It is still officially winter here at Shibui Bonsai but a few warmer nights has stimulated some buds to start growing so I’ve been stimulated to get on with the repotting.

Yesterday I root pruned and repotted all the small shohin sized bonsai. I’ve found that these little ones do better if they are repotted every year. The roots grow fast enough to completely fill a tiny pot in just one summer so the following year it becomes difficult for water and air to penetrate into the root zone and the trees start to suffer.

Look how tight the new roots are on this one

After pruning the roots there is now room for more roots to grow this summer.

Here’s another shohin sized trident maple. Again, the pot is crammed with roots so I need to remove some to make room for the new roots this summer.

I root prune these little ones just like the larger trees. First cut around the edge of the root ball to remove all the matted new roots that are circling the pot.

Then slice off the mat of roots underneath.

Followed by a rake out of the remaining root ball if needed and maybe sip off any more longer roots. then the tree can go back into the original pot with some fresh potting mix to fill the spaces and give somewhere for new roots to grow.