Nebari

B.uneasy

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Is this what you are looking for when you think of a nice nebari? It is dirty because it has been buried for a couple months to enhance growth.
 

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rockm

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Close-- but this has a big problem, you have two dominant roots with a big gap in between. If the root on the left were part of the root on the right (and had a corresponding extension on the other side) this would be pretty decent nebari.
 

akhater

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? Not quite no

Think of something much flatter and more balanced. Where roots are going radially out of the trunk (not downward) and roots are more or less same size
 

bonsaichile

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A nice nebari would include a nice flare in the trunk right before the roots, and then roots spreading radially all around the trunk.
 

Adair M

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Not really. It’s very one sided, and there’s a very heavy root on the right, and not much on the left or back.

This tree has good nebari:

D6D2F745-4B3F-4CEC-BE5D-0190481ABE47.jpegD6D2F745-4B3F-4CEC-BE5D-0190481ABE47.jpeg
 

B.uneasy

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How would i fix this? Is there anything I can still do to manipulate the nebari?
 

Adair M

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How would i fix this? Is there anything I can still do to manipulate the nebari?
Nebari is THE hardest thing to “fix” on a bonsai.

Read @MarkyScott’s thread “Ebihara Maples”. There’s tons of information about nebari in there.

What kind of tree is it? On some trees, the easiest way to fix the nebari is to ground layer a whole new set of roots! And, frankly, if your tree is one that layers easily, that would be the way to go.
 

B.uneasy

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Is there any improvements to the tree you guys can think of without chopping it? Im really anxious about that idea.
 

Lazylightningny

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Is there any improvements to the tree you guys can think of without chopping it? Im really anxious about that idea.
Like @Adair M said, the best way is to ground layer a whole new set of roots. I'm doing that now with a yellow birch. It's a twin trunk, but the split is too high, so I'm layering roots up closer to the split so there will be less room between the ground and the split. There are plenty of tutorials on this forum.
 

Adair M

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Is there any improvements to the tree you guys can think of without chopping it? Im really anxious about that idea.
Who said anything about chopping it?

A layer is a technique where the bark and cambium are stripped from a section of a tree, and a growing medium is placed up against the ringed area, and the tree sends out new roots into that medium.

If the ring is cut close to the surface of the soil, and soil is placed around the ringed area, the technique is called “ground layering”. It’s the easiest to do, and what I would recommend for your tree.

If the ring is cut higher so that contact with the ground isn’t feasible, what!/ often done is a mass of wet spaghnum moss is placed in contact with the ring, and either a plastic pot is fashioned to hold the spaghnum in place, or more commonly, plastic is wrapped around the spaghnum moss to hold it in place until the tree sends out roots. This technique is called “air layering”.

Both techniques have high success rates with maples.

Here’s a video that shows how it’s done:

 

B.uneasy

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Who said anything about chopping it?

A layer is a technique where the bark and cambium are stripped from a section of a tree, and a growing medium is placed up against the ringed area, and the tree sends out new roots into that medium.

If the ring is cut close to the surface of the soil, and soil is placed around the ringed area, the technique is called “ground layering”. It’s the easiest to do, and what I would recommend for your tree.

If the ring is cut higher so that contact with the ground isn’t feasible, what!/ often done is a mass of wet spaghnum moss is placed in contact with the ring, and either a plastic pot is fashioned to hold the spaghnum in place, or more commonly, plastic is wrapped around the spaghnum moss to hold it in place until the tree sends out roots. This technique is called “air layering”.

Both techniques have high success rates with maples.

Here’s a video that shows how it’s done:

So sorry!! I have another thread open on my bonsais potentials and what I could make of it. The most mentioned tip was chopping it, but I was honestly wondering if there was any other way to improve my bonsai than chopping it and restarting the growth.
 

B.uneasy

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This is my full tree. What would you suggest I do to it without using the chopping method?
 

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Adair M

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The problem (or, I should say, one of the problems) is a total lack of taper. The best way to achieve that is to chop it just above a branch, and train that branch to become the new leader. Let it grow until the transition between the thicker lower portion of the trunk and the higher thinner portion isn’t as abrupt, and flows smoothly. Then do it again! And again, and again. This may take as long as a decade! Depends upon the species.
 

B.uneasy

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Would you suggest chopping the tree right above the curly branch on the left? Couldnt I also air layer so everything I have grown won't go to total waste when I am done?
 

bonsaichile

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Would you suggest chopping the tree right above the curly branch on the left? Couldnt I also air layer so everything I have grown won't go to total waste when I am done?
You could airlayer the top, but given it is a straight, taperless trunk too, then you'd have two trees with similar problems, i.e., you'd have to chop the second tree too at some point.
 

MrWunderful

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Yes you can, but you should most likely wait a year in between each technique. You dont want to overwork the tree.
 

Adair M

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You can. Then you would have a second tree with no taper. But, it would have a start on better nebari.

A better place would be just below the fork higher up. Then, you’d have a twin trunk. Still has little taper, though.

Another of your problems is very long internodes. The distance between branches. This happens when a tree is left to its own devices, and is just left to grow. They’ll grow, as fast as possible! But unfortunately, that’s not good for bonsai. We want controlled growth. With lots of internodes, lots of little branches.

I know you said you didn’t want your past “work” to go to waste, but unfortunately, it has. Now, don’t be downhearted, you’ve learned a valuable lesson: you can’t just let the tree grow and think it will turn into a bonsai all on its own. Oh, don’t we wish it were so easy! But, no, we have to force them to make branches, we have to cut them to induce taper, we have to dig them up and cut off the roots that are too strong so that the weaker ones can catch up...

See where I’m going with all this?

Boon calls bonsai “Obedience Training for Trees”! Lol!!!

So, now you need to learn and then apply the techniques! Have courage!
 
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