When I was at Bertie’s house last week I spotted this little cascade Cotoneaster and thought that it could do with a repot. He had a suitable pot on the shelf, maybe not the perfect choice, but a big improvement on it’s current home. This is it before and after the repot.
It will be given a year to settle in, and if all’s well, it’ll get a restyling.
Another Air Layer from last year. I decided to repot this one also. I was amazed just how flared the nebari had become in a short time.
This was the layer last year, full post HERE
This was it at the weekend before repotting.
Again with the roots raked out and the layering moss removed.
Before potting up I was able to removed the stump at the bottom. This helps flare out the nebari even more.
Due to the roots still being delicate, I used bamboo canes over the outer spread to hold the tree in place. These will eventually rot away in the pot.
Potted up and a bit of a trim.
Some of you following the blog may remember me air layering this cotoneaster last year.
The original Post can be viewed HERE
Today I decided to repot the layer to allow spreading of roots and to get it into a more suitable pot. I had picked up a Stone Monkey Pot for it at the BSA Auction and was keen to get it potted up.
This is it after 7 months after removal in a training pot.
I was able to comb out the roots and remove the bulk of the layering sphagnum moss. It had even issued roots from the lower branches into the soil! This is the Stone Monkey pot ready for the tree. What I love about this little pot is that even though it’s small time has been taken to add wire holes. A big help.
And the little tree potted up. It needs clipped in a little further but I’ll let it settle in it’s new home for a few months before I do anything else.
I decided it was time to repot the little Cork Bark Elm I got last year. Problem was, I wanted to plant it into a pot already occupied by another one. I decided to transfer the Original Elm into a different pot and then do a proper repot on the new one. Here’s the photos.
The new Elm in a plastic pot.
Plenty of roots to sort out.
The original Elm in the pot I want.
This is it moved into a different pot.
New Elm into the Walsall Pot. Slightly more trunk line uncovered.
and side by side with a golf ball for scale.
Michael brought along a few trees on Saturday to repot and a bag of biscuits too, top bloke 🙂
This little Japanese White Pine was over due a repot and was growing in very compacted akadama. It got a new pot that was a more suitable colour than the original cream one. Original post about this tree HERE
This Cedar also got a repot.
The jin in the middle of the shari is an add on but very well done.
Last up from Michael was this Scots Pine.
A productive afternoon.
Stephen repotted his Raulii at my place yesterday. It was in a very shallow training pot and he brought along two pot options and we opted for the oval cream pot.
This was it before the start of the work. There was two possible fronts, this one with this nebari.
and this one which we finally opted for.
The root mass was shallow but was solid fine roots with no heavy stubs to be pruned. The previous owner had done a great job in the development.
Stephen taking a few record shots with his camera. Maybe he’ll actually get around to posting them on his own blog 😉
Washing out the roots to get rid of some old compacted garden soil.
an even bigger nebari is uncovered and was the reason for picking this as the front.
It’s new home.
The tree potted up.
I had hoped to repot this last Sunday but ran out of time. A week later it has opened further and I had to get it done today. Stephen and Michael came over to my place and did a little repotting of their own. Stephen was able to help me man handle the Trident as the rock made it rather hard to work with.
This was it before we started.
As you can see the rock over hangs the pot and I wanted to incorporate the rock within the pot this time around. I bought a nice Walsall Ceramic pot for it last week from Willowbog Bonsai.
When I removed the Tree from the pot I was able to see how it had been wired in last time. I decided that I was probably best to follow a similar process this time too.
I pulled out two wedges from the mix that had been used to get the tree sitting at the right angle and position.
This is it after root pruning and washing out.
I prepared the new pot with wooden supports for the tree and to aid the tying in of the tree.
Once we got it potted up, it got a good watering in. The mix is akadama and kyodama.
This is the final image. I much prefer the new look and am delighted with the pot too. It’s at a slighted different angle and rotation in the pot.
Side by side before and after.
Phil called asking if I could help him shift and repot a Yew yesterday.
The Yew came from a club members garden. It was originally 12 feet tall but Phil cut it back and put it in a fish crate back in March 2011. The owner decided a few weeks later that it was too big for him and said Phil could have it.
Now, this presented a problem as it was too big to transport as it sits in a large fish crate. He opted to remove it from the crate and wrap the root ball for transporting back to Belfast, where it would be potted again. As it was big and heavy, he asked me to give him a hand. The plan was to repot and place it in the poly tunnel on the heat bed. Here’s the afternoon in photos.
The tree sitting awaiting collection by Phil.
The tree in the back of the car.
and in the driveway.
When we pulled it out, I was amazed at the new roots produced last year. It had been potted into fine tesco cat litter, finer than we normally use but it had worked well.
On closer inspection we could see the remains of the original burlap sack in there and even the sandy soil that it had contained. It was obvious that the tree hadn’t issued any roots into this old compacted soil. It was important that this was removed now. The best way to do this was using the hose to avoid damaging the new roots. The best way to do it without making a mess of Frankies Drive was to do it into a street drain 🙂
Frankie makes sure all is in order!
Washing out the old soil.
Clear to see the hole left when this is removed. No fresh roots had even tried to fill this area.
A quick check that the mica training pot will work out.
A mix of grit and cat litter, heavier grade, was added and the tree was watered in.
The hose is kept on until the water runs clear. This required two watering sessions before it worked. You can see the murky colour here.
Here’s the tree potted up with Phil standing to attention 😀
The next step was to remove the branches that were never going to be part of the final design. No point in energy being wasted on growth that’s going to be removed. A few of the heavier branches were roughly jinned as the will be deadwood in the final design. This stops the tree from issuing new growth on them in the meantime.
These will be reduced greatly in the future.
After thinning out.
A second watering to get the clear running water.
Next space was created in the tunnel to allow it to be placed onto the heat bed. Not an easy task!
A mild day.
I took a few other snaps in the garden while the sun was out.
Cotoneaster
Korean Fir
Frankies Chinese Elm Hedge!! Full leaf out doors.
and that was me for the day, I buggered off before the clear up started lol.
I started putting videos on you tube back in November for a bit of a laugh and in the hope of promoting the club. I just cast my eye over the stats on some of the videos and am amazed that this one has been viewed 1,169 times in nearly 5 months 🙂
Here’s the tree this week by way of update.
The little Corky Bark Elm I got from Willowbog last time around had budded after repotting into its new pot.
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