This is a maple that I’ve had for a number of years but it’s had some major health problems. Originally from Japan, when it came into the UK it had weak branches and over the years it’s been problematic. Things seem to have settled down now. Here and a few other posts relating to it.
This is it in it’s training pot.
Stephen came down to help me repot as I had a few large ones to man handle about the place. Two people is the way to go when potting bigger trees.
The ribbed sides seem to really help with the roots!
After the initial combing out and trimming.
After a wash out
Trying the pot for size.
Pinning the tie in wire back from the nebari to stop any damage. By placing a heavy wire in at a 45 degree angle this will stop the tie wire slipping up the root mass.
The tree after potting.
A few branch adjustments required but this is starting to create some reasonable ramification at last.
I potted up my Elm air layer a few days back. This was layered back in MAY 2011
Not into a nice shallow pot to help flair out the roots. A little directional wiring done and it’s mostly clip and grow from here.
I have just repotted my Hawthorn Air layer for the first time. The full story up until now can be read and seen HERE.
It was originally layered back in 2010 and it was now time to repot to enable me to removed the sphagnum moss that had been left intact so that the new roots wouldn’t be disturbed.
Before repot.
Plenty of root to work with
Buds swelling fast, a good time to repot.
Removal of the old stump below the layer point
Getting rid of the old sphagnum moss that will hold way too much water and will cause problems in the roots if left.
Potted up. It will get a full year and then some styling decisions will be made next year.
Another angle to show movement.
My other Trident a little bit behind the root over rock but starting to move nicely.
My Trident on Rock seems to be further ahead than most of my other maples. I just love this time of year, the next month will see new fresh growth appearing everywhere.
I decided to repot my little dwarf Willow. The training pot it was in was too big and also has a chip in it.
Out of the pot
and it’s new home. That’s better.
What else would you do on a Saturday night when the wives are at work 🙂 Phil and I got together to repot our jointly owned Elm Forest. The full history of this so far can be viewed HERE
Not a pot as such, we have opted for a slab. This slab was kindly donated to me via Paul Bowerbank from the Swindon Bonsai Society. It was a bit of a struggle to get it to me! The postman would have had a hernia!! Paul knew I was attending the BSA 2012 Exhibition at Willowbog Bonsai and he bribed Bob Bailey to bring it up for me. They must be good friends, I would have refused 😀 Bob did me proud and I was able to collect it at Willowbog. This is the slab with the marking of where we felt the planting would be a best fit. We needed to reduce the overall size of the slab a little to allow for a better fit and also to be more manageable. Here you can see that Phil took a angle grinder to it to get the right shape. Its’s a total coincidence that it looks like the outline of Africa!
We set about preparing it for the elms to be transferred over to it.
Here is a gallery of our steps over the 3 hours required to get it completed.
It’s a two person lift nd will take up a lot of room in the garden, but it’s a great group to see in the flesh. Photo as usual, don’t do it justice. It will be a long time before this needs moved again. It is a vigorous grower and needs a lot of attention but that’s why it has developed so fast. Not bad for field grown cuttings started 12 years ago.
This twin trunk raft Hawthorn of mine has been a great tree to play with and learn from in recent years. Its a vigorous tree but by it’s very nature has been a problem for me to come up with a convincing design. As you can see from the photo, the two apexes are very close to the same height and also the raft/root portion of the tree is unconvincing as it rises out of the pot in places.
I discussed this tree with Peter Warren during a workshop last year and he suggested that the tree be tilted to the right to raise the left apex higher. This would also lower the other trunk line down to the soil surface closing the gap and make a more convincing design. I had already toyed with this idea during the previous repot but at that point it wasn’t possible due to the heavy root to the left. It would be raised out of the pot and would ruin the design. Peter said that this time around I might be able to reduce the root further back allowing for the change. This is the root in question.
This would be the new angle
I don’t have a suitable pot for the new position but I wanted to repot the tree and see if it was possible to carry out this alteration. If I was able to change the root now, I could pot the tree into a temporary training box and then keep an eye out for a suitable pot for a transfer next year.
When I took it out of the pot, it had done it’s usual thing, and had circled the pot with roots.
I removed all the long roots and had a close look at the problem heavy root. By working back step by step I was able to removed sufficient root to allow me to make the new angle. Here you can see how much was removed.
Happy to remove this heavy bit considering the strength of the tree.
This was what was circling the pot!
This is the tree potted in a training box at it’s new angle. See the change in the apex heights and also how much more convincing the surface roots are. I might tilt a little further yet but for now I’m happy until I can find a suitable pot.
I’m sure someone out there now is saying ‘Shell Pot’ 🙂 I’m not a lover of the shell but this might be nice. This is a virtual I made after PW ‘s visit. And this angle would definitely be achievable now.
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