For the past year or so, I've started a lot of my trees all over, this casuarina is one of them.
I had this casuarina for 2 years now, it has been in real training for roughly one year -The first year being a "easy bonsai method" approach
I decided to have a go at working on the nebari.
The first year's "easy bonsai method" approach
Followed by me getting some guidance, and finally deciding to place the tree in a training pot to increase the taper and root ball volume [ at that time ].
Its not root bound, but I did not want to wait for it to become root bound.
In this case, root bound would probably mean lots of long lateral roots with feeder roots at the end of those long roots.
The root ball after combing it out.
I washed away most of the soil particles that were tangled in the roots.
Identifying unwanted root structures.
This root heading off in a different direction [crossing over several roots and sticking up high ] was present since the first I bought this tree.
At that time, I though I needed to keep it in order to get a nice nebari.
After I've removed the root mentioned above, that makes a big visual difference.
The roots near the base of the trunk was later untangled with great care.
Bottom view - you can see part of the tangled roots from this shot.
There were also several small tap roots forming that I removed.
After untangling the roots, I gave it another wash to remove the accumulated "mud" and reduce the length of the longer roots to have several roots of roughtly the same length.
I made sure to search and root prune at places that would still leave several feeder roots on the long roots that I was reducing in length.
The white rock was to hold a springy root in place.
Finally filled the rest of the potting soil in.
The tree was kinda unstable, so to prevent it from falling to one side I placed two small bricks on either side of the tree.
That's it.
If there's anything I've missed let me know
Cheers
Xavier
Casuarina : Working on the Nebari
- xtolord
- Aussie Bonsai Fan
- Posts: 248
- Joined: October 28th, 2011, 5:40 pm
- Favorite Species: Ligustrum vulgare
- Bonsai Age: 3
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- Location: Mauritius
- Contact:
Casuarina : Working on the Nebari
My Flickr Bonsai Collection
Mauritius Bonsai Blog
Xavier de Lapeyre
International Consultant of African Bonsai Association (ABA) for East Africa region
Member of World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF)
Mauritius Bonsai Blog
Xavier de Lapeyre
International Consultant of African Bonsai Association (ABA) for East Africa region
Member of World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF)
- Barry1
- Aussie Bonsai Fan
- Posts: 227
- Joined: January 31st, 2012, 1:28 pm
- Bonsai Age: 1
- Location: Australia
Re: Casuarina : Working on the Nebari
Nice post Xavier ! it kooked a lot happier in the training pot than in the original bonsai pot that's for sure . Instead of the bricks you could have tied it to the pot to make it secure
What are your plans for this tree now ?
Cheers
Barry
What are your plans for this tree now ?
Cheers
Barry
- xtolord
- Aussie Bonsai Fan
- Posts: 248
- Joined: October 28th, 2011, 5:40 pm
- Favorite Species: Ligustrum vulgare
- Bonsai Age: 3
- Bonsai Club: none
- Location: Mauritius
- Contact:
Re: Casuarina : Working on the Nebari
Thanks Barry,
thanks for the tip - sometimes Im so focused on one thing, that I loose track of simpler solutions.
Right now, I'm going to let the tree grow and grow.
I'm going to wait until the taper get to a thickness that I like - 1.5x to 2x current trunk thickness, at most 3x but not more.
My guess is that its going to take between 1 to 3 years from now, at most 5 years, but I'm going to start working on the ramifications in 3 years max.
There are several sacrificial branches growing freely.
I'll just leave it that way, I am tampering with the sacrificial branches though, bending, twisting etc.
I'm planning on air layering them in 2-3 years to create other bonsai.
I'm going to check on the roots in 8-16 months from now, and might do more adjustment to it then.
thanks for the tip - sometimes Im so focused on one thing, that I loose track of simpler solutions.
Right now, I'm going to let the tree grow and grow.
I'm going to wait until the taper get to a thickness that I like - 1.5x to 2x current trunk thickness, at most 3x but not more.
My guess is that its going to take between 1 to 3 years from now, at most 5 years, but I'm going to start working on the ramifications in 3 years max.
There are several sacrificial branches growing freely.
I'll just leave it that way, I am tampering with the sacrificial branches though, bending, twisting etc.
I'm planning on air layering them in 2-3 years to create other bonsai.
I'm going to check on the roots in 8-16 months from now, and might do more adjustment to it then.
My Flickr Bonsai Collection
Mauritius Bonsai Blog
Xavier de Lapeyre
International Consultant of African Bonsai Association (ABA) for East Africa region
Member of World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF)
Mauritius Bonsai Blog
Xavier de Lapeyre
International Consultant of African Bonsai Association (ABA) for East Africa region
Member of World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF)
- Barry1
- Aussie Bonsai Fan
- Posts: 227
- Joined: January 31st, 2012, 1:28 pm
- Bonsai Age: 1
- Location: Australia
Re: Casuarina : Working on the Nebari
Sounds all good I hope you continue with your photographic journey of this tree
Barry
Barry