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A root over rock maple is born

March 30, 2012 by Jonas Dupuich

I see some amazing trees in Bay Island Bonsai workshops. I also see some amazing projects. The root over rock Japanese maple planting below is clearly one of the latter.

Amazing root over rock maple

Root over rock maple planting in training

Young maples were planted on a large stone a year or two ago. This year, the tree’s owner exposed the roots to make sure they were fusing to the rock. Some roots were trimmed, others were guided into channels in the stone. Blue plastic ties were added to hold the composition together. Once the last knot was tightened, the stone was buried in a large pot so the roots could continue to develop.

Amazing root over rock maple

All tied up

Amazing root over rock maple

Blocks and chopsticks keep the ties tight

It’s not much to look at, but time and the blue ties will help the roots fuse to the stone.

The trees could just have easily been planted in the ground. Keeping them in a pot, however, will make it easier to work on the roots during the next repotting. Apart from some minor pruning, the trunks and branches were left alone to encourage root development.

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

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. blakitan says

    March 30, 2012 at 4:04 pm

    Very informative.
    Thanks for sharing this article (and other articles in this blog too!)

  2. Steve Moore says

    March 31, 2012 at 5:00 pm

    As someone said, “Half of doing anything is knowing that it’s possible.” I’m sure this technique would work with other root-vigorous species like certain Ficus, too. Thanks!

  3. Juan says

    March 31, 2012 at 6:04 pm

    I will see it tomorrow, bet it is covered with leaves…..

  4. vonsgardens says

    April 2, 2012 at 7:12 am

    Lot’s of nice bright red leaves on this one, looks very happy and prosperous.

  5. vonsgardens says

    April 2, 2012 at 7:13 am

    Lots of nice bright red leaves on this very happy and healthy composition.

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