I have a rock, in search for suitable roots to grow over it...

James W.

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My method:
I tie a loop into the end of a length of string so it can be pulled tight.
Then I set the tree in place on the rock and hold it with one hand while I tighten the loop of sting around the rock (usually vertically) right next to the trunk to secure it in place. Then I use more wraps to hold each individual root right where I want it so wraps of string are going all this way and that over the rock and tree roots. It looks like a little kid tying up a package. I push roots into crevices or hollows by tying a rock or piece of wood over them.
Once I have the tree roots secured where I want them I need to cover them so they can grow. Since the plants I start with are small most of the roots will not reach the bottom of the rock so I need to provide media for the roots to grow in. Usually I cut a plastic pot up and tape it loosely over the rock and roots leaving it open at the bottom so that I can sift growing mix down all around the rock. The goal is to provide just a fingers thickness of space for root growth. I have used aluminum foil but find it hard to fill, but not as hard as trying to make a plastic wrap full of dirt. I am thinking about buying some really heavy aluminum foil to try.
I then find a nursery pot big enough to hold the whole assembly easily and put enough bonsai mix in the bottom so that when I set the tree in it the cut off pot comes up to about the top of the big pot. After I set the tree assembly into the pot I fill in around it with mulch or whatever is cheap. Watering and fertilizing is done into the little interior pot. The roots grow down and out.
That is the concept, actually the filling of the inside pot and packing into the larger pot usually happens together because the potting mix runs out of the bottom of the little pot.
This method produces lots of roots draped all over the rock in a year or three. The tree can then be removed and the roots re-arranged. At this time the roots are mostly long enough that they can reach soil below the rock and don't need much in the way of media up next to the rock. I have been tying the roots back with string because it give me very good control of where each root goes. Then wrap with plastic or whatever. I haven't tried aluminum foil yet but suspect it will work very well at this point.

Hope my rambling makes sense.
 

AlainK

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Very nice rock !

I didn't read the comments after your first post, so my first tought was Acer buergerianum (or Acer palmatum).

I'd shape the tree in the same movement as the rock, that is to the right.
 

Shogun610

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You mean like this?? Lol I got a seedling to spare
 

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Shibui

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You mean like this?? Lol I got a seedling to spare
That is a JM so the roots may stay where you put them. Tridents are strongly surface rooted. If given the chance lots of new roots will all grow strongly away from the rock. That's why I us al foil to contain them close to the rock. Jm are not as bad but I would check on those roots next year to make sure they are still growing where you want them. ROR with roots that are not clasping close to the rock don't look great.
 
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