Liquidambar styraciflua (American Sweetgum) ROR

[Venrus]

I collected these 5 rocks over the past few months, 3 maybe 4 granite (not sure what the upper left dark rock is), and 1 Lava Rock, and have been patiently waiting for this Liquidambar to be dormant for a bit. Last leaves fell mid-late November. Guy at the nursery said winter is best time to re-pot/mess with the roots and from my reading that seems to be the consensus.

Looking for some comments/suggestions on which rock(s) to use for this. The tree in fall has fantastic red foliage so I think I've ruled out using the lava. One idea I have is to try to split the longer rock lengthwise and also try to shorten it a bit, then using some cement patch, cement it via the bottom with another shorter rock leaving a crevice between them for roots to run down.

Once the rock is done, the tree will be anchored using plumbing thread seal tape as it's waterproof and stretches and then pack the roots with a sphagnum moss and soil paste and wrap with cellophane. Then bury the majority of the rock, with the taller portion sticking out of the soil, in a large pot for a while.

Mid-Late June/July I plan to chop the trunk leaving 1 or 2 branches, as long as the trees foliage looks healthy....

 

[Venrus]

Couple close-ups of the base and surface roots. And a very rough sketch (I'm not an artist, haha) of what I picture it looking like by end of summer....everything below the red line in the second sketch will be below the soil surface.

 

[Cypress187]

Those rocks look small in comparison with the debree on the ground, do you have a scale comparison or is the sketch on scale?

 

[Venrus]

Sorry, here's a few pics with a 12in ruler for scale.

 

[Venrus]

Last 2 with the darker (granite?) & lava rock.

 

[jk_lewis]

A comment on geological aesthetics: You usually find boulders in a natural grouping are all of the same kind/color/composition, and the grain (strata) will all be running in the same direction. I don't think you want to group the dark stones with the light ones.

A comment on bonsai/geology aesthetics: The stones in a planting composition should look like they belong with the tree, and they should have a shape that contributes to the overall design of the planting. Speaking ONLY for myself, I don't see that here.

 

[Venrus]

Yeah, definitely ruled out this grouping of rocks, just doesn't look right/natural at all...

 

[jk_lewis]

A few examples from my collection of stones that "fit" and stones that are at least fairly "interesting" and not just rocks:

 

[Venrus]

Thanks JKL! Really nice landscapes!! Definitely got me to rethink this planting. I think I've decided on actually using the one stone (the dark granite) I wasn't going to initially.

The tree's a little bigger in this render than it actually is, but I think over time and with lots of training they'll compliment each other nicely.

 

[sorce]

rocks

Damn JKL....

That first one is amazing!
Love the stump......

Fab!

Sorce

 

[Venrus]

Well, I went ahead and went with this combo.....all wrapped up & buried. Once I bare rooted it, the trunk actually went further down into the soil and was really curved, had to improvise and place it a little higher to facilitate the extra length..but I think it'll look nice in a couple years once the roots take hold....to be continued!

 

[jkl2]

If the trunk/base curved underground, that makes it doubly tough to get a good bonsai from it -- and the roots already were a bit coarse. Good luck, and take it very slowly.