• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

  • Blog
    • How-to Guides
  • Podcast
  • Shop
    • Bonsai
    • Books
    • Soil
    • Soil (wholesale)
    • Supplies
    • Tools
    • Video Consulting
    • Northern California Bonsai Resources
  • About
    • Workshops

Witnessed in a recent workshop

April 8, 2011 by Jonas Dupuich

I know that life is good when I wake up and have only to attend a bonsai workshop for the day. I’m guaranteed an opportunity to work on my trees, and I’ll get a chance to observe what others are working on around me. Some of these projects are quite intriguing. A few weeks ago, I caught Jeff and Boon working on the following grafting project.

Drilling hole for new root

Drilling the trunk – Japanese maple

Drilling hole for new root

Drilling the trunk – note location in gap between larger roots

Inserting seedling

Inserting seedling

Seedling inserted

Seedling in place

Grafted seedlings

Grafted seedlings from below

Protecting graft unions with cut paste

Cut paste protects graft unions

In progress

Branch work will come later

Grafts from above

Two new roots!

The branches have a ways to go

Ready for a new pot

In the new pot

Preparing to tie the tree in the pot

Repotting complete

Repotting complete

Covering the surface of the soil with sphagnum moss

Sphagnum moss on the surface of the soil to preserve moisture

Funny thing is, I so enjoyed watching this process that I acquired an old Japanese maple that needs even more work a few days later.

✕

Subscribe to Bonsai Tonight

New Posts Delivered Every Tuesday and Friday

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

Filed Under: Bonsai Development Tagged With: Grafting, Japanese maple

Previous Post: « Juniper pests
Next Post: Refining a corkbark black pine »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sam Ogranaja says

    April 8, 2011 at 8:46 am

    Jonas,

    Thank you so much for posting this. Very inspiring to a young artist. I love seeing these in-depth tutorials. Wish I lived closer to you guys. Keep it up. I love your blog.

    Have a great weekend
    Sam

  2. Kathy Sloan says

    April 8, 2011 at 8:50 am

    Why do you want branches to come out from the outside of the base of the tree like this?

  3. xwires says

    April 8, 2011 at 9:47 am

    Kathy, these “branches” are the trunks of the grafted seedlings – they will be removed once the root grafts take.

  4. John says

    April 8, 2011 at 11:14 am

    Hello Jonas,
    I just wanted to say thank you for having the best bonsai blog on the internet. I subscribe to more than 130 bonsai blogs worldwide and it is your posts that I always look forward to the most and learn the most!!! Thank you again for the quality of your work.
    John

  5. Fr. Tom Davis, OSA says

    April 8, 2011 at 11:21 am

    Many Thanks for sharing this! How timely for me, as I was looking to do some root grafting on my Maples.
    Have you tried this method on Junipers and/or Pines yet?

  6. Justin Rotert says

    April 8, 2011 at 11:48 am

    Forgive me for my dumb question but is it possible to root graft conifers? (I lived in brazil for the last 17years so I basically only have experience with deciduous)

  7. xwires says

    April 8, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    Thanks for all of the comments! Tom, Justin – root grafting works for pines and junipers, although the technique is a bit different. I don’t think I have any photos of this, so I’ll be sure to get some the next time I can.

  8. Fr. Tom Davis, OSA says

    April 8, 2011 at 12:16 pm

    Thanks Jonas,
    I’ve seen slip grafting roots on conifers done, but not this technique.
    It would be interesting to see if the seedings that stick-up might also spring new roots, so as to have another tree from the cutting off of the graft.

  9. Justin Rotert says

    April 8, 2011 at 3:11 pm

    Thanks xwires, Yes this would not be the technique I would use on the conifers I have, but now I have the comfort of knowing that it can work. if you ever get pictures of that would be amazing, I mean Bonsaitonight is one of the best, highest quality of bonsai sites/blog that I’ve found so far.
    Thanks a lot.

  10. Rusty says

    April 8, 2011 at 3:14 pm

    Jonas, do you have to use saplings of the same kind of maple? Can you use palmatum for trident?

  11. xwires says

    April 8, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    Good question Rusty – I don’t know. While grafting trident onto palmatum or vice versa may work, I’d likely keep palmatum with palmatum to avoid differences in the bark/roots/nebari area to a minimum.

  12. Boon says

    April 9, 2011 at 2:26 pm

    Rusty,
    You will need the same kind of maple to graft on.
    Boon

Footer

Follow Bonsai Tonight

Subscribe

Instagram ● Facebook ● Twitter
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Shop
  • About

P.O. Box 6560, Alameda, CA 94501 · 510-915-2025 · jonas (at) bonsaitonight (dot) com

© Copyright 2009-2023 Bonsai Tonight · All rights reserved · Privacy · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. You can opt-out if you wish. Accept Decline Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT