First forest planting

[Lars Grimm]

This is a 7 tree forest using dwarf japanese maples from Bill Valvanis. This was my first forest attempt, so any feedback is always helpful.

Thanks,
Lars

 

[JoeR]

They are too evenly spaced IMO, but other than that I like it!

 

[just.wing.it]

I say, good work!
Can't wait to see it with leaves.

 

[dick benbow]

The beauty of forests is they can be adjusted into the future. So you have a start. I do feel the spacing comment is leggit. I'd also like to see in the ring around the biggest tree, another smaller caliper along the outside, to give more of a sense of depth of field. With the trees to the left of the biggest trunk, allow the new top growth to rise up higher than the ones on the right. This will give movement
from left to right which will allow the trees to be in sinc with their placement in the pot. You may consider adding a carpet of moss to take away that brand new "look". Once established ( the moss) I could see going thru the carpet and removing a path and covering with sand, so it looks like humans or animals have a habit of walking thru. A stone here and there along the path looks nice. again remember depth of field so rocks in the foreground are bigger then mid field and last one is even smaller....

I like larches as well as maples to make forests from. Often propagaters will springle seeds over rooting soil and some will land and root close together. I particularly like those to select from as they deal with the spacing concern and add that much more naturalism to the display. They take time to develop but well worth the effort.

If you decide to use any of my suggestions, would love to see a photographic update

 

[Lars Grimm]

The beauty of forests is they can be adjusted into the future. So you have a start. I do feel the spacing comment is leggit. I'd also like to see in the ring around the biggest tree, another smaller caliper along the outside, to give more of a sense of depth of field. With the trees to the left of the biggest trunk, allow the new top growth to rise up higher than the ones on the right. This will give movement
from left to right which will allow the trees to be in sinc with their placement in the pot. You may consider adding a carpet of moss to take away that brand new "look". Once established ( the moss) I could see going thru the carpet and removing a path and covering with sand, so it looks like humans or animals have a habit of walking thru. A stone here and there along the path looks nice. again remember depth of field so rocks in the foreground are bigger then mid field and last one is even smaller....

I like larches as well as maples to make forests from. Often propagaters will springle seeds over rooting soil and some will land and root close together. I particularly like those to select from as they deal with the spacing concern and add that much more naturalism to the display. They take time to develop but well worth the effort.

If you decide to use any of my suggestions, would love to see a photographic update

Thanks Dick. I have made a small change in the position of one of the trees to address the even distribution concern. I have also added some moss. Once it starts to leaf out, I'll post some new pictures. I really like the idea of allowing the height to grow larger on the left. I purposely tried to keep the trees on the right closer to the horizontal to get some more movement.

I really appreciate the feedback.

 

[Cypress187]

Perhaps you could have placed it in a bigger container (next year?), because they will need to grow fast and much and will need as much room as possible (or wait longer ). I don't have extensive knowledge about forests but my guess they need to get fatter so u can chop them for more taper in the near future.

 

[dick benbow]

For others seeking helpful information on this subject, I totally recommend the book by Saburo Kato entitled...Forest, rock planting & Ezo Spruce.

It has extensive drawings, which are mosr helpful. I bought the book to get information on Ezo and was delighted when my interest later went to creating forests. Great resource.

 

[lieuz]

Can't wait for you to give an update on this! Looks good!

 

[JLBonsai]

Look cool, nice pot too!

 

[Lars Grimm]

Quick update on this forest. One of the trunk died off, but I replaced with three new ones. The root mass on the remaining trunks is really nice after my repotting. A number of smaller branches have started to form to the desired shape, but still need some thickness. On a tree this small, internodes longer than 1.5-2 cm look huge! I am very pleased with the progress in just one year. The trunks have even started to whiten up on some of the trees.

 

[Lars Grimm]

You can see that the trunks have now thickened nicely and started to whiten. I have some good thickness of many primary branches as well.

 

[Leprous Garden]

Would love to see more of these trees, especially maybe some leaves?

 

[Lars Grimm]

I've been basically using hedge pruning this season so it is looking pretty bushy right now. I wanted to really increase the ramification and get it stronger. I plan to do a nice structural pruning after leaf drop in the fall/winter.

 

[Lars Grimm]

Here it is after some fall pruning. Compared to the same time last year, you can see the primary branching is really coming along. I really let it grow vigorously and then did 2-3 strong cut backs. Next year I might be more judicious about clipping early to keep smaller internodes now that I am moving into secondary branches.
2018
2019

 

[Bolero]

I think you need to devise a plan for some Ground Cover, trim some of the bottom branches to expose ground cover giving it some context....

 

[Adair M]

What you need to be careful about now is producing heavy branches up in the apex.

I think that some of the branches you have in the apex of each tree are already too heavy. And they have long internodes.

You’ve done a good job growing trunks, but suspect you will find you’re going to have to remove and replace the branches up in the apexes. Let new buds grow out up in the apex areas, and use them to replace the current branches.

I’ve had to do that with this forest, too:



I like the movement in your trunks. Mine are too straight, but there’s nothing I can do about that.

 

[Lars Grimm]

What you need to be careful about now is producing heavy branches up in the apex.

I think that some of the branches you have in the apex of each tree are already too heavy. And they have long internodes.

You’ve done a good job growing trunks, but suspect you will find you’re going to have to remove and replace the branches up in the apexes. Let new buds grow out up in the apex areas, and use them to replace the current branches.

I’ve had to do that with this forest, too:

View attachment 272556

I like the movement in your trunks. Mine are too straight, but there’s nothing I can do about that.

100% agree. This year things got a bit away from me and this tree was so vigorous. I have kept it nestled into a larger secondary pot of increase humidity but the roots completely colonized it. I will have to be much more vigilant this year with pinching and pruning back.

 

[Lars Grimm]

I think you need to devise a plan for some Ground Cover, trim some of the bottom branches to expose ground cover giving it some context....View attachment 272550View attachment 272551View attachment 272552

I envision some ground cover in the far right of the pot, along with fine grained moss.

 

[Lars Grimm]

I forgot to include a metric for scale. The entire forest is only 10" tall.

 

[penumbra]

Coming along beautifully. I love to see group plantings develop.