Semi Cascade root over rock Squamata project

[benbonsai]

So I have had this semi cascade Squamata growing for around 5 or 6 years now. It hasn’t been a tree that I love or gave a lot of attention. It was rushed into a pot and really jammed in there and required frequent repotting each year as it became root bound. It has now been 2 or 3 years since a repot and it was starting to suffer. So today as I was repotting I realized there were a couple nice tap roots that would work well over a rock and remembered I had a couple good rocks so I have decided to do a root over rock situation. This is the first time I have attempted this. Unfortunately in my haste I didn’t document the process at all, but I have a before and after photo.

The soil is currently completely covering the rock so the roots can extend down below the rock in the next couple years and so the tree can get some good health back.
Over the next couple years I will slowly expose more and more of the rock (I think that’s how it’s done) ??

[BonsaiBobbie]

I have one as well.

Not the same issues / driver as yours. Simply I didn't like it how it was, and had a rock that seemed to work well with it.

For mine, I drilled and araldited some wires into the rock to hold the plant in place (it is on the side of the rock, on a small ledge).

I used raffia to tie the roots around the rock, and hold in the places that I wanted.

For me, I wasn't sure if I was going to rely on some sort of muck where it is fixed to the rock, and / or rely on bottom feeding once it gets to that stage.

Certainly interested in hearing others thoughts. No photos either.

[beanwagon]

I have one that I started a few years ago. The roots do thicken up and clasp the rock if you let it grow unchecked for a few seasons. Contrary to what some told me online

I hope I'm not hijacking your thread with my picks

I have re wrapped the roots to grow another few seasons and have since restyled the top (no current photos)

In hindsight I would have chosen a better/larger rock.

Photos below are in reverse order. Newest progression to older.

[shibui]

There's no real need to uncover roots slowly. Provided the root tips are in soil the rest of the root will still grow and thicken as water/nutrient and food passes back and forth from roots tips to foliage.
The only reasons for covering with soil that I can see are:
a. To encourage more of the shorter roots to grow further down the rock to the soil below. Any growing root tips that are exposed to dry air will die but there's probably way more roots than needed anyway.
b. Soil may put some pressure on the roots to hold them closer to the rock until they harden and set in place.

[benbonsai]

I have one that I started a few years ago. The roots do thicken up and clasp the rock if you let it grow unchecked for a few seasons. Contrary to what some told me online

I hope I'm not hijacking your thread with my picks

I have re wrapped the roots to grow another few seasons and have since restyled the top (no current photos)

In hindsight I would have chosen a better/larger rock.

Photos below are in reverse order. Newest progression to older.

No problem at all, thanks for providing some. I encourage others to post there pics.
Yours is massive. Awesome tree.

I used some wire to keep the roots close to the rock.

[benbonsai]

There's no real need to uncover roots slowly. Provided the root tips are in soil the rest of the root will still grow and thicken as water/nutrient and food passes back and forth from roots tips to foliage.
The only reasons for covering with soil that I can see are:
a. To encourage more of the shorter roots to grow further down the rock to the soil below. Any growing root tips that are exposed to dry air will die but there's probably way more roots than needed anyway.
b. Soil may put some pressure on the roots to hold them closer to the rock until they harden and set in place.

Thanks for the input shibui. As always the most knowledgeable. I had to keep the soil around the rock as the roots didn’t quite reach the bottom yet. Plus the tree wasn’t too healthy so I’d rather not kill too much off just yet.

[beanwagon]

I have one that I started a few years ago. The roots do thicken up and clasp the rock if you let it grow unchecked for a few seasons. Contrary to what some told me online

I hope I'm not hijacking your thread with my picks

I have re wrapped the roots to grow another few seasons and have since restyled the top (no current photos)

In hindsight I would have chosen a better/larger rock.

Photos below are in reverse order. Newest progression to older.

No problem at all, thanks for providing some. I encourage others to post there pics.
Yours is massive. Awesome tree.

I used some wire to keep the roots close to the rock.

Cheers! I'll get some updated pictures soon. These seem to grow fairly rapidly in our climate if put into a large pot, fed a lot and left to grow.

[BonsaiBobbie]

For the sake of the thread, I thought I'd add pics of mine.

The rock takes up most of the pot, so hopefully a good size, relative to the plant.

Ok. Not much to look at, and I didn't really like how it was before (it is a good test of both styling and planning).

I'll let it grow and when it comes time to repot, I'll see where it is up to.

[benbonsai]

Thanks for sharing

Anyone else want to share their root over rock juniper projects?

[BonsaiBobbie]

Hopefully I am not hijacking this thread, but I thought it better to keep together…

I have been thinking about my juniper with spring coming along.

Really it is a case of fighting trying not to do something, but also understanding better what I can do with it with time.

I’m wondering about balancing what is happening above the ground and below giving the slow growing nature of the plant.

Currently the pot getting in the way of “pulling in” the foliage closer to the rock once I remove the soil.

I know juniper squamatas are slow growing, and the roots of this will not have attached to the rock yet (note I have secured by gluing wires into the rock), but am wondering about balancing the two issues.

I only applied raffia to secure the roots.

Thoughts on going forward with the alu approach for the roots, versus something like the muck approach and pulling in the foliage? I am pretty certain roots already extended beyond the bottom of the rock.

I am being kind to myself in comparing my root over rock to this at NBPC : palm:

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It is in a pot like this at the moment…

Great drawing I know!

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This is the concept going forward. Whether using muck over roots or getting nutrients from bottom, I am open to opinions.

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[BonsaiBobbie]

Update. I’ve dived in and repotted using muck to hold the roots.

It is just in an orchid pot with roots down and underneath the rock.

Hopefully it survives. The tree and root system look quite healthy already. So fingers crossed.

I’ll now have to manage my patience before I work out the next steps.

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[BonsaiBobbie]

Thought I might give an update to my juniper here.

I have been pretty quiet on the Bonsai front the last few years for a few reasons, one of which was living in a south facing apartment that was very hard to maintain my plants.

I lost a lot and almost lost this, which is really the first tree that I genuinely created myself.

First potting - 2022

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Recovery going really well nearly killing it - Oct 2024

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Starting to work on shape again - not a great effort

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Summer is being kind - January 2025

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The last photo is before working on it again, and you can see, that I had worked on it immediately after the October 2024 pics.

Given I had taken a lot of the material off in October 2024, I’m really pleased how it is going.

The aim is to develop some pads on the top part of the tree, with the “semi cascade” on the right side of the tree.

I’m not 100% what the cascade will look like with time.

The back is a bit of a mess at the moment. It probably suffered most from the neglect at last place, so it has had some more radical cuts.

Will get some updated photos again when I next trim.

[AndreasM]

Looking great. Curious to see how it develops!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BonsaiBobbie]

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Here it is at the moment. Looking at it now, unless it puts on a lot more growth I will probably leave till next spring.

[BonsaiBobbie]

More for my sake than anyone else’s, here is a pic after one last trim ahead of winter.

Quite pleased how well it has turned around from July / August last year and 18 months of both shade and neglect.

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