Shohin

No pun intended

This tree was purchased in November of 2007 from Chikugo-En bonsai nursery in Gardena, California. It traveled back to Detroit in a neatly packed box and was my carry-on item on the return flight (the looks I got going through security were priceless).

When I got home, I immediately slip-potted it into a larger resin training pot to help the tree survive the winter here. That was two years ago and today was its first re-pot while in my possession.

It was potted in heavily compacted Akadama. It's amazing what having a good soil mix can do. My mix washed/raked away easily from the roots without much damage. Getting the Akadama out was some difficult and time consuming work. My mix in case you were wondering is equal parts turface and crushed red lava, screened to an even size. This is then mixed with aged pine bark. I adjust the amount of bark based on the needs of the tree. This particular Shimpaku got 1/3 parts pine bark.

I also selected a more appropriate pot from what I had on hand. Its not perfect, but I think its a pretty good choice. Sorry, no pictures of the process . . . only the end result (which I'm pretty pleased with).

Self Critique(s):

1. Virtually non-existent nebari . . . nothing I can really do about it.
2. Desperately needs some wiring and foliage trimming. Gary at Chikugo-En does an AMAZING job with these tree's. I'm hoping to get some help from him when I get back to L.A.

This is a Shimpaku 'Kishu' grafted onto San Jose root stock. The graft is well below the soil line. Height from tip to pot is about 8".



Close up of the trunk and carving. I have to trim back the growing cambium every year. Its a pain-staking job to do carefully and requires precision instruments. I literally use a scalpel. The shari wraps around both sides of the trunk, all the way to the roots.

Michel

Hi,

Nice tree, and it looks very healthy.

Congratz with that already as they're
not the easiest of trees. Great start !

Not really my favourite style (corkscrew),
but that's a personal opinion.

It needs a good pinching, and the branches need
to be outlined and separated a bit more in order
to counteract the somewhat cloudy looks.

There is somewhat of an inverted taper effect
just below the canope (last winding) so this has
to be dealt with:
The deadwood needs to be refined in detail,
opening up the structure (those few rudimentary
branch stumps just below the onset of the canope
need to be brought out more !)
and some lime sulphur will help as well to bring
out more contrast between deadwood and the
live veins.

Polishing those veins might be an option, but again
that is entirely up to personal taste.

Just a few ideas I had while looking at the pictures.

__________________
Greetz,
Michel

Shohin

Michel,

I agree with everything you've said . . . I didn't say I was done with the tree yet

Trimming, pinching, and wiring are certainly in order. But will likely wait until fall or next year. I trimmed a lot off today already, but the tree has a big environmental shift coming in the very near future. I don't want to throw too much at once at it.

Deadwood maintenance will come in mid-summer. Which involves polishing the shari with a wire brush on a Dremel, trimming back the live cambium, and a thin coat of lime sulfur. I don't want to risk shocking the tree by repotting it AND opening up a huge wound the length of the trunk. Normally when I trim the cambium, its healed over within a month.

As for the reverse taper . . . yup, always been there, and there's not much I can do about it. In person, its MUCH less noticeable as the eye is drawn to the sweeping deadwood in that spot (its at that point where the carve is the widest).

M.B.

Hey Shohin, I bought one of those from Chikugo-en at the Golden State Bonsai Federation convention this past November. I haven't done anything but repot, which it needed very badly since their soil is much different than what I keep junipers in. Sweet little trees.
Mary B.

Michel

Hi,

I think we have a slight misunderstanding here . . .

You might be talking about the deadwood in top,
flaring to the left just above the last coil;

I mean "the eye" You can see smack in the middle
of the last coil, facing the onlooker.
This old lil' stump as well as its immediate vicinity
below as well as above might be dead as well,
thus allowing for a narrow shari along the length
of that a-bit-too-massive last coil, breaking
the monolithic character of it.

__________________
Greetz,
Michel