Mac In Oak Ridge
Shohin
I have this Limber Pine bought at a local nursery two years ago. When I bought it it had a burlap wrap on the roots and the lower trunk was hidden. When I got it home and eventually put it in a grow box I discovered that it was a graft and the host trunk was smaller than the grafted part.
I have no idea what it is grafted onto or why it was grafted instead of just grown naturally. My concern in that area is that the rootstock has some property that the Limber Pine doesn't have and allows it to grow in the SE US as opposed to it's native range.
It will never be a decent bonsai with the reverse taper.
The only two reasonable options I see:
1. Graft roots on right at the joint between rootstock and scion, let them develop and then cut the bottom off. I have not been too very successful with grafting so that is not a great option for me.
2. Air or ground layer the tree right at the graft joint in order to grow new roots at the largest diameter of the trunk.
If I try the air/ground layer option will it grow new roots? If so, when should I make the cut, now or next spring?
I have no idea what it is grafted onto or why it was grafted instead of just grown naturally. My concern in that area is that the rootstock has some property that the Limber Pine doesn't have and allows it to grow in the SE US as opposed to it's native range.
It will never be a decent bonsai with the reverse taper.
The only two reasonable options I see:
1. Graft roots on right at the joint between rootstock and scion, let them develop and then cut the bottom off. I have not been too very successful with grafting so that is not a great option for me.
2. Air or ground layer the tree right at the graft joint in order to grow new roots at the largest diameter of the trunk.
If I try the air/ground layer option will it grow new roots? If so, when should I make the cut, now or next spring?