Alpineart's Blog

This is a similar method to a Pheonix Graft without a trunk or base to start with . I first carve grooves into a nice piece of volcanic rock . These will accomodate the roots for the feature required. Using about 30 whips i gather half of them a place into a reasonable order having the roots in the desired areas necessary for the arrangement over the rock then tie off with string .Placing the trunk over the rock i then place the roots into the grooves as desired and then secure to the rock with more string .Adding more whips into the gaps until all is full spreading the finer roots of the first lot of seedlings i place the remainder of the larger roots into the grooves .Then with string attach securely to the rock . Remove the first string that held the whips together and with another wind around the gathered seedlings to form the shape of the desired curve/profile you are seeking .If the curves are pre set they tend to take the stress off the whips rather than trying to bend later .Continue his all the way up to the apex , placing a fork or devision into the trunks .Wrap with heavy wire and style the tree prior tto potting .I used a pupose made split pot for surrounding the roots and rock and added a shade cloth sleeve to ensure there was enough soil to completely cover the roots

These were collected tree with no real character at the time of collection , my thoughts at the time were Why Bother. I did and now i’m impressed with the resulting progression of the 2 trees . Originally potted into a 350 mm planter bag the repotted into this pot as a trainer . The mix in which these 2 resided in was 60% soft red scoria and 40 % old aged pine bark both sieved from 8 mm minus and washed to remove the dust and fines ..The resulting root growth is testament to this potting mix for pines and Cedars . The roots were all but non existant and i doubted these would survive . I applied the wire prior to repotting and position the branches using a hook and hold method that has countless advantages over conventional wiring . Shade cloth slings are placed over the branches to prevent any damage and the hooks are attached to these .While they don’t look fantastic , i’m not into making “pretty boy trainers” if it work and works well i use it .With the trees repoted i attached a trunk block and prop to aid in the trunk bending .These will now rest for a few weeks before a trim and style takes place