Digging the Grow Beds

[Shibui]

Chinese elm is not as fast growing but you can still use the same ideas to grow and thicken them. Growth habit is also a bit different so watch out for clusters of new shoots after pruning because if all allowed to grow you will end up with huge bulges.
The Chinese elms are in the next row. I tend to leave those until later in the winter as I have experienced some deaths when they are dug early. My guess is there is some sort of fungal infection through the roots when the tree is dormant in cold soil with cut roots.
Chinese elm roots are not as hard or as vigorous so I often leave them in for 2 years at a time and it is still possible to dig relatively easy.

 

[Shibui]

Yesterday I dug a few of the multi trunk tridents. They have put on some weight over summer.

These are grown by threading a number of seedlings through the metal plates.
















Note one of the problems with multi trunk plantings. The outside trees get roots established first and get best access to water and nutrients so they can grow faster than the centre trunks. Not so desirable for bonsai.



Whether any of them will result in good bonsai is still debatable.
Remember the option to remove any number of trunks in order to open up or simplify the design is still open.

Extra elements always makes the task of developing bonsai far more complicated. Those who have tried to develop a single trunk tree will be aware of the issues with getting all the bends and branches and taper in the right places. Adding extra trunks really multiplies those problems. If just one trunk has flaws it will devalue the entire tree.

Still to come: some accidental multi trunk projects, some fusion projects and more.

 

[one_bonsai]

How deep do you plant the Maples after a root prune? Just enough to cover the roots?

 

[Shibui]

Trident maple love to grow roots just under the surface. If planted too deep new roots will grow. See the pic in post #2.
If roots like that get much bigger they thicken the trunk and can quickly ruin otherwise great nebari.
On the other hand plant a trident with poor nebari a bit deeper and it will often grow a complete new set of roots just below ground level. Just like a layer but without the work. For a few years I used that to grow my field grown trees but results were unpredictable. Not all will grow new roots and some only grow a few. The latest method of inducing roots is far more reliable for me.

Many other species are not quite as good at new roots so it does not matter so much if they are a few cm deeper.

 

[jason biggs]

thanks for all the awesome info

 

[Shibui]

Dug and pruned a few more this afternoon.
First up some accidental clumps.
These started after I left some bundles of seedlings heeled in the grow beds. Individual trees in the bundles grew well and fused together so when I dug them up last winter some clumps looked worth continuing with for another year.
These ones have had no planning though quite a few were scrapped as hopeless cases in the initial assessment.


You can see that I have taped up some of the smaller trunks in the hope that they will fuse into a single thicker trunk. Previous tries have not proved very successful so still holding my breath for this one.





These were not fused when I selected the clump so i tied them with poly twine to help them fuse together. You can see that the twine does not allow for trunk thickening and has cut off circulation to some roots. i will put it back in and hope that some new roots grow above the scar.


Another trunk fusion trial but first year for this one. There is some grafting happening but it will need at least another year in the ground to get the trunks fused properly.










Please note that none of these have been planted on or through any tile or board. Proper root pruning will manage trident roots far better than any boards or tiles.

 

[Shibui]

These are the planned fusion projects. For these I have taken a little more care when bunching up the seedlings trying to get the best trunks from the fusion.



You can see that I have twisted the clumps together to try to get trunks with better character. Still some way to go......




Another rough attempt at trunk fusion. I am not convinced that this is a viable technique. I can grow far better shaped trident trunks in a similar time without fusion.

Finally a big one:

3 years in a pot but the trunks did not fuse properly so it was planted in the grow beds.

2 years later it is now just on 10" diameter above the roots but is it good bonsai?????









5 years and still a long way to go before this on is anywhere near showable. I'm pretty sure I could grow a similar size but better quality trunk from a single seedling in the same timeframe this has taken to fuse.

 

[SeanS]

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Absolutely hideous! Well done!

 

[clem]

very interesting post. Hope to see more from you !. Thanks for sharing.

 

[KillerButts]

I really appreciate this thread. Thank you!

 

[EPM]

@Shibui do you exclusively prune the trunks/branches when you do the root pruning mid-winter, or do you do branch/trunk pruning during the growing season as well?

 

[Shibui]

Nearly all pruning is winter. It is far easier to get a good look at the trunks when they are out of the ground. I got sick of crawling round on hands and knees or lying on the ground to get a good look at the trunks under all the branches in summer so now they just grow until I can get a good look in winter.
Still need to get down and check the pines to make sure there is sufficient viable shoots in the right places at least once each year and selectively prune once or twice every year or 2.

 

[Shibui]

Some more trees from the grow beds.
Today was pines and juniper digging.
This JBP looks pretty good.





Quite a good lateral root system - no boards, just good root pruning.


After cutting the roots.

One of the junipers


After pruning the roots and reducing the top a little.


The remaining tridents, Japanese maples and Chinese elms were all dug last week but I did not take any photos this year.

 

[leatherback]

2 years later it is now just on 10" diameter above the roots but is it good bonsai?????

Wrap in wet burlap. Tie in a plastic bag. Air-freight it to me.
I will cover P&P if you toss it out else.

 

[Woocash]

@fredman I think he’s being serious!

 

[leatherback]

@fredman I think he’s being serious!

Just as serious as Sibiu is about tossing this out I would say!

 

[Shibui]

I've now dug all the trees that need to be out this year.
I put the rotary hoe through the rows to even out the digging craters and prepare the soil for replanting.
Then start replanting.
Many of the smaller trees go back in for another year of growing and a whole new batch get a chance to stretch their roots out of a pot for a while.


One row still has a few stumps just heeled in until I decide what to do with them. Space for maybe another 10 trees then I'm done for another year.