Shohin Deshojo maple

The Deshojo maple with its wonderful purple-red leaves is a pure joy to watch. Now naked the tree stands as every other maple, and shows no difference noticeable.

The Deshojo is for spring and autumn exhibitions when the colors are full. Often we speak about deciduous trees standing beautifully without leaves in the wintertime, but other varieties of Japanese maples will be easier to develop for this purpose than slow-growing red-leaved deciduous trees. The Deshojo in this weekly BONSAI ON episode is therefore focused on the growing season, and prepared to be shown with leaves as the main attraction.

Now standing without leaves I look into the perspectives of design and growth for the future. Dealing with a pre-bonsai with the flaws and benefits this have when we start the journey.

I always find it exciting to discover the possibilities in new material and use my imagination to develop a tree with a good future, taking the first steps is as exciting as doing refinement work for me.

Slow growth is important to have in mind if you want to achieve your goals before you get too old to enjoy the result of your work. Therefore my approach to this tree is adding the time perspective so the tree is developed to reach a good presentation in a relatively short time. We still talk years and not months with bonsai just to mention.

The Deshojo maple tutorial is ready to watch at https://shohin-europe.com/bonsai-video-studio-2/