Digging the Grow Beds

Shibui

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It is mid winter at Shibui Bonsai so I have started digging the trident maples out of the grow beds for their annual prune.
These tridents are now 2 years old. This is the first year in the grow bed. No scale but they stand a bit over head height so probably around 2 m tall.
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Shibui

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You can see that I have shaken off as much dirt as ill easily come away.
Next is a rough root prune then shorten all the tops roughly in the field.





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This is a great example of why I prefer to dig and root prune each winter.
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That one high root has developed just over summer. By next winter it would be 1" thick and would have ruined the nebari.

For those who are wondering how I manage to get such a good spread of roots here's how:
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The seedlings are threaded through holes drilled in aluminium sheet when they are just a year old. As the trunks grow circulation is impeded by the sheet and the trees respond by putting out new roots above the constriction - similar to a layer. The new roots can only grow horizontal because of the metal sheet so I get a full complement of flat roots with very little effort. You can see the remains of the original trunk and roots in the centre of the sheet.
 

Shibui

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Some pics of the start of this technique.
As simple as threading the trunk of small seedlings through the holes.
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Because i don't want to grow vertical telephone poles I try to plant them at an angle so the first section of trunk will be at an angle.
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They are then planted in boxes for the first season.
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I use boxes so I can keep these in the nursery where they will get watered daily. If planted straight out into the grow beds too many die mid summer when the new roots are emerging in dry soil. If you have good summer soil moisture or adequate watering it might be OK to go straight into the ground.

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Next winter they are all unpotted and roots are pruned hard. Hard root pruning encourages better ramified roots and a more extensive nebari.
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Note the technique can be used to create multi trunk bonsai. Just make more holes in the sheets and thread more trees through. As the new roots develop they entwine and the trunks become grafted together into a single tree with multi trunks. Grow it as a multi trunk or prune off extra trunks later to leave a larger pancake nebari.
 

sorce

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Thanks for this great info.

I thought it was just gonna be a picture of a King Brown or a Taipan. Just...lol!

Sorce
 

one_bonsai

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Very interesting. Just a query, why do you shorten the branches when root pruning? Don't those long branches speed up the trunk thickening?
 

Shibui

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I thought it was just gonna be a picture of a King Brown or a Taipan. Just...lol!
Sorry to disappoint. We are a bit far south for either of those and it is currently just a fraction cool even for our local reptiles.

Very interesting. Just a query, why do you shorten the branches when root pruning? Don't those long branches speed up the trunk thickening?
In my opinion it is not long branches that thicken a tree. Growth thickens a tree. It does not matter whether that growth starts from a low base or a high base so I don't think I lose much, if anything, by pruning. Pruning does give a number of benefits though so even if I end up with slightly slower growth that is more than compensated with a better trunk and shorter regrowth afterwards.

All these trees were pruned down similar last year. This season the tridents on the left have all grown to around 2 m tall. That's plenty of growth to provide lots of thickening.
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Here's the end result after fine tuning the roots and branches last night.
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Regular pruning gives me several leaders. They add up to the same growth as a single thick leader but are far easier to prune, give me options for different trunk lines and bends and leave smaller scars when they are removed. Compare that to a single leader trunk with the large chop.

A few of today's

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clem

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hi, and after that works, you put them in a training pot ? in the ground ?
 

Shibui

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hi, and after that works, you put them in a training pot ? in the ground ?
For the moment all are just heeled into a convenient spot in a row to wait.
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When I have them all prepared decisions are made as to whether it is right to sell or needs further growth.
Trees destined for sale will be potted up into plastic nursery pots and transferred to the sales tables
Those that will be better with further growth get planted back into the grow beds for another year. So far most of these have been first year trees. The next row has last year's replants. Those are the tridents on the left of the picture at the top of #6
You will get to see more of those as they are also a trial of whether wound sealer helps close wounds on trident maples.


Earlier I mentioned multi trunk tridents using the sheet metal method. Here's one I pruned today.
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Still only 1 year in a box and one in the ground. Hard to tell how it will turn out in a few more years.
 

fredman

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Impressive mate. You prefer digging them up mid winter as apposed to spring...or is it a matter of convenience?
 

Shibui

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I know there is a huge tradition that 'just before bud burst is the best time' but there appears to be little difference in digging from leaf fall through to budding. With this many to do and also repotting the older bonsai as well as replanting the new trees in the grow beds I do need to start a little earlier to fit it all in. In some bonsai circles winter is promoted as the quiet time of year for planning. i have not found that. Winter is as busy as spring for me.

I will leave the Chinese elms, junipers and pines until last but there's no verified reason for that, just that I don't do many of those and tradition can have an influence in why and how we do things. Maybe I should dig pines first one year to see what happens?
 

Shibui

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This afternoon I moved onto the older tridents in the grow beds.
These trees have been in the grow beds for 3 and 4 years.
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These were all pruned down to around 6-12 inches tall last winter and have grown back to over 6' tall over summer.

I have found that regular pruning gives me multiple leaders. Together they add up to the same growth as a single thick trunk so should be adding similar girth to these trunks. The advantage is that I can prune back to one or another for taper and changes in direction. A number of smaller pruning scars will heal up far quicker than a single large chop.

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Roots were all pruned hard last winter which has promoted masses of new, fine roots.
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The new roots are the light colored ones. Darker roots are the older ones that were left last winter. Already some of the older ones have stared to fuse into a buttress trunk base.
 

one_bonsai

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How do you prevent the roots of the nebari from fusing with watch other? I like a nebari where individual roots are clearly visible.
 

Shibui

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How do you prevent the roots of the nebari from fusing with watch other? I like a nebari where individual roots are clearly visible.
I am more than happy for the roots to fuse together. That's why I grow these trees this way. If you don't like it then don't prune the roots so there are not so many or thin out so they won't touch. The reality is that all roots will eventually get thick enough to touch and fuse with nearby roots. It will take time but that is what will ultimately happen if you have more than a couple of roots on a bonsai.
 

Shibui

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Here are a couple of those trees after final pruning this afternoon.

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Many still have the metal plates under the roots. Note that the original roots through the holes have died now.

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A taller one
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Root base
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underneath
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The plates have done the job so it is time to remove them. I will use them to start new trees this winter.
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Woocash

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Great thread. Thank you very much for this. It’s amazing just how many of the the roots you can chop off and still get such prolific growth on these tridents. Do you prepare the ground in any particular way for them?
 

Shibui

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It’s amazing just how many of the the roots you can chop off and still get such prolific growth on these tridents.
Not all species can be treated like this but most are far more tolerant of root pruning than most people believe.
There is a perception that pruning roots slows growth. I noticed it can actually accelerate growth. My bonsai all grow far stronger in the year following repotting. Growth then slows gradually as the pot fills with roots. Many people refuse to believe even though the evidence is in front of them. Such is the power of preconceived ideas.

Preparing the ground is much like a bonsai potting soil. Everyone will have a different starting base (soil) and different ideas of what should be done to improve it.

My base soil is really nice friable decomposed granite with a good amount of red soil to give good fertility. To that I added a couple of loads of commercial compost to improve the structure and add nutrients. Every few years I add more composted manures to maintain nutrient levels. I also mulch heavily each summer which gradually decomposes adding more organic matter and nutrients. I run the rotary hoe through the beds to break up the soil and mix the soil before planting.
If the soil would grow good vegetables it should also grow good trees.
A less fertile soil will still grow trees, just a little slower.
Friable soils are easier to work with and far easier to dig and clean the roots. Trees will grow in clay but is can be really hard to get off the roots when you need to root prune or change the soil to a bonsai mix for pots.
 
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