"Root-on-Wall" Ficus

[Chuah]

Some of you might have seen these types of "Root-on-Wall" ficus, but not many know the story behind its creation and by who. Kasu Bonsai (Jose Luis Lopez Casulleras ) of Spain asked me how it was done. I don't know, never tried it, I had only read how it was done. Instead of sending him copied Chinese text from a book, I approached Mr. Xuenian Han, the Lingnan master who created it in 1987. He and his publisher kindly gave me permissions to translate these pages into English and share it with English readers. It is an amazing and fascinating story; it is the thought process how Mr. Han drew inspirations from a common landscape scene and created this unique style. First shown in Asian exhibition in 1997, copied by some practitioners since. This comes from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Some inspirations in our bonsai journey.

Two “Root-On-Wall” Ficus Penjing – How I Create This New Style

This article was written by Mr. Xuenian Han (韩学年), a well-known Lingnan penjing master. It was published in Mr. Shaohong Liu’s (刘少红) “The World of Penjing” (盆景世界), the most widely read …

bonsaipenjing.wordpress.com

 

[NOZZLE HEAD]

Awesome!! Thanks for posting.

 

[AaronThomas]

Insane!

 

[Cascading-Echinocactus]

That is a beautiful display of how this tree can grow in nature.
It often begins its life in duff, in the crotch of a tree, or high on a branch as a seed deposited in the droppings of a bird or other tree-dwelling animal. After the seed germinates and as it grows, it produces thin aerial roots that often dangle in the moist air or attach themselves to the host trunk, while gaining nutrients and moisture from the air, leaf litter, and the bark of the supporting tree. It does not actually parasitize the plant it grows on, it only uses it as support, being temporarily epiphytic. After the aerial roots have formed and extended, and when they finally reach the ground, the tree begins a tremendous growth spurt, sending out more roots and developing a dense canopy that eventually shades out the supporting tree at the same time the roots are competing for nutrients in the soil and compressing the trunk and branches of the support tree to the point of stopping sap flow. Eventually the supporting tree dies and all that is left where it once stood, is a hollow cavity in the dangling Ficus roots that have now thickened and self-grafted to become the trunk.
It is easy to see how many of the trees in the Ficus genus have come to be called by the name 'strangler figs', with roots so powerful they can destroy concrete buildings or buckle roads, and can be measured in miles as they extend underground in search of water.

 

[Chuah]

That is a beautiful display of how this tree can grow in nature.
It often begins its life in duff, in the crotch of a tree, or high on a branch as a seed deposited in the droppings of a bird or other tree-dwelling animal. After the seed germinates and as it grows, it produces thin aerial roots that often dangle in the moist air or attach themselves to the host trunk, while gaining nutrients and moisture from the air, leaf litter, and the bark of the supporting tree. It does not actually parasitize the plant it grows on, it only uses it as support, being temporarily epiphytic. After the aerial roots have formed and extended, and when they finally reach the ground, the tree begins a tremendous growth spurt, sending out more roots and developing a dense canopy that eventually shades out the supporting tree at the same time the roots are competing for nutrients in the soil and compressing the trunk and branches of the support tree to the point of stopping sap flow. Eventually the supporting tree dies and all that is left where it once stood, is a hollow cavity in the dangling Ficus roots that have now thickened and self-grafted to become the trunk.
It is easy to see how many of the trees in the Ficus genus have come to be called by the name 'strangler figs', with roots so powerful they can destroy concrete buildings or buckle roads, and can be measured in miles as they extend underground in search of water.

I had an ebook by a South African bonsai artist who wrote a book, albeit something like 50-60 pages or so, entirely on how to create a ficus bonsai with hollow interior, based on strangler fig killing its host like you described. Unfortunately, I forgot his name, and the pdf ebook was not copied automatically to my new ipad. Maybe someone knows of him and can shed some lights. Thanks. Hopefully I can retrieve this ebook somewhere in the computer.

 

[Chuah]

Insane!

He did say he sometimes had crazy ideas. LOL!

 

[Cascading-Echinocactus]

I had an ebook by a South African bonsai artist who wrote a book, albeit something like 50-60 pages or so, entirely on how to create a ficus bonsai with hollow interior, based on strangler fig killing its host like you described. Unfortunately, I forgot his name, and the pdf ebook was not copied automatically to my new ipad. Maybe someone knows of him and can shed some lights. Thanks. Hopefully I can retrieve this ebook somewhere in the computer.

Is it "The strangler phenomenon" by Mack Boshoff?

 

[AlainK]

I like the long extending first branch on the two Chinese penjings

 

[Chuah]

Is it "The strangler phenomenon" by Mack Boshoff?

Yes, it is. Thank you.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Thanks you Chuah for taking the time to do this. Very interesting.

 

[YamadoriFL]

Here is a root on rock wall that I saw at Wigert’s Bonsai in Ft Myers last Friday. Very beautiful nursery! Sorry for the poor pic