AusBonsai

This was seed grown approximately 15 year ago , the central leader was removed and only 2 main shoots were retained . Its been pot grown all its life and has slowly matured into this 1.5m long twin leader trunk , Mr Unknown has split it at the fork so its time to do something with it before its completely stuffed. It was a plan to turn it into a raft of some sort from day 1 , now its finally happened .This tray was made a few years ago and has survived the rough treatment dished out around here , its 1 metre long so it will accomadate the raft nicely . With a healthy root mass it will be spread around the tray without trimming . With it potted onto the tray , daylight had faded so its time to call it quits .

Another day and its back into the raft wiring , straping it down and triming as i goA quick top dressing and its finish for now This can grow on and will be re-trimmed at a later date . For now its better than a broken trunk .

Cheers Alpineart

That'll make a great one in the future.

What's the plans for developing nebari on this one? Will you be trying to get roots off the sections of trunk in the soil?

Hi Mo' mate I'm not fussed about growing roots along the trunks as it is more a raft than a sinious root raft . If they take from the severed braches on the underside then its a bonus for fattening the trunks .

Cheers . Alpine

Sounds good either way mate, keep us posted on this it looks quite promising. Top job mate!

hi alpine
i like the choice of raft with this tree, as it uses more of what the tree has to offer. one thing i noticed, it could be the camera angle, it appeared that all the "small trees" emerged along the same straight line. so it looks like it's one tree after another after another after another........... if that's the case, it could be a thought to wire some trunks horizontally backward and some forward on ground level, then point them upward to create some depth and separation from each other.

regards.

Hi Mo' mate it will be a ripper in due course , maybe another 15 years .

Hi bonsaisensation , mate the raft itself has movement , the trunks vary from back to front exit on the raft . Numerous shoots remain for future development of trunks that could easily be wired , the bigger trunks are set around the raft although i did manage to bend the rear main tree backset some 100mm from the main trunk .

There are 10 trunks out of the possible 24 trunks wired and the depth of the raft is around 250mm , some exit directly above the raft while others are bent however the pics don't show the extent or depth . I will take a couple of pics from each end hopefully showing the depth . Without refined wiring it looks rather straight and without depth as you say .

Cheers Guys . Alpine

Alpine

I notice what seems to be wire around the slate/pot. I assume you are wiring the raft down to the pot. Is this the case?

What I normally do, not sure if it is right, glue sticks (chop stick size) to the bottom of the pot. String attached to each stick, often two strings. Strings hanging off the sides of the pot while working on potting the tree. When ready to tie the tree in, tie with the string. Two main reasons: you do not see any evidence of the tree being tied down and after a few years, the string and sticks rot away. By that time the roots are well established.

That's just how I do it. So I thought I would share.

One thing though, looking at this raft, I decided I need a cedar raft of my own. Going shopping over the weekend for a nice cedar.

Hi Gerald , mate there a quite a few ways to secure the raft in . Rough and ready in this case bit like the wiring . The last time i used this tray I secured aluminium strips over the branches and screwed up from underneath . Being villa board with acrylic render it tends to seperate unless secured either through the base or over the outer.

I have around 50 odd Atlas Cedars here all in need of some sort of workover , all have been container grown and root work only , very few have had any formal training .I need to hack and chop them into line along with all the other neglected stock .

Cheers Alpine

A few pics from various anglesTypical of the growth habit of these cedars the side growth exits left or right while very few exit up and down . Some trunk have been as suggested wired to exit back and front of the raft . Around 30 odd branches/side shoots were removed just to get the raft to sit down flat and 2 dozen remain for development purposes over the coming seasons . I would like to have a spare 8 hours to refine the trunks with needle plucking and wiring however there are more improtant jobs to be done around here . I used the excuse regarding the fractured fork between the leaders to construct this piece , that keeps the Wife happy as i saved the tree's life well i did honestly . I have just found an apex on a cascade broken , this time i know who the culprit is my boy riding his mountain bike down the new steps .

Cheers . Alpineart

alpineart wrote:A few pics from various angles

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Typical of the growth habit of these cedars the side growth exits left or right while very few exit up and down . Some trunk have been as suggested wired to exit back and front of the raft . Around 30 odd branches/side shoots were removed just to get the raft to sit down flat and 2 dozen remain for development purposes over the coming seasons . I would like to have a spare 8 hours to refine the trunks with needle plucking and wiring however there are more improtant jobs to be done around here . I used the excuse regarding the fractured fork between the leaders to construct this piece , that keeps the Wife happy as i saved the tree's life well i did honestly . I have just found an apex on a cascade broken , this time i know who the culprit is my boy riding his mountain bike down the new steps .

Cheers . Alpineart

Boys will be boys I guess... But then thats what the Mrs says when I come in from a 4 hour wiring job...

Thanks for the detailed pics mate, it's undoubtedly going to be a show piece in the future. Especially once the bark starts to show some age.

Cheers,
Mo

Hi Mo , it should take off in this tray and hopefully begin to show some aged bark .There is a few lichen growing in and around the trunk whick does look a treat . Karen knows me very well , but always comments positively on the results of these new projects , plus I'm still cleaning up the mess around here .

Cheers .Alpine .

Alpine

Did you grow the 50 cedars or did you buy them from a nursery. Been trying to cultivate cedars from cuttings for years, but very low results.

Hi Gerald , there is a test plot up here which is around 50 acres both Atlantica and Deodara . I found possibly 2 trees in the entire plot that actually self sow viable seed and that maybe just a handful every year and only Atlantica . I have collected around 100 tiny seedlings only months old , first set of needles over the last 15 years .

The swamp wallabies and Kangaroo's usually clean them up very quickly as they are in the grasses and mosses in a specific area in the plot and usually in thick needle litter full of Mycorrhizae .

I have tried to grow them from collected seed , but like a lot of tree's viable seed is hard to find . If only 2 tree's in this plot has viable seed there is a lot of wasted time trying to find a good seed producer. No doubt i could drive up there now and find a dozen new seedlings in the very same area if the wildlife have had a feed .

Cheers .Alpine