San Diego Bonsai Club
  • Home
  • Activities
    • Next Meeting
    • 2023 Calendar
    • 2023 Spring Show
    • Bonsai-A-Thon
    • Bonsai Show Maps
  • Education
    • About SDBC Education
    • Beginner's Classes Overview
    • Beginner's Class Schedule
    • Workshops & Skills Classes
    • Study Groups >
      • Shohin Study Group
      • All About Bonsai Study Group
      • Ficus Study Group
    • Private Lessons
  • Resources
    • Newsletter
    • Club Forms
    • Club Library
    • Vendors
    • Photos >
      • 2020 Winter Silhouettes
      • 2018 Fall Show
      • 2018 SD County Fair
      • Spring 2018 Show
      • 2018 Cal Shohin Seminar
      • GSBF Convention #40
      • 2017 Fall Show
      • 2017 Spring Show
      • 2016 Fall Show
      • 2016 Nisei Week Trip
      • 2016 Spring Show
      • 2016 Bonsai-A-Thon
      • 2016 Winter Silhouettes
      • 2015 Fall Show Photos
      • 2015 Nisei Week Trip
      • Bonsai Stolen from San Gabriel Nursery
      • 2015 Spring Show
      • 2015 Bonsai-A-Thon
      • 2014 Fall Show
      • 2014 Nisei Week Trip
      • 2014 July Bus Trip
      • 2014 Spring Show
      • 2014 Bonsai-A-Thon
      • 2014 Winter Silhouettes
      • 2013 Fall Show
      • 2013 Spring Show
    • Articles >
      • Lime Sulfur
      • Bougainvillea Bonsai
      • Soil: It's What Goes in the Pot
      • 'Lyn's Bonsai Soil Mix
      • Back-Budding
      • REBS 2014 Show
      • 2014 Boxwood Dig
      • Club History
      • Club Logo
      • First Show May 1966
    • Video >
      • 2019-2021 Videos
      • 2015-2018 Videos
      • Video
      • More Video
  • Membership
    • Membership Form
    • Membership Benefits
    • Volunteer
  • Safari Park Bonsai Pavilion
    • Overview and History
    • Bonsai Pavilion Trees
    • Stolen Bonsai
  • Looking Back
    • Time Traveler
    • Remembering... >
      • Remembering Big Dave Rochester
      • Remembering Marty Mann
      • Remembering Ko Tsushima
      • Remembering Harry Hirao
      • Remembering Bob Meyer
  • About
    • Overview of Club
    • By-Laws
    • Past Presidents
  • Contact

The Making of Shohin

Shohin are the subset of bonsai that are no more than 20 cm tall from the lip of the pot to the top tree. Most of the techniques used are similar to those used for their larger cousins. Still it requires an extra degree of care to maintain the tree at this size.

How to begin?

Picture
Here is an Olive that was selected for styling as a shohin. The original plant was about 24" tall. The instructor, Sam Adina, and student,Janice Hale are hard at work.  Excess branches have been removed and main structural branches selected.  The main branches are then wired to provide movement,   


Picture
Here is the final product ready for growing out. The new growth will thicken the branches to add a look of age to the tree.  Branches will also send out new side shoots to be selected and wired as secondary branches to begin the ramification process to create the shape of each branch and the tree.

When the tree has neared its final form, it will be repotted into a smaller pot.

Extreme makeover

Picture
This boxwood was obtained from a club meeting raffle. Notice that the original owner has done some trimming of the plant and started wiring branches. What was the original vision for this tree?

After many evaluation sessions with other bonsai people I decided to cut this tree all the way down to the size of a shohin, certainly not the vision of the original owner.

The final tree was formed by converting the top of the tree to deadwood and keeping only the lowest right hand branch. That branch was trained into the complete remaining tree structure.


​Here is the final result on display. What do you think?

Did you see this tree in the original raffle tree?
​
Did I?  (I'll never tell!)
Picture

What do you look for in a trunk and branch structure?

Picture
This is a Shohin bougainvillea shown in early May. It is just beginning to bud. As the season progresses it will get bright red flowers followed by dark green leaves. But right now is the perfect time to examine its underlying structure. The tree is about 20 years old. It is placed in the pot to highlight the deep opening in the trunk which makes it look much older. Look at the strong thrust of the major branches symmetrically out to the left and the right. This symmetry is broken by training the branches to all grow back to the left at nearly the same angle. Notice that the tree is not quite centered in the pot. The longer arm reaches out to the right. Therefore, the tree is planted slightly to the left of center in the pot to maintain the overall balance. This is an example of training a tree for symmetry and then breaking that symmetry to provide visual interest to the eye.
Picture
In the time it has taken to assemble our Spring Show, this little shohin has started putting on a show of its own. Perhaps to remind us that spring is here. Or maybe to keep us humble. Though we may labor over our art, in the end it is nature that provides the show.

Thank you for looking behind our curtain.  We hope this peek has given you additional appreciation for small things.

Picture

Updated: March 7, 2023
All images © 2010-2023.
All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Activities
    • Next Meeting
    • 2023 Calendar
    • 2023 Spring Show
    • Bonsai-A-Thon
    • Bonsai Show Maps
  • Education
    • About SDBC Education
    • Beginner's Classes Overview
    • Beginner's Class Schedule
    • Workshops & Skills Classes
    • Study Groups >
      • Shohin Study Group
      • All About Bonsai Study Group
      • Ficus Study Group
    • Private Lessons
  • Resources
    • Newsletter
    • Club Forms
    • Club Library
    • Vendors
    • Photos >
      • 2020 Winter Silhouettes
      • 2018 Fall Show
      • 2018 SD County Fair
      • Spring 2018 Show
      • 2018 Cal Shohin Seminar
      • GSBF Convention #40
      • 2017 Fall Show
      • 2017 Spring Show
      • 2016 Fall Show
      • 2016 Nisei Week Trip
      • 2016 Spring Show
      • 2016 Bonsai-A-Thon
      • 2016 Winter Silhouettes
      • 2015 Fall Show Photos
      • 2015 Nisei Week Trip
      • Bonsai Stolen from San Gabriel Nursery
      • 2015 Spring Show
      • 2015 Bonsai-A-Thon
      • 2014 Fall Show
      • 2014 Nisei Week Trip
      • 2014 July Bus Trip
      • 2014 Spring Show
      • 2014 Bonsai-A-Thon
      • 2014 Winter Silhouettes
      • 2013 Fall Show
      • 2013 Spring Show
    • Articles >
      • Lime Sulfur
      • Bougainvillea Bonsai
      • Soil: It's What Goes in the Pot
      • 'Lyn's Bonsai Soil Mix
      • Back-Budding
      • REBS 2014 Show
      • 2014 Boxwood Dig
      • Club History
      • Club Logo
      • First Show May 1966
    • Video >
      • 2019-2021 Videos
      • 2015-2018 Videos
      • Video
      • More Video
  • Membership
    • Membership Form
    • Membership Benefits
    • Volunteer
  • Safari Park Bonsai Pavilion
    • Overview and History
    • Bonsai Pavilion Trees
    • Stolen Bonsai
  • Looking Back
    • Time Traveler
    • Remembering... >
      • Remembering Big Dave Rochester
      • Remembering Marty Mann
      • Remembering Ko Tsushima
      • Remembering Harry Hirao
      • Remembering Bob Meyer
  • About
    • Overview of Club
    • By-Laws
    • Past Presidents
  • Contact