Shohin Shimpaku (Juniperus chinensis)

I like growing and working on shohin sized bonsai. This Shimpaku was another that I was lucky enough to style while at Taisho-en, Japan.

It had all the makings of a good bonsai, but had become overgrown and needed to be styled.

This is the small Shimpaku before the work began.

The trunk line had an interesting twist and the shari and live vein had started to contrast with one another nicely.

And this is the tree after styling

This work was really just a wiring exercise. I was able to position most of the foliage into good positions but it really needed a year or twos growth to fill out some of the weaker branches. The foliage was positioned in a way to allow the viewer to see the nice twists in the trunk and shari.

All in all it is a very nice tree that can only improve as it ages. This was definitely a tree I wished I could have put in my suitcase before I left.