Have You Thought About Field Growing?

[Steven]

Have You Thought About Field Growing?
Reproduced for AusBonsai.com with permission from Wayne Schoech.

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One of the reasons the Japanese have so many well developed bonsai is field growing. In the west, we tend to grow bonsai stock in containers. In Japan, most stock is field grown; you’ve no doubt noticed the strikingly powerful Japanese Black Pines in the two photos above (from Morten Albek’s Shohin Bonsai). Though I don’t know how old those massive trunks are, my best guess is they are around fifteen or so, even though they look much, much older.

I used to grow all my stock in containers, now I grow almost all in the field, or more accurately, in my yard. I just incorporate them into my landscaping (some will no doubt just stay there), which tends to be Japanese influenced with a certain rocky Vermont feel. Lots of junipers and dwarf and miniature conifers cultivars, as well as collected larch, spruce, cedars, maples, balsam fir, hemlocks and others. Right now, I have about a hundred potential bonsai in the ground and hundreds more planned (eight acres helps).

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So far, the larch (Larix laricina) are the most responsive, with rapidly expanding trunks and plentiful branching (the Larch above is from the cover of Nick Lenz’s Bonsai from the Wild; it was originally collected in the wild, so you could say it was field grown by Mother Nature). Larch love water and no doubt respond to my compulsive watering disorder. The soil here is very sandy, and the land is almost floating on water with several springs, a natural pond and a very generous drilled well. When Al’s big drought comes, we’ll be the last to know it.

One disadvantage to plentiful watering is leaching nutrients out of the soil. My solution is to top dress with partially broken down cedar mulch and to add plenty of local organic fertilizer. Fresh wood chips rob the soil of nitrogen (which they give back later when they break down) so it’s best to wait until they’ve aged a couple years before you use any.

I plan to feature field growing fairly regularly, so stay tuned. I’d like to show you some pictures, but right now everything is hidden under an impressively thick white blanket. In about three months the action starts and I’ll post some photos then.

Meanwhile, it’s not too early to start planning for the spring.

Original article published in BonsaiBark.com Stay tuned for the next installment!

[Jarrod]

I am currently obtaining stock and getting the movement and nebari right before i put them in the ground.

So i hope to have some in the ground before next spring.

[Macros]

hey Steven,
Great thread, this excites me slightly, (as my wife moans) I have though about it, but as most people realise, it just never gets put into fruision. Do you do anything to limit the root spread??
I have been told to but cheap plates from the $2 shop under them to help with the roots not growing straight down?? A bit like a growing box I guess?

The soil at my area is a hard clay, so I think I would need either alot of Jypsum and fert, or dig out a large proportion and put in some better quality soil. Anythings possible?


Thanks,
Mac

[Bretts]

Hey Macro as I stated in Gabbly Chat, Clay soil is not that bad after plenty of compost is added. I just found a site that goes further into this.
http://www.allotment.org.uk/fertilizer/ ... anures.php
The horse manure I get for free from local horse track has alot of sawdust but as it is free I will make the best of it.

Great article Steven and Bonsai Bark website is a great resource thanks kindly.
I have taken over all the garden beds in the back yard with my field growing. After two years it is time for a make over.

[Asus101]

I had hard clay soil up the back, but with some work its now light and airy. I spent $60 on a load of cow poo and mushroom compost.

Adding firt wont help much, you want to think about water retention first. Remember roots can roam in the ground, but once clay is dry and going hard in the sun (or compounded sandy soil) good luck and have fun getting it to retain water.
Get the organic material up (do it now) and work the soil. Also a compost heap works well....

[Kelv]

Field growing is definitely something I wanna get into, some nice tips here!

My garden however appears to be quite the clay! As during the rain we get a good bit of waterlogging in the soil...
Though I'm not certain actually, since some dropped trident seed self propagated in the garden from last Spring and are probably a good 60cm now!
What do you think? =S

[LLK]

As a matter of interest, field growing has been practised in Australia too, for a long time. Most people here will be aware of it, I guess. Commercial growers, who were prepared to spend all the time and money needed over many years, have had a lot of success, but many amateurs, who jumped on the same bandwagon, jumped off again, sadder and wiser after their disappointments. Me included. And so we flood the local bonsai scene with our inferior stock, for ex. trees that will need root correction for years to come, or that will have to have big branches removed, leaving huge scars left, right and center.

For goodness sake, everyone, before you start field growing on a big scale, work out carefully whether you'll have the time and the dough to look after your trees properly.

Here are examples of my own mistakes.

Lisa

[Steven]

Field Growing 2: Native soil
Reproduced for AusBonsai.com with permission from Wayne Schoech.

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I once read a report from Cornell University about the advantages of planting trees directly into the native soil, rather than the common practice of digging in soil amendments, a practice that may be good for the garden center’s bottom line, but not so good for your plants.

If you think about it, it makes sense; if you create a pocket of richer soil, then the roots tend to stay in that pocket. In the not-so-long-run, this causes slower growth and increased susceptibility to drought and winter kill (this may be more relevant to landscape planting than to field growing bonsai, but in my case it works for both).

Ever since I read the Cornell report, I’ve been simply digging a hole and planting. What a relief! No tedious time consuming soil prep. This frees me up to plant more and do other things I enjoy.

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I’m lucky that my soil is sandy so I don’t have to worry about drainage; it can rain as much as it wants and I can water to my heart’s content. If your soil is heavy and doesn’t drain so well, then it’s time to think about raised beds, but that’s a topic for another post.

Sandy soil also makes fertilizing easier. Basically, you can feed freely. I like organic ferts, so I buy various locally produced stuff (and sometimes fish/seaweed and other mild liquids) and just sprinkle it on the soil and let it leach down to the roots.

Even if you use harsh chemicals you can fertilize fairly liberally if you have good drainage, because the drainage insures that there won’t be excessive build up of chemicals around the roots.

Enough for now. Stay posted.

Original article published in BonsaiBark.com Stay tuned for the next installment!