0soyoung

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One VERY important technique that Scott mentioned, but did not illustrate with a photo is "tapping" the pot. After the chopsticking, and backfilling is done, hold the pot securely, and lightly tap the pot with the meat part of your fist. On all four sides. The soil will settle in. You may have to add more soil! Again, the idea is to fill all the voids.
But, if one
Leave(S) a little mound of soil in the middle of the pot and position the tree in there. Settle it in by pressing downward on the nebari and firmly rotating it back and forth a bit while applying downward pressure on the rootball.
there should not be any voids under the tree and root pad - that is the point of this step, is it not?

I suppose that rapping on the pot may be sensible, but it seems to me that thorough watering will settle a non-compacting, inorganic substrate anyway.

When one is repotting a thick root pad (such as on a pine) chop sticking makes some sense to me but not with a maple (or any other species with which we want a shallow, flat root pad).
 

markyscott

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...Maybe @markyscott could further explain why he does a few of the things he does, like:
  • What is the point of the 'drainage layer' and why 'especially with a deep pot'?
    • Doesn't a 'drainage layer' just elevate the position of the saturation zone in the primary substrate? Why no just leave this zone at the bottom of the pot by not using a 'drainage layer'?
...

Sorry - digging cedar elms all day.

There are a couple of reasons I like to use a drainage layer.
  • It increases the water saturation in the soil. If you have a deeper pot, the bottom stays wet and the top can get quite dry. A drainage layer helps mitigate that problem. In a shallow pot a drainage layer can make the saturation too high so sometimes I skip it.
  • If water ponds at the bottom of the pot, this keeps the rootball out of it.
  • Pumice is a lot cheaper than Clay King. Putting a bit on the bottom of the pot where I don't want roots anyway helps preserve my Clay King for other trees
I think Adair answered the other questions.
 

milehigh_7

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I think Scott does a great job with his tutorial posts!

Hey Scott! How about one dedicated to just how to properly wire rootballs to the pot, using all the different kinds of pots? One holed pots, two holed pots, threes, and fours.

Someone who is such a good teacher should do it often.
 

Adair M

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But, if one

there should not be any voids under the tree and root pad - that is the point of this step, is it not?

I suppose that rapping on the pot may be sensible, but it seems to me that thorough watering will settle a non-compacting, inorganic substrate anyway.

When one is repotting a thick root pad (such as on a pine) chop sticking makes some sense to me but not with a maple (or any other species with which we want a shallow, flat root pad).
Oso, all I can say is doing all the steps Scott and I do ensures a quality repotting. If we were to skip a step, would the tree survive? Probably. Is there a chance some void may be there and a root die? Maybe. That root may be feeding a certain branch of the tree. But why take the chance?

If you have never done the pot tapping, try it. I think you will be amazed at how much the soil level drops in the pot. I know I was! Until I started studying with Boon, I had never heard of it. But now I think it's very important to do.

As for chopsticking, yes, some trees/rootballs require more work than others. I would say that Boon puts less emphasis on chopsticking than other teachers I have seen. Then again, Boon puts more emphasis on properly preparing rootballs, teasing out feeders, getting the bottoms flat and smooth, etc.

I would also like to add that Boon's trees, and those of his students, have very healthy roots.
 

0soyoung

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I would also like to add that Boon's trees, and those of his students, have very healthy roots.
I have little doubt.

I just have trouble with the notion that good trees means that particular rituals are necessary/sensible and relevant to having/producing good trees. It pays to understand why, IMHO.
 

wireme

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I have little doubt.

I just have trouble with the notion that good trees means that particular rituals are necessary/sensible and relevant to having/producing good trees. It pays to understand why, IMHO.

I'm a tapper too. I'm sure it's not always needed if everything was done really well but sometimes the particles can lock together leaving unnoticed voids that can be settled out with a little bounce.

Here's some non compacting material, knock on this!;)image.jpg
 
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0soyoung

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I'm a tapper too. I'm sure it's not always needed if everything was done really well but sometimes the particles can lock together leaving unnoticed voids that can be settled out with a little bounce.

Here's some non compacting material, knock on this!;)

:D

I'm a tapper, you're a tapper, @markyscott's a tapper too!

Now, let's all get out our little trowels and pat, pat, pat ;)
 

Djtommy

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Nice thread, i have just a few questions.
Why dont you use a shallower pot and no drainage layer? Wouldnt that be better for the nebari development?
The grain look rather big to me, why not finer grained? It looks easy to dry out now.
Does that white pumice get brown or dark after a while? It really stands out now.

Grtz
 

fh05

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Great info. as always. Also please share with us what are your future design plans for this clump. Are you just letting it grow this yr or are you going to prune/style etc. If you were to do any styling would you have proceeded in the same way or change anything? When would work on the styling ie. after the repotting or before or during, or does it matter? Thanks again.
 

markyscott

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Nice thread, i have just a few questions.
Why dont you use a shallower pot and no drainage layer? Wouldnt that be better for the nebari development?
The grain look rather big to me, why not finer grained? It looks easy to dry out now.
Does that white pumice get brown or dark after a while? It really stands out now.

Grtz

Hi DJ - eventually it will go into a shallower pot. But right now it's in development and, horticulturally, its easier to keep it happy in slightly deeper pot. The grain size you see is what I use for all my maples - finer grained would keep it wetter. The white pumice will stay pretty white. But as the weather get's warmer I'll cover the soil with a finer grain size substrate. Then milled sphagnum - the pumice won't be noticeable.
 

markyscott

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Great info. as always. Also please share with us what are your future design plans for this clump. Are you just letting it grow this yr or are you going to prune/style etc. If you were to do any styling would you have proceeded in the same way or change anything? When would work on the styling ie. after the repotting or before or during, or does it matter? Thanks again.

Hi fho5 -

This tree is still in trunk development. The first step is to get the trunks where I'm happy with them, then I'll begin working on the branches. So I'll be letting them grow out this year - then I'll cut back again next fall.
 

fh05

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Do you protect newly repotted trees in shade etc. What after care do you provide immediately after repotting for first few weeks?
 

markyscott

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@markyscott I really appreciate that you gave us this intricately detailed pictorial lesson. And I appreciate even more that you've taken the time to answer questions. You da' forum bomb. Keep up the excellent work! Sincerely.

Thank you Stan, we're all student's here and struggling to learn the art and horticulture. Hopefully I'm better than I was yesterday and will be better again tomorrow.
 
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markyscott

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Do you protect newly repotted trees in shade etc. What after care do you provide immediately after repotting for first few weeks?

Hi fho5. I put them right back out on the bench. I just take normal care. Done it the right season, this is not stressful at all to them.
 

Adair M

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I have little doubt.

I just have trouble with the notion that good trees means that particular rituals are necessary/sensible and relevant to having/producing good trees. It pays to understand why, IMHO.
Well, you can call it a ritual if you like. But, if you do all the steps the same way every time, it gets easier and easier to do. So, then you don't have to think about the basics as you're potting. You can free your conscious mind to take care of any trouble spots you may encounter.

If I may digress:

I was at a "Natural Horsemanship" clinic led by Clinton Anderson. He has a step-by-step program for how to train horses. Let's say it was 36 steps. So, it was a three day clinic, and the goal was to get thru steps 1 thru 12 the first day, 13 thru 24 the second day, and 25 thru 36 the last day.

It's a lot of work, a lot of steps.

He demonstrated the final results before he started using his own horse. Wonderfully trained and responsive. So, mid day on the second day, we were about thru step 20, some guy asks: "which are the most important steps? Doing all these steps takes a lot of time! Are there some we can leave out?"

Clinton stopped and replied, "Do you want a horse as well trained and responsive as mine?" And of course, the answer was "Yes". So, then Clinton said, "then you have to do all the steps! If I knew of a faster way, I'd do it the faster way. But I don't".

I think the same principle applies to bonsai.
 
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