A few years after planting a seedling with the intention of exposing the roots is a good time to take a peek and see what’s happening beneath the soil. The black pine below was planted in its current container about three years ago. Black pine Based on how much the tree has grown, my guess […]
Exposed root
Creating exposed root pines – follow-up techniques
In the last post we looked at a technique for starting exposed root pine bonsai. When all goes according to plan, the tree will grow into its new container and look something like the photo below a year later. Exposed root pine one year after planting in a deep container The next step is easy […]
How to create exposed root pine bonsai
Creating exposed root pine bonsai is simple – plant a seedling in a deep container with large soil particles that can give the roots an interesting shape. Here’s what the process looks like in detail. Start with young pines and a deep container. Deep container Young pines As for soil, use what works best for […]
Different approaches to exposed root pine bonsai
After discussing exposed root pines for the last few posts, I thought I’d wrap up the series with a few photos showing some different approaches to the style. The tree below is 23 years old. About midway between the soil and the first branch, the trunk splits into several roots that have essentially fused together. This […]
Improving exposed root pine bonsai with a single bend
As a number of you noticed in the last post, using a straight cylinder for creating exposed root pine bonsai can lead to a fairly uninteresting trunk line. This can be fixed easily – here’s how. Below is a photo of a 12 year-old pine trained in the exposed root style. There is a nice […]