looking good, congrats @JudyB and @Adair M
Another itoigawa, Bigei pot:

 

[SniffingKrylon]

So many nice trees in this thread.

 

[Owen Reich]

Congratulations Judy. While I did help, you’ve been putting in a lot of hours on research, day to day plant health care, styling most of the trees yourself, tracking down the “right” display elements, etc.

Nice to see someone work hard and win; although I think awards are given too freely overall in America.

 

[0soyoung]

I think awards are given too freely overall in America.

We are all above average.

 

[Owen Reich]

We are all above average.

Given the lack of quality pre-bonsai being produced in America so far, I feel America as a whole is doing quite well. Imagine painting without all the right brush sizes and bristle diameters. Add to that the number of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (maybe 4th?) generation bonsai teachers who didn’t and don’t have the full picture teaching the masses, and we still kick ass. #murica.

If you ever feel disheartened about progress, just remember many of the deciduous trees you see from exhibitions in Japan are often 70ish years old
or younger. Many of the conifers started their life as bonsai much more recently. In some ways, bonsai re-started in Japan roughly around the time we started getting into it. Check out the Bonsai Society it Phoenix’s website. Lots of interesting history there.

 

[Deleted member 21616]

If you ever feel disheartened about progress, just remember many of the deciduous trees you see from exhibitions in Japan are often 70ish years old

@Owen Reich do you know of anybody who is farming hundreds (thousands) of deciduous pre-bonsai right now in North America for the future? if not, there will be no 'progress' to speak of with respect to deciduous trees ☹

None of our bonsai 'professionals' with massive spaces and talent are doing it, because it is an investment that produces no revenue for several decades i was told. I'm hoping Robson will do it properly. Is this something you're thinking about doing? Now is always the best time to start

i'm committed to it, but I don't have the training, nor space to do more than a few hundred

 

[Orion_metalhead]

My plans for this little american holly for the moment will be to keep it as a shohin. I think it has enough interest in the low trunk. Need to get a shohin sized pot so if anyone has a few they dont want, id be curious to check them out.

 

[Owen Reich]

@Owen Reich do you know of anybody who is farming hundreds (thousands) of deciduous pre-bonsai right now in North America for the future? if not, there will be no 'progress' to speak of with respect to deciduous trees ☹

None of our bonsai 'professionals' with massive spaces and talent are doing it, because it is an investment that produces no revenue for several decades i was told. I'm hoping Robson will do it properly. Is this something you're thinking about doing? Now is always the best time to start

i'm committed to it, but I don't have the training, nor space to do more than a few hundred

Derek, I will be doing it soon. I have all the training necessary from nursery industry, irrigation industry, appenticeship, etc.

Just need to find the right land; like where all the mennonite farmers are located. Looking now on the Duck river.

What I'd really like is for some people to pm me and lets set something up based in Nashville, TN. I'm basically not traveling anymore unless its already scheduled or involves Banff . Two weeks next time.....

 

[Sno]

Seiju elm in a Japanese pot ,not sure of the potter .

 

[Ryceman3]

The beginnings of a broom Chinese Elm I started with a bit of discarded tree about 2 years ago...
By no means is it the best tree I have but the fact that I started it from absolutely nothing makes it one that I favour. Spring is coming for us down here, and with it I hope to continue refining and round out the apex a bit... slowly, slowly!
Stands at the moment at around 10cm (4in) from base to tip...maybe slightly less.

 

[Daniel son STL]

I’ve been on a bit of a tear lately requiring smaller trees…
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I think you need a slightly smaller pot .

How do you water that thing... let alone keep it alive. Wow!

Eriocephalus Africanus (Wild Rosemary) needs a good pot

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Wow! That’s just amazing!!! Great job!


Ficus triangularis I was told in a cheap pot. Just defoliated.

 

[Bent Limb Bonsai]

Japanese Black Pine



Pot made by TN local and Nashville Bonsai Society President John Cole of Creekside Bonsai

 

[Dav4]

I think you need a slightly smaller pot .

How do you water that thing... let alone keep it alive. Wow!


Wow! That’s just amazing!!! Great job!


Ficus triangularis I was told in a cheap pot. Just defoliated.

View attachment 252580View attachment 252581

Honestly, I was a bit concerned when I received this tree last spring… You’re absolutely right that the pot is pretty darn small and the soil is very compacted and hard to wet. The simple solution, other than watering it four times a day, was to put it into a larger pot full of fairly moisture retentive soil. The larger pot serves as a moisture reservoir and keeps the smaller pot from overheating. It also allows the roots to grow out of the smaller pot through the drain hole. It gets watered once a day in the morning, even during the heat of summer… Like now .