At West Coast Bonsai, when it comes to our display plants we tend to get a little fussy. We have discussions about which pot to use, its placement on the bench, feeding schedule, even watering times are an issue. So when it comes time to re-pot plants, well, we get darn right picky about the soil we use. After all it is where half the tree lives and the soil you use effects the growth of the roots which feed the tree. Lousy soil, ugly tree!

Prior to 2003, West Coast Bonsai spent countless months and dollars experimenting with commercial soils, special additives, secret ancient recipes, industry standards, you name it. Finally we decided to give up and design our own soil mix from scratch. Now after 2 years of extensive testing on our own plants we are proud to announce “Perfect Drain Professional” bonsai soil. (more…)

What is Shohin Bonsai That is a good question. In Japanese Shohin means “tiny thing” OK, but how small is a tiny thing?

To answer that question I searched the web to find an “authority” on Shohin bonsai and I think I found one. Morten Albek of the Shohin Europe website. He says of Shohin bonsai “The basic rules are demanding that the Shohin-bonsai may not be higher than 25cm (that’s 10 inches) when measured from rim of the pot, to the top of the tree.”

The Japanese white Pine in the picture to the left is 9″ tall. It was grafted on black pine root stock in 1999. it was re-potted to the smaller pot in 2005.

Now I have seen bonsai that are even smaller that are a delight to view. Morten talks about those also. I have written a short article about shohin bonsai and included a few links to resources I found useful. I am sure you will enjoy the read and If you currently have a shohin bonsai collection we would love to hear about it. Feel free to post on the shohin bonsai forum.

Keep your tools sharp and don’t forget to water twice on these hot (102 degrees today) summer days.