AusBonsai

Jow's thread on growing good bonsai stock, raised some very interesting points and ideas on how to create good nebari [AKA surface roots].

In order to assist us all grow better stock therefore helping to improve the art of bonsai in Australia, I have split relevant posts so we can continue the discussions and trial the ideas generated.

Kindly share your experience, information or theories on how to improve basal flare/nebari and include photos where possible. We can then all trial the ideas generated and post our experiments and nebari adventures here to inspire others (please post your trials in this thread rather than starting new ones).

If you are going to try these techniques, I encourage you to try with a few plants rather than just one and photograph the process. In a few years time you can keep the best and sell or trade the rest consequently helping to improve the bonsai stock in Australia.

Regards,
Steven

Here is a use for old/defunct CDs/DVDs that no longer work etc. I was able to get my hands on a whole stack of old software CD's and thought of a possible use for them.

One thing I tried with seedling tridents last spring was when I root pruned them I threaded the seedling through the middle hole of 3 CD's held together. This would act like a torniqet and would hopefully ground layer the seeding and caused a nice flat nebari to form. I'll be leaving them for a couple of years before I lift them though but is another experiment I thought was worth the effort.

David N

I am trying this exact thing with a crape myrtle. We will see what happens! I did it back in January and the little guy has put on quite a lot of new growth. I won't even check on it for at least another year.

Great minds think alike, as I am also trying the cd thing, but with a single cd, not 3. I will let you know how it goes.

JayC

Bonsai4me.com :: Developing A Multi-trunk or Clump-Form Bonsai

Using a timber board..... same process, will have the same result.

Old cd's, or computer discs that contain outdated programs, or even cd's that come with mags etc are often thrown out into landfill. This gives them a bit of a use. They already have a hole in them, and should be very easy to find. They also minimize evaporation of water under the trunks, just make sure you have a large pot with very free draining mix. Id save good timber for something else.

JayC

Re:cd`s I read somewhere that they tend to break during the layering process, but perhaps having 3 of them would solve this....

I planted a few with cd's a couple of years back. Due to be checked this spring. I think they will have ended up cracking as Jow has stated.

At the School of Bonsai, we advocate using a ceramic tile instead of CD. Drill a hole in it, poke the tree through and plant.

Easy to do and a tile will never break if you are careful. Once you cut the roots off under it you can even reuse them.

All you potter types should be able to make heaps easily too.

kcpoole wrote:All you potter types should be able to make heaps easily too

I have been eying of reclaimed clay to use for this. I tried drilling holes in plates as Peter Adams suggests in his book Bonsai with Japanese Maples but I must need a better drill bit
I will have to try a tile and see if that is any better.

Peter Adams also suggests using holes around the outside of the plate as well so they can be used to tie roots into position. The idea of using plates is that when the tree is ready you can just smash the plate to remove tree.
I would think you could cut the tree of if using a steel plate but unsure if any one has gotten that far with steel?

How about the illusive bonsai by numbers. I plan on scanning a forrest placement diagram and transfer this to a slab of clay making holes where idicated. Poke trees through holes and in a few years the roots will fuse giving a bonsai by numbers result.

3mm aluminium sheet is easy to cut and drill.. thats what i have use previously...

The idea behind the hole is that as the trunk fills the hole up it hits the edges and begins to layer itself, hopefully producu\ing a prefect flat and fine nebari. As this nebari is formed after the trunk has some girth the roots are finer and more ballanced. Often when placing a tile under a tree with no holes you get one or two roots that become dominant.

Both methods are valid.

The other usefull method is to have a hole in the center and 5 or so holes surounding this one evenly. place cuttings/ seedlings in each hole. as they grow they will layer new roots which in turn will fuse. You can then cut off the surounding trunks and leave only the central one (which will now have a very big plate like nebari.

Hi
I was repotting some trees today and on of them was my "Holey Ron" of Crepe Myrtle Cuttings

2 years ago I threaded 4 cuttings thru holes in a tile and potted them up. The theory is that they will spread out above the tile and make a really wide Root base when they combine. After y0ou have the base you want, then cut the roots off under the tile and take it off.
Then treat the upper tree as any bonsai and style as desired.
Here are some photos I took to illustrate

The following pictures and text are reproduced with permission from Wayne Schoech. The original articles can be found at BonsaiBark.com.
This technique for developing mind bending nebari (surface roots) is so simple that pretty much anyone can do it. The species used here is Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), though the technique will no doubt work on other deciduous cuttings.

All you need to try it is:
* a cutting (or cuttings),
* a piece of tile,
* a drill (see below) with a 5 to 6mm bit.

If you want to develop a single trunk bonsai, drill one hole. For a double trunk tree, drill two holes and so on.
Here’s a big hunk of the rest of the original images, which appeared in Bonsai Today issue 8.
Now get busy Australia and start working on great surface roots as well as crazy twisted stock! Don't forget to post your experiences and results here.

Regards,
Steven

there is also a method to widen the nebari use a plane once you have the spread set. Sadly though its not available online, so it gives members a chance to discredit me on the issue....