Bonsai Maintenance: Getting Down Into the Roots [Bonsai]
Welcome to another bonsai article by @creativetruth. Today I am sharing the Emerald Queen of my collection. This posting is safe for work, even though it is X-Rated. I'll be undressing this tree from her pink skirt to see what's underneath. Don't worry, nothing lewd will be shared here. The X is for eXcavating!
By the end of this post you will have seen photos of all the steps I went through to get this tree into a bonsai pot to keep it healthy and beautiful for the new year ahead. I think you'll enjoy the makeover results.
Historical Details of this Tree:
ID: 0001
Nickname: Ozma
Type: #Arborvitae
Age: 5 or 6 years
Grown: yamadori (I think I cut it from the root where it was growing as a sucker weed)
Last repotting: On this day, November 9, 2018. Previously 2016
A few days before I select a pot, I like to arrange my trees inside the new pots to see how they look. Is the shape and color right? Will they fit?
By taking a photo at low profile like this, I can quickly see how much of the roots and soil will need to be removed from the entire mass. I can see how much new soil I will need to provide to fit the space. Will the tree still be able to support itself in its current size if I remove almost a third of the roots? I think so, but let's find out...
Before uprooting the tree, I prepared the wires and screens over the holes in the pot. This pot was donated to me by an old veteran bonsai grower from my local bonsai club. He didn't want it anymore because it has a chipped surface bit off on one side. Fortunately there is no crack running through the pot, so that means it is still structurally strong, and I do not mind have a chip showing on the back side.
The wires were threaded on a diagonal, to provide greater strength when they are tightened. When I guide the wires around the tree roots, they will be threaded along an upward diagonal as well.
Imagine what might happen if I guided the wires vertically or horizontally for a tree that had been growing in a pot too tall and narrow, like the pink pot my tree is in. The wires would have nothing on the tree to grab onto, only the soft soil.
It is very important that the wires grip as close to the trunk as possible to hold the tree down against the pot as sturdy as possible. This will keep the tree upright and strong.
The base of the new pot is filled with 100% horticultural pumice. You can read my article about this amazing soil material here. This layer is going to prevent the roots from rotting, by draining water quickly into the holes of the pot. Roots will also be able to spread and divide into many rootlets.
For the surrounding soil, I decided to add my bonsai pine bark blend to more pumice. The blend also contains some lava rock, akadama clay, and other sandy minerals. My blend is probably 2/3 to 1/2 full of pumice, because I know conifers prefer more of an inorganic soil.
Since my tree has been living in a soil that is mostly organic mass, I did not want to drastically change to full inorganic. Having a bit of both types of soil, I believe, will allow the tree to adapt more easily to the sudden change. Organic soil also better protects the tree during the months with the most extreme ice and heat, and I get a lot of both in my climate zone.
To remove the tree, I used a dinner knife to slide around the edges of the pink plastic pot. Never yank a tree out by the trunk, as it may snap the tree in half, or sever all the roots. Loosen the soil around the edges until the tree slides out freely. I also push chopsticks through the drain holes to help separate the roots from the base of the pot. The base of the pot is where most of the strongest roots were heading, as you can see in this photo.
Woah! Look at the indentation!
This tree definitely needed out of that pot. When the roots are all forming thickly around the base of the pot, but hardly filling the soil the in the middle layer, that means that the tree is not living up to its full potential. The pot is too tall. The soil is not ideal.
With a wide bonsai dish (pot), the roots will still spread out along the bottom in the same way, but they will not have as far vertically to travel through the soil to get to the trunk. Shorter roots can feed a thirsty bonsai tree much faster. A wider root-base will also keep the tree stronger, and give the tree a handsome appearance.
Aesthetically, viewers tend to have a sense of peacefulness when seeing that the tree is well balanced and able to hold itself up because it has strong roots.
This photo almost gives me goosebumps, because I have heard speeches from bonsai master speak about the sheen of top roots, and now I can bare witness to it.
The sheen is a mesh of fine roots that grow just under the surface soil. It forms almost a sponge and develops a symbiotic life-cycle with the fungi, moss, worms, and the bacteria in the soil. The soil in this layer can contain more organic matter, to hold onto more moisture, because sunlight radiation will dry these roots out very quickly if we are not careful to keep them moisturized. Together with the root-sheen, the rainwater, tree litter, and fertilizer that lands on the surface soil, these things pass through the sheen. Similar to the baleen inside mouth of a whale. It passes through the screen of roots, and the tree has access to everything it needs, but only absorbs it when it needs nutrients.
Sort of like my bank account.
So far, I have only combed out the loose soil, and the root ball does not fit in the pot. The root line must be below the top edge of the soil, which will be slightly under the top edge of the pot.
Time for surgery.
Thought I was going to start by cutting the bottom off? Wrong!
The top soil is scrapped off first using a metal hand rake. Yes, I have to disturb the delicate sheen of roots, to find out where the actual root level begins.
There isn't any signs of a nebari that I could find forming on this tree. That's what we really want to see in a high quality bonsai tree. It might be a few more years before any of the top roots start to thicken up. For now the tree is doing what it needs for growth by developing a full sheen of feeder roots.
After raking the top layer and combing through the roots, I was able to remove about a half a centimeter of loose soil from the top. Anything I can do to remove less roots from the size of the root ball the better.
Eventually the long spaghetti roots on the bottom did have to go. All of those roots were spinning around in circles, and none of them were branching into rootlets. They look like strong copper wire to me. That's because the bottom roots are designed for flexibility and strength.
In natural disasters, such as forest fires, landslides, floods, and erosion, trees in nature will rely on the deepest taproots to restore the tree back to health. For instance, if a tree were to fall over, all the top roots would die in the sunlight, and it can use the deep lower roots to develop new growth into the new top soil. Some trees actually benefit from these extreme conditions, as it discards the old wood, and regenerates new growth to extend the tree to greater, godly heights.
In bonsai, we don't need deep taproots to support enormous trees that need to support themselves through centuries of disasters. Bonsai trees get the full spa treatment. They get daily watering, soil replacement, fertilizer, and ideal light and heat conditions being met by the slave, I mean, caretaker who looks after it.
Pet-owners, you know what I'm talking about. Is the pet truly the pet, or is the trained caretaker, responsible for their needs? The master is often the pet.
Finally cut this tree down to size at the root level. It still has a nice thick root ball to work with. Looks like it will now fit inside the pot.
Twist the wires and tighten things up.
Chopsticks are used to poke out the air pockets, and stuff the soil deeply between the roots. Remove all the big air pockets, and make sure the tree is very snug and doesn't slide around in the soil.
The work is complete!
Some of the smaller roots are curling upwards, but they are still mostly inside the soil. The air, cold, and sunlight will eventually kill off the roots that are sticking out on top, and I can always trim them off when they become dead and brittle. Right now these roots are like wire springs. They won't stay buried no matter what I do. These roots are very much alive and still providing energy to the tree, so there is no benefit to remove them.
In a bonsai exhibition, the young exposed roots of a newly potted tree might be removed immediately to show a cleaner looking soil surface, however they would have also drained the tree of potential energy stored inside those living roots!
One day I hope to find roots like this growing around the base of my tree. This photo is of trees that grow in the park areas around a parking lot at a shopping center. Inside the paved barriers the tree roots have nowhere else to go, and they will focus on growing roots closest to the top soil where all the litter collects, providing the nutrients the tree needs to survive inside its small cage.
I may not get a thick root nebari around the trunk, but I think my tree has a good chance of developing this kind of weaving design of roots through the top soil.
This tree has certainly come a long, long way since it was first snipped from its umbilical root, and added to my home.
The greatest thing about roots is that they remind us where we came from. They are our heart and strength. Roots are with us from the very beginning until the very end. #Roots are formed from the earliest days of forming a family, and forever connect us to our family and home, even when they are physically gone, they are still there. So many other things tend to take greater focus in our lives, to meeting our daily and future needs, yet how often do we take the time to tap into the deepest roots to see what they are still capable of.
Limitless potential.
Bonus
Here is a quote of great #truth and #wisdom I once ran with when I was younger, and recently rediscovered through the mud of the internet.
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Author of The Little Prince
Photo provided by Imgur
Above: Gene Wilder posing as The Tamed Fox shares this golden secret in The Little Prince.
Remember where you came from this #Thanksgiving Holiday. Feast on delicious foods to better reminisce on past memories.
Be glad again for those who cared for you even when you were once wild, reckless, and free.
When memories shape our reality, our emotions can allow us to do anything.
Photos in this post are all #originalworks by @creativetruth, unless stated otherwise.
Find me on discord and chat with other tree growers, bonsai enthusiasts, and gardeners. We have quite a few accredited experts filling out our ranks, and a helpful Spanish-speaking community.
Bonsai!
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What a remarkable process! Thanks for sharing your bonsai experience @creativetruth. Interesting (and often true) saying. The master often becomes the pet.....
Thanks for checking it out @buckaroo. I'm really proud of this tree.
You have every reason to be!
This is a very lovely tree. I wish it the best in its new home. Lovely quote to finish up post.
Great job. Like the tree. I see a lot of nice feeder roots in the photos this tree is nice and healthy.
Hope to see more of this tree in future.