Making a new Rock Slab for my 5 Hinoki Cypress (Penjing)

[Dorian Fourie]

Hi All.

In February 2019, I was invited to my bonsai club to do a demo and I had decided to make a rock slab for my Serissa.

Making a Rock Slab for my Serissa

Hi All This Saturday I have been requested to do a demo at my club and I decided to show everyone the benefit of adding rocks into your bonsai to assist in improving the overall look and the best rocks to use for ROR. I am also going to be showing them the rock slab that I made for my...

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Due to the overwhelming response to that demo, I was asked to do another one at our quarterly regional bonsai association meeting where all the regions clubs get together. This took place last week.

So over the last few months, I started to think about what I would like to do. I decided to do a rock slab for my Hinoki Cypress planting that I got as a gift from my wife a few years ago. The pot that it came in is absolutely hideous and I have been looking out for a new pot for a few years and never found something suitable.


I have always loved the feel of the planting with the 3 trees on the left separated from the 2 trees on the right with rocks on either side. I have always loved Penjing and Saikei in bonsai and I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to do something and test myself on what I could produce.

So I got stuck in a headed off to my secret spot to do some rock collecting. It was a fun morning out with my boy as we scoured the area and got some real great specimens to use.



Out came my trusty angle grinder and I got stuck in cutting off edges of the rocks so that I would have enough pieces to add into slab. From my last demo, I also still had a very large piece of slat lying around which was perfect to use as it actually matched the colour of the rocks very closely.



I put the trees onto the top of the slab to ensure the size of the slat was correct (it was) but I would have do a cut on the slab to make it smaller.

 

[Dorian Fourie]

After marking out the line that I wanted to cut the slab, I cut it with the angle grinder and was happy with the result.


Next I had to make sure that I had enough cut edges of the rocks to use in the slab.


Now time for the real fun part.

Its almost like building a puzzle.

 

[Dorian Fourie]

Slowly but surely, I had to work through the pieces that I had cut and start to position them around the slab. The hard part is actually trying to visualize the end result when one is putting down the pieces. One tend to find that you put pieces down which you feel is in the right spot, only to then remove it when you pick up another piece and feel it would fit better. It is a long and tedious process but fun doing it because your end vision slowly starts to materialize.


I use a product called "Steenvas"( translated Rock solid) that is actually used in the motor industry. It is an epoxy that you mix together and its perfect for glueing the rocks to the slab.


Then one starts to cement the pieces into place.

 

[Dorian Fourie]

I always leave it for a day or 2 to ensure the "Cement" hardens properly even though I know it is fine after about 4 hours. Better to be safe then sorry.

After making 100% sure all the rocks were secure, I started to fill up the space with my bonsai soil. I keep a spray bottle filled with water on hand and a few wooden kebab sticks.



After the first bit of soil is in, I spray it with water from the spray bottle and then shift the soil around with the kebab stick to ensure it settles properly. As it is mid winter here in SA, I am not going to be transplanting the trees in yet. It is way too cold and the chances are very good that even moving them without any root work could cause them to die.


I have a few trays of moss, (that I harvested from a friends house) and got to work by getting the soil covered with the moss.



Whilst doing this, I have a pair of needle nose tweezers on hand as some areas need extremely small pieces of moss to be placed.


Each piece is placed where it is needed and then sprayed wet and pushed into position to ensure it stays in place. Another long and slow process but well worth it as it progresses.

 

[Dorian Fourie]

Left side done

 

[Dorian Fourie]

Now onto the right hand side where the whole process was repeated.

 

[Dorian Fourie]

So I took some images of the "finished" product for my demo that was going to take place.

 

[penumbra]

Absolutely stunning. Thank you for posting.

 

[Dorian Fourie]

Whilst I was taking the pictures, I realised that some of the rocks were actually in the wrong place. This is something that can happen because you actually only see the final product once all the sand has been filled in and all the moss has been placed. Only then do you get a true reflection of the final product.

Once it was finished, I put it on the turntable and looked at it from all sides. These photos are from the left side.


I absolutely just love the feeling of the caves and the real rugged rocks. But they are totally lost if you look at the planting from the front. You cannot see them at all. I want to have the effect of the trees growing along side a river so when it comes time to transplant the trees into the planting, I am going to make the following changes.

The rocks from the above pictures are going to be moved into the middle of the slab (Marked with X). That way, the trees that will be planted on the left will have a more rugged cliff line along the water. It will add much more depth and character to the planting especially because you have to look at it directly from the front.

 

[Dorian Fourie]

So the demo day came around and disaster struck. The person carrying the slab on the way to the table tripped and fell and the whole right hand side fell apart. Luckily I had brought along everything that was needed and my demo was only on the afternoon, so I spent a long time in the morning making sure that I fixed it up.

My demo time came around and luckily it all went well without any problems.


Everyone was very happy with what I presented and many questions were asked which also showed me that people were interested.

 

[0soyoung]

Very nicely done!

While scrolling though I was thinking about how heavy it must be and hence difficult to move, then you said "The person carrying the slab on the way to the table tripped and fell ...". So, I'm having difficulty understanding how big/small, light/heavy it is.

 

[Dorian Fourie]

Very nicely done!

While scrolling though I was thinking about how heavy it must be and hence difficult to move, then you said "The person carrying the slab on the way to the table tripped and fell ...". So, I'm having difficulty understanding how big/small, light/heavy it is.

Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

It isn't the lightest slab but also not the heaviest. I made the mistake of giving it to my dad (he is 75) to carry whilst I was getting more items out of the car. It is actually very easily moved but he tripped over the corner of a chair foot. All credit to him though, he did brilliantly to save it that I only had to replace the soil and moss from one side. I will take a picture of me holding the slab to get a size comparison.

 

[grouper52]

Dorian!

I'm deeply impressed, given my long lingering attraction to the Penjing way of bonsai. The mudman boat seems a bit too large for the creation, perhaps, not not excessively so, and a few bonsai trees along the banks would augment the scene nicely, IMHO. Fortunately, the creation lends itself naturally to further development of many sorts! What a great eye and mind you have. Very inspiring!!!

Kudos of the highest order!

Will

 

[Crawforde]

I like it!
Excellent composition.
Are you still planning on putting the hinoki on it? Will the canopies come together over the stream in the back?
Thanks for sharing the process. Excellent work. I’ve tried this a couple times. Mine looked very contrived and artificial. It is harder than I thought. You pulled it off nicely.
I’m motivated to keep trying.

 

[penumbra]

I echo these sentiments and hope to start one myself soon.

 

[Michael P]

Beautiful work, and looks superb even without the trees.

 

[Dorian Fourie]

Dorian!

I'm deeply impressed, given my long lingering attraction to the Penjing way of bonsai. The mudman boat seems a bit too large for the creation, perhaps, not not excessively so, and a few bonsai trees along the banks would augment the scene nicely, IMHO. Fortunately, the creation lends itself naturally to further development of many sorts! What a great eye and mind you have. Very inspiring!!!

Kudos of the highest order!

Will

Hi Grouper

Thanks so much for the feedback. Things are heating up here in South Africa so in the next 2-3 weeks, I will be putting the trees into the scene. Once they are in a settled, I believe that the mudboat will be a good size but time will tell. I really appreciate the kind words.

 

[Dorian Fourie]

I like it!
Excellent composition.
Are you still planning on putting the hinoki on it? Will the canopies come together over the stream in the back?
Thanks for sharing the process. Excellent work. I’ve tried this a couple times. Mine looked very contrived and artificial. It is harder than I thought. You pulled it off nicely.
I’m motivated to keep trying.

Thanks so much Crawforde

Definitely going to be putting the hinoki in. Just waiting for the temps here in SA to heat up properly (Spring is around the corner) and then get the transplant going.

Keep on trying. I really try to take my time doing this and even I have got it wrong over and over. On this slab there are 2 rocks totally out of place on the side and those will be removed and replaced and then put into new positions.

Thanks again for the kind words

 

[Dorian Fourie]

I echo these sentiments and hope to start one myself soon.

Beautiful work, and looks superb even without the trees.

Thanks Michael and Penumbra for the kind words.

It does actually look very good without the trees in and I am planning on making a few more in the future.

 

[Stormwater]

This is a great tutorial. Hope lots of folks read it, I feel this is the type of thing that gets this art out there for folk to try. Question about your soil and moss. Is it just the moss keeping your soil in place? I’d be worried a downpour would wipe mine out. Plus I’ve not really learned how to keep moss alive in my setup....