The new seasons buds are beginning to swell on this shohin hawthorn, which I pruned and partially wired today.
It started life as a shohin bonsai in 2011, when it was chopped back from a taller tree. The next picture was taken in the summer of 2011 shortly after this work had begun.
In 2012 it was transplanted into a plastic training pot. It was then I realised that it had quite an unattractive root base.
In the summer 2013, I decided to air layer it to try and improve the nebari.
Although the top of the layer had calloused well, new roots were slow to form. In the spring of 2015, I removed the split pot to see what was there. The roots that had formed were quite disappointing and mainly on one side of the trunk. I decided to cut it off anyway and planted it deep in a clay training pot.
It has been in this pot for almost a year now and although growth at the start of 2015 was slow and weak, by the end of the season it was looking much stronger. I will leave it for another season in the clay pot to stimulate more root growth and transfer it next season into a flat pot to develop the nebari.
Robert Nocher Shohin Bonsai 
Perhaps allow a sacrificial limb to grow out will encourage the root mass to develop too? I would think the roots should of developed more? A rooting stimulant or a soil it prefers to help get it established and growing again.
Hi Joe
I think the problems I had with this one were down to my poorly developed technique. I have been working on that and it’s getting better
Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.