The February meeting saw several members discussing their summer failures – trees that have succumbed to problems with the heat and not enough water.

The main part of the meeting was the launch of the Shohin Project. Members have been asked to find suitable material to turn onto a Shohin. At a later meeting this year we will be drawing different designs for the tree, then styling it. Later on over the next two years we will be doing refinement. pot making and repotting work on these trees. All the time members have ben asked to take notes and photographs to show the development of the tree. At the end of the two years we will have a display of trees along with the photos and notes to show the development. Some of our more distant members have joined in via our Facebook page. As part of the launch there was a discussion on defining a Shohin (we are using the NZBA Show guidelines of less than 25cm from the rim of the pot or 25 cm from the base of the trunk for cascade and semi cascade trees), as well as a large display of Shohin showing many different species that could be used.