Styling a Shohin Maple
Shohin Maple development
This shohin-sized Japanese Mountain Maple (Acer palmatum) was purchased as rough material in 2005.
It was originally developed for several years as an informal upright. A tree with great potential and a well tapered trunk. Branch placement was good.
However, it became apparent that a large area at the front of the tree was dead. This had been apparently caused by old wire that had been twisted round the tree as a seedling, and become buried in the wood. These issues spoiled the image, and prevented development of a convincing root structure.
In 2012 it was reworked into a semi-cascade style, which reduced the effect of these problems.
It was first displayed in 2016, when it won Best Shohin at the Wessex Open Bonsai show, and took joint first place in the Sutton Bonsai Society annual show.
The tree is far from ‘finished’ however, and still has years of refinement ahead of it, particularly in terms of improving the winter image which is very sparse and requires further ramification.
