Time for some root work

[markyscott]

February 1st and repotting season is rapidly coming to a close in Houston. 74 degrees today and the bald cypress are pushing buds. These will be followed shortly by the Japanese maples, then everything else.

Here's a Japanese maple I've had a couple of seasons - like many of my trees, it has some root problems. One of the issues is that it has some bald spots around the trunk where no roots will grow. Last season, I tried exposing some cambium and packing sphagnum in the area. This year I tried something a bit more.

First step was to order some seedlings from Kaede Bonsai-En (thank you Matt). Second step was to bare root the tree and cut back to a flat base. I screwed the tree onto a board with 2 1 1/2 inch wood screws and carefully arranged the roots I decided to keep radially away from the root ball. The part with no roots is clearly visible on the right side of the trunk.

This technique was developed by Japanese bonsai artist Ebihara who taught it to my teacher.

Scott

 

[edprocoat]

Will you graft the seedlings for roots now, or wait till it recovers a bit?

ed

 

[markyscott]

Next step was to take a drill with a long bit and drill a hole where I wished the new roots to grow. It's good to protect existing roots you've carefully arranged on the board with a moistened towel to avoid inadvertently damaging them with the drill. The hole is drilled all the way through the tree and at an upward angle so it exits the trunk higher on the opposite side of the tree. Carefully thread a seedling through the hole until the roots are on one side and 4-5 buds on the seedling extend out the other side. Be very careful during this step in order to avoid damaging the buds as you thread the seedling through the hole.

Scott

 

[markyscott]

Will you graft the seedlings for roots now, or wait till it recovers a bit?

ed

Now - sorry you type faster than I.

Scott

 

[markyscott]

Finally, I put a coarse drainage layer into an Anderson flat. I passed 2mm wires through holes in the bottom of the flat, through the drainage layer and out holes I had predrilled in the board. I then tied the tree securely to the pot.

Using short pieces of wire, I turned the business end of the seedlings up. Make sure you anchor the wire on the seedlings in a way that it can be easily removed during the growing season.

Scott

 

[JudyB]

What an excellent post. Thank you very much Scott. How long do you expect it to take for the seedlings to be fully grafted onto the tree? What a huge difference it's going to make for your maple.

 

[Poink88]

Excellent post and technique.

However, your tree have a major root on one side and I think it will never be "balanced" even with the root grafts. To me the better choice is to ground layer (JMHO) and wondering why you did not consider it or went that route.

 

[markyscott]

What an excellent post. Thank you very much Scott. How long do you expect it to take for the seedlings to be fully grafted onto the tree? What a huge difference it's going to make for your maple.

I'll repot next year to check them. I'm pretty sure that they will have taken by then. I've had very high success rate with this technique. Approach grafts may also be used, bu I like the angle the roots exit the tree with this technique.

Scott

 

[markyscott]

Excellent post and technique.

However, your tree have a major root on one side and I think it will never be "balanced" even with the root grafts. To me the better choice is to ground layer (JMHO) and wondering why you did not consider it or went that route.

It's a good point and I may have to resort to that if this doesn't work. But I have a nearly 100% success rate grafting roots. Even if they don't take, it's no big deal as one can always cut it off and try again. A failed layer, however, leaves it's mark and I've already tried and failed to induce roots with this tree. I'm hoping the Ebihara technique, combined with the grafting, will make the imbalance less obvious in the future.

If I can get on my soapbox for a minute. This Japanese maple is probably 20-30 years old and was grown from a cutting. Cuttings often throw roots from just one side, but with proper treatment early on, this should never have happened. Yet I see these kind of problems all the time in trees that I purchase - in trees that I've grown. I wish I'd learned proper technique early on so that I would not have to do so many interventions with mature trees.

Scott

 

[markyscott]

Here's the tree, finished for now. It was too dark for pictures when I wrapped up yesterday. All that's left is the cut back. I'll fertilize heavily and let it grow all spring with only minor thinning.

Scott

 

[markyscott]

Ok - it's been over a year since I updated this thread. February 2014, I grafted 4 seedlings to some problem spots on the nebari, planted the tree on a board, and did a lot of root work. It grew ok last year, but this year it's very strong. I've let the tree grow without wiring or pruning since the graft to help ensure the grafts take and to let the tree recover from some major root work. All four of the seedlings I grafted are still alive and in place - I'll repot next spring and see if they've taken. I think it's likely they have so I'll probably separate the seedlings after next repot.

It's with great respect I work on this tree - it was originally grown from cutting by Benny Badgett and is one of several of his maples that I own. He was a true gentleman and is much missed.

Scott