Blauuw Juniper Raft Planted on Limestone Slab
I’ve been working on this tree since 2013 and some of that work is documented here. Recently a friend helped me plant it on a natural limestone slab which I collected from a lakeshore. We decided to make some modifications to the slab, one thing lead to another, and it turned out to be a much larger project than I expected.
The photos below tell the story.
First, the final product. The soil surface was top dressed with shredded sphagnum.
First we drilled holes for wire ties. Initially, this was all we planned to do to the slab.
We then decided it would be a good idea to use a belt sander (with a grinding belt) to flatten some parts of the bottom so it would sit properly on a flat surface.
This stone has a very narrow section which I knew would be problemmatic when planting time came. The solution? Extend it using another piece of limestone. Here we are rough-fitting the best stone we could find lying around.
We used a tile saw to reduce the thickness of the new piece of limestone.
Two galvanized nails (heads removed) were used as rebar to support the new piece.
Concrete adhesive was used to permanently affix the two pieces together.
The final slab ready to accept the juniper forest. The new piece is pretty obvious, but it is in the back and will blend in better after the stone builds up some patina.
A muck retaining wall was used. The muck was an eyeballed mix of clay, akadama, sphagnum, peat, and water.
Still not done. After planting, we used a grinder to improve some of the edges, particularly the extending left side which is a focal point of the stone.
Bonsai is (Usually) Not a Rescue Mission
The phrase “bonsai is not a rescue mission” is sometimes used to discourage eager bonsai enthusiasts from trying to make a bonsai from every plant they find. Instead, we should focus on the best material we can possibly get our hands on, thus increasing our chances of making something we can be proud of.
Sometimes, however, bonsai really is a rescue mission. Story time!
Last August I responded to an online ad where someone was selling their collection. Not knowing what to expect from the vague description and two blurry pictures of some tropicals, I arrived surprised to see a very old and once impressive bonsai collection in its final death throes. This elderly gentleman had been doing bonsai quietly in his backyard for 30-40 years, away from the clubs and shows, and now was in the predicament of having to sell everything due to failing health.
He had (understandably) put off selling them for years, but in those last few years the trees suffered greatly. To make matters worse, everything was planted in pretty much pure topsoil and was weak to begin with, therefore many were unable to handle the stresses of erratic watering.
Some of the tougher species were still hanging in there, but other more finicky ones like this impressive Japanese white pine had no chance.
Imported Japanese white pine.
After much haggling I went home with two larches, a ginkgo, and a Japanese maple – three very tough species that had managed to survive but were now in serious need of rehabilitation. This was August 2014 and some of the trees were already showing fall colours- A sign of definite stress.
I’m happy to report that all four trees survived the winter and were completely barerooted and repotted this spring. They seem to be doing well and I anticipate that they will have recovered their strength by the end of this growing season.
-
- American larch, as purchased last summer. This was definitely the strongest of the trees I bought, but still was obviously weak.
-
- Budding out nicely this spring. A cool tree that is begging to be planted on a stone slab.
-
- Back view.
-
- Second larch, as purchased. It is never a good sign to see fall colour in August. However, the tree had set winter buds so I though it was worth a chance.
-
- A testament to the strength of larches, the tree is budding out nicely after transplanting. I have a feeling this might be Japanese larch based on the bark and needles. Regardless, it has been grown in a container for a very long time.
-
- Ginkgo biloba, as purchased. Again, showing obvious signs of stress. You can clearly see the pure garden soil these trees are potted in.
-
- Budding out after transplanting. It is extremely rare to see a ginkgo with any sort of movement in the trunk. While the movement is pretty monotonous and artificial looking, this tree is cool just because it is unusual. Definitely more of a penjing feel to this one.
-
- Lastly, the Japanese maple as purchased, clearly extremely weak, already having lost most of the branches. Very, very root bound.
-
- Budding out this spring. Fortunately the main trunk is throwing new buds… for a while I though it had completely died back to the first branch. It may be hard to see the value in this tree – certainly it is a long term project. But it has a nice trunkline and is not grafted. That along makes it worthy of some attention.
New Pot for Japanese Maple
This fancy pot is branded Ejiri Taizan, which I learned thanks to Ryan Bell’s very comprehensive Chop, Seal, and Signature Resource.
I overwinter this tree in my insulated garage. It can handle the cold, but keeping it in the garage allows me to appreciate it throughout the winter. The disadvantage is it breaks dormancy about one month early meaning it has to be run in and out of the house throughout most of April, which is probably the most unpredictable month in the Toronto area, weather-wise.
Daily bud-pinching has been underway on this tree for about three days, even though the ground outside is still pretty much frozen.
Japanese Maple Root Arrangement
Way back in 2011 I remember seeing this Bonsai Tonight post of a Boon Manikitivipart workshop where a participant tried out a root arranging technique of the deciduous bonsai genius Ebihara. What a great idea, right?
Last summer I acquired a maple that turned out to be perfect to try this technique on. It already had several years of root training therefore a good number of flexible lateral roots were present. Still, a fair amount of prep work was needed. The base of the rootball needed to be completely flat and all unnecessary roots removed. Hopefully this will improve the nebari as I rebuild the branch structure of this tree over the next several years.
As a side note, Boon posted an update about the tree in the Bonsai Tonight post on Facebook. Apparently using plywood was a mistake as it rotted quickly. Keeping that in mind, I used pine.
Perlite is good (but that doesn’t make it pretty).
I’ll keep this brief because soil discussions are not exactly exciting.
This is the first tree I’ve repotted since I started putting all my collected trees in 100% perlite two years ago. The root growth has been excellent and I was glad to see that there has been no noticeable decomposition of the perlite after two winters.
There are probably a million other substrates that larches grow equally well in, but you would be hard pressed to find one that is as inexpensive and lightweight as perlite.
So perlite is good. Not exactly revolutionary.
/end of soil discussion.
Collected with a weak root system in 2012.
Now it has a strong root system.
The red stuff you are seeing all over my trees is coloured mulch. I got it for really cheap last autumn but now the damned stuff is everywhere!
Thuja occidentalis #9
This little thuja was put into a nice Shibakatsu pot last week. This is one of my favorite pots and it suits the tree better than I expected. The major work on this tree is now done – both above and below ground. Now it is just a matter of pruning and pinching to develop the foliage pads. As I refine the foliage, I will slowly scrape the dead bark of the old top jin while trying to maintain the detail of the deadwood. This will be a slow process.
May 2013
Summer 2012
Spring 2011 as collected.
Nick Lenz Pot for Korean Hornbeam
This hornbeam has been in a mica pot for 6 years while I have been building the branches and apex. It is still miles away but in the meantime it will be in a more attractive pot.
New Container for Small Larch Forest
The natural stone this small tamarack group was planted on is nice, but far too visually and physically heavy. Today I planted it in a more manageable stoneware crescent by Chuck Iker. See here for an earlier post about this tree.
Before. Roughly 40 pounds of Canadian granite.
April 7 2013. Still needs some bud and branch thinning, and a bit of wire. The planting angle was adjusted slightly to emphasize the leftward movement of the group as a whole.
Repotting New Black Pine
This pine was the subject of a recent post. The main goal for the next few years is to encourage backbudding so I can reduce the length of the branches. Grafting may even be in the agenda. To achieve these things, I will need to make sure the tree is vigorous and comfortable in its pot.
My understanding is that pines are best repotted just before the buds start to move. How can you identify this time? My friend gave me a handy tip: break off the tip of a dormant bud and check back the next day. If there is sap flow, the tree is coming out of dormancy and it is a good time to repot. Another indicator is if the roots have started to grow, indicated by white tips.
This tree tested positive for both of these indicators, therefore repotting was a go. For those of you in my climate – keep in mind this tree was just flown out from the Vancouver area in Janurary, and spent the winter in my garage at about 4 degrees C, therefore it is weeks ahead of any pines that were wintered outside.
-
- The tree before repotting.
-
- Roots are actively growing = ready for rootwork.
-
- Quite rootbound.
-
- After about 30 minutes of raking and root pruning.
-
- Wired into pot.
-
- The Nick Lenz pot is intentionally oversized to permit vigorous root growth for the next few years.
-
- Likely front.