AusBonsai

Spring is now in full swing with my comp entries.

I plan on cutting back again probably about mid October to promote more ramification.

Then I'll do the final cut back and repot in late November.

I have only just potted this one up a few days ago and cut it back. I should have done this before November but life sometimes gets in the way.
Hopefully it will present a new flush before the comp ends for its final presentation.

This one is right under the 25cm height. It was placed into a Pat Kennedy pot and I'll now wait for new growth before I trim it back again.

This has been my first attempt at growing shohin bonsai. Thanks to the MODS for running this comp, its been a blast and most importantly has taught me a lot about shohin.
The 1st rule of shohin club is: you don't cut back only 2 weeks before the final showing.
The 2nd rule of shohin club is: you don't cut back only 2 weeks before the final showing.

If you look very closely you can see all the new shoots sprouting all over the tree. So very shortly its going to look better.
All the branches you see that are left on the tree have tiny shoots coming out of them.

The long young shoot at the first branch is going to be another trunk, that I will encourage and develop over time. I plan on having this as a twin trunk. From experience I'm not going to risk cutting it back for the sake of the photo, because if I cut it back after just 2 weeks, it might die back further. I love the idea of forming the second trunk higher than the base. A lot of people would shun this and wait for the 2nd trunk to form right at the base, but I like the natural look that casuarinas get from commonly having multiple trunks at and also above the base.

I will allow the branching to ramify further over time and try to encourage some more upwards shooting multi trunks further up the trunk over time.

There is also another branch forming close to the base that I might promote to a triple trunk, but I'll wait and see how it looks over time.