New nursery locusts tree bonsai root refinement

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So before I start showing what I did I wanted to answer some questions from a previous blog ….

1. How do you choose a plant for bonsai -

That’s a tough question to be honest , there are so many answers and many different opinions on what trees can survive as bonsai , like a weeping willow for instance is said to be basically impossible to bonsai and always dies, but yet I managed to bonsai one .

For beginners though , id suggest sticking to plants with smaller fowlauge so that a tree can look more in proportion when it is small .

But you can get away easily with a tree with larger leaves when it’s a medium or large bonsai … that sorts out the proportion factor , for example a lemon tree bonsai …. they look great … But, the fruit still grows to full size and the leaves . So it must be a medium or large bonsai .

Another two things we look at when choosing a plant is the trunk , we want to look for a tree or plant that naturally already has some feature to it , like a place where a branch has broken and grown over . (Scars If you will ) This all adds to the aged effect of the tree .

The other thing is we look at the base and the exposed root system , with some plants like some maples for example, the roots will come out of the base and then grow down towards the soil , we want this in bonsai , but we also want them to be at a level where it can be just above soil line so you can see the flare (unless you want a pronounced root protruding from the side ) , once again to imitate a old tree , but as a tree ages and it roots get trained , the more pronounce the feature . We call this the Nebari (root-flare) in bonsai and is a very important aspect .

#Proper Care …

Hmmm , I suppose that depends on each plants requirements mostly , but comes down to good drainage, good soil , good fertilizing practice and just taking note of what the tree is telling you .
If you in a place that is nice and cool and or humid to support moss , id say that would also be important for many reasons BUT must be grown with the plant and not plodded above the soil to stop air circulation . It has benefits besides just looks but also holds moisture and even filters water for your tree and take the brunt out liquid fertilizers which is highly beneficial .

Root anchoring can be crucial depending on what is being done, for example a mountain, so that things is secure, this can be achieved with wiring put through the pot .

When you water , water it enough to think the water will last for a month… And then water it a little more . Lol

#Thechnique

For technique , simple way to go is the triangle , cut it into a rough triangular shape and then refine your canopy , but once you do the canopy In that triangle, you immediately get a good effect , but some trees , especially those from Africa , like Acacia tress , their triangle is upside down with a little fowlauge at the bottom and concentrated on top . But this is something that must be read up on extensively, Google, YouTube or learn from someone if possible .

#Common Mistakes

Removing fowlauge and root cutting in the wrong season .

Cutting too much roots off .

Incorrect fertilizing practice and fertilizing sick plants …. those are the most common mistakes .

But ok so back to the tree and the topic at hand.

Root Refinement

The picture above shows why I chose this tree , the scar of a previous cut , although it looks unnatural at the moment . And the thick part at the base, which I admit I did not think would be so large after removing the top soil , you can see the part that is brown groom the soil , I left it just to make sure that the bark was hard before scrubbing it clean.

Now that we have the plant we will be doing , we start by removing the plant from its container and start removing soil from the top down and then from the bottom up, another good way to do this is to suspend the roots in water and loosen the soil gently with your finger tips , exposing the roots system to see what must be removed and what must remain .

We want the fine roots , so we clip the thick ones back and take off the ones we can which will allow the main fine roots we want too grow, this can sometimes be challenging with a nursery plant and roots have not yet been trained , you can’t cut the thick roots up too high because there isn’t much fine roots and the main ones has been dominating everything, and this plant was a good example , it has crazy thick roots which twists and turns and then pushed out more thick roots . So could not cut it off too high or i would have had no roots to work with.

#Removing soil from the top and bottom

After your roots has been exposed, you can see what needs to go , all extra roots hanging at the base must go and in this plants case , the person who planted it , put clay into the soil which ended up holding too much moisture and roots at the base was beginning to rott .

In the bottom of the roots you can clearly see the black patches of dead roots and the smell was second to none… Think it was long past due for a repotting and just in time before too much damage was done .

Once everything is exposed , we go onto the actual root cutting , firstly we remove the tangled mass at the bottom , then any overlapping roots where our Nebari will be too make sure they are evenly spread around the base for equal growth into the trunk but also for a good visual effect .

Once that is done we identify the largest patch of fine roots and cut away at the large thick roots quite serverily to promote finer root growth as shown in picture 2 above… if it’s a large portion of roots and If you have a dense tree , cut back on the fowlauge so that you are not putting too much pressure on the freshly cut roots which is going to have limited access to water .

Once we done we make sure we have a pott prepared waiting for us with good drainage .

Then we plant, depending on what we doing people like to tie down their roots which I don’t often do , if you want to go that way , you can out two pieces of wire through holes you make or that is in the base and pull it of once you have set your plant into the position you like . When we choosing the front , you want the part of the trunk with the most detail and also you don’t want branches on the front the hide the trunk .

I planted this tree at and angle because it tends to give very straight growth which hardens very quickly and is not easy to bend . You will also notice that it is highly out of proportion . We plant it just like and other plant making to sure to fill all air pockets and too water heavily after, but when you water , drown it and try and compact the soil as much as possible if roots has not been tied down and top up the soil once it drains and gaps are filled in .This is to anchor the plant but also make sure that those freshly cut roots stay ok and has plenty of moisture.

If i wanted it too be in proportion I would have to cut it back drastically but then it would have no fowlauge and after cutting the roots so heavily, I did not want to cut everything away even though it’s early spring.

So my aim is too let it grow uninhibited for a little and generate some fowlauge and see how it responds to my root clipping , once it gives out new growth below the line of where I’ll be cutting it down too , I will go ahead with the visual aspect and cut the straight branches .

But everything takes time ,I doubt I’ll just get new branches below without intervention , I’ll cut back sprouting branches on top to make it produce branches below BUT like i said , this was about root training .

After and if I see that the tree has responded well and growing good , I will fertilize with fertilizer blocks , I tend to make 4 small piles and spread it out on top and once it has disintegrated and disappeared, I’ll water heavily to drain the soil of extra nutrients and place another 4 patches around the roots .

Right now I only have liquid fertilizer so will do a medium strength dosing once a week so once in ever 3 waters .

The pic below show the tree planted with some gravel to retain moisture and a line to show where it will eventually be cut back too in order to get things proportionate and to remove the long straight branches which is just there so the tree won’t be bare . On the right you can just about see a piece if exposed root , just seeing how it will look , not too sure if it will survive but have it protected more than half way , maybe it will sprout a budd there and get some new random growth to cultivate . But I had to leave that long root or I would not have had enough fine roots too keep the tree alive .

It has been one week, down to the day , since I did this tree . So thought I would attach a pic of how it is doing today, a week later .

• 21 Oct, 2018
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