AusBonsai

I am fortunate that with a new house purchase comes a fair amount of space for some dedicated field growing beds. My aim is to produce relatively large trunks with good negative of trident maple, Chinese elm, Zelkova, and possibly some black pine and shimpaku.

I will be planting on tiles to help with the roots, and depending on growth rates will be root pruning every year or two (possibly more than two depending on the growth). I am only looking at trunk growth and roots for the maple, elm and Zelkova, but will work on branches of the pine and shimpaku.

So a few questions. What is the best spacing to use? Is there any difference in the amount or type of fertiliser to be used? Is there any advantage in using raised beds as opposed to just planting out.

Thanks in advance.

Look on page 3 of this post... Be warned, what you are about to see may very well be harmful
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19507&hilit=japan+trip&start=30

I know. Was in Japan for the last month and saw the nurseries at Omiya and a few other places

One thing that surprised me though was the quality of the stock and the realisation that there is no reason I can't grow the same quality of stock plants with a bit of time and patience. And if you look past some of the masterpieces, a lot of what was being sold in the nurseries we could achieve if we concentrated on having good stock material to start with

Craigg wrote:One thing that surprised me though was the quality of the stock and the realisation that there is no reason I can't grow the same quality of stock plants with a bit of time and patience. And if you look past some of the masterpieces, a lot of what was being sold in the nurseries we could achieve if we concentrated on having good stock material to start with

If time and space permit, then go for it. most people aren't going to have the room in a backyard to plant stock. Patience is always something we humans have trouble finding also... Good luck to you

It is also a matter of 'survival of the fittest'. If I was dumb enough to ground grow stock at my place, trying to retrieve the stock later on could prove deadly owing to the funnel webs or adders that live in that vegetative soup.... and to a lesser degree the redbacks. Not to mention the jumping ants that just love to bite soft supple skin when you disturb their grounds.

Rory wrote:It is also a matter of 'survival of the fittest'. If I was dumb enough to ground grow stock at my place, trying to retrieve the stock later on could prove deadly owing to the funnel webs or adders that live in that vegetative soup.... and to a lesser degree the redbacks. Not to mention the jumping ants that just love to bite soft supple skin when you disturb their grounds.

Funnel webs aren't all that bad, I could teach you my tried and true method for catching them. I could even teach your kids, that way it keeps you out of harms way (until the missus finds out ).

At least the adders would eat the wallabies...

Seen shots before, Thailand I think, where they roll out parallel rolls of weedmat with a small gap say 800mm between in which trees are planted in. Not sure if this is so they can sit on ground to work on plants or to stop competition from weeds. Expect lots of weeds if you are ferting and watering intensely!!!

How far apart you plant depends on the size of the rootsystem and speed of growth expected. As long as you can dig each tree out without damaging the roots of adjacent plants and plants aren't so close they're shading each other you should be ok.

Sent from my SM-T530 using Tapatalk

Craigg wrote: So a few questions. What is the best spacing to use? Is there any difference in the amount or type of fertiliser to be used? Is there any advantage in using raised beds as opposed to just planting out.

Hello,

Ground growing is a great way to get good stock yourself relatively cheap (with a bit of time). I have done black pines like this and get great results.

Raised beds? This depends on the soil quality. Raised beds are more work, but you will get better drainage and control the soil used. I use concrete blocks for a raised bed as it is easy to build and holds well. THis brings the tree height up for easier maintenance and also makes digging out easier (just remove the black sides to get to root ball)
Spacing? This is tough, but think about the size you want to get the tree to grow to and work with that size. Branches should have plenty of room for light? On the other side, too much space and you are wasting space for more trees.
Fertilizer? THe same can be used, but the soil will hold the fertiliser more which is a benefit to the tree.
Growing beds can be as big or small as you want depending on space available and time you have for maintenance.
I get just as much enjoyment growing stock with potential as i do styling a potted tree.


AG

Jarad wrote:

Rory wrote:It is also a matter of 'survival of the fittest'. If I was dumb enough to ground grow stock at my place, trying to retrieve the stock later on could prove deadly owing to the funnel webs or adders that live in that vegetative soup.... and to a lesser degree the redbacks. Not to mention the jumping ants that just love to bite soft supple skin when you disturb their grounds.

Funnel webs aren't all that bad, I could teach you my tried and true method for catching them. I could even teach your kids, that way it keeps you out of harms way (until the missus finds out ).

At least the adders would eat the wallabies...

The rules for catching a funnel web usually only apply on flat surfaces I can assure you. Try doing it in the bush, and you are very likely to get bit. The females are very fast and duck and weave under leaves and scrub. Even if you jump on them, they'll just bury themselves under the leaves and come up and bite you on the ankle.

The adders that live here on the coast wont eat wallabies. The adders all throughout the scrub here are only slightly thicker than a pen, and the length of a keyboard. They sit and wait for rodents and frogs etc. They will only attack if provoked or you are rustling around them.

anyway... this is getting off topic.

I plant at about 60-80 cm apart. That leaves enough room for the trees to grow a bit and still enough to get the shovel in between when digging them up again.
I add manures to the beds before planting. The ground holds nutrients much better than potting mix so don't need to keep fertilising but I suspect that regular supplementary feed could improve growth rates.
I have not used raised beds for bonsai but I can see that it would be easier to dig under the trees to get them out if you could remove the sides and dig. Raised beds do need more water.

Note that you should sort out roots and spread them out evenly before planting stock in the ground. Nothing worse than digging up a good trunk with all the thick main roots twisted and wrapped around each other and the trunk.

Thanks Shibui, just what I needed to know. 60-80cm spacing a it is.

Hopefully in a few years I will have some good stock to work with. In the meantime I will just have to buy some decent stock to work on.

Mind you I learnt a bit about adders and funnel webs. We only have Browns and red backs around here.

Craigg wrote:Thanks Shibui, just what I needed to know. 60-80cm spacing a it is.

Hopefully in a few years I will have some good stock to work with. In the meantime I will just have to buy some decent stock to work on.

Mind you I learnt a bit about adders and funnel webs. We only have Browns and red backs around here.

If you start acquiring cuttings and seeds for your grow beds now, then when your beds are ready you will have plenty of stock to plant.

Rory wrote: The rules for catching a funnel web usually only apply on flat surfaces I can assure you. Try doing it in the bush, and you are very likely to get bit. The females are very fast and duck and weave under leaves and scrub. Even if you jump on them, they'll just bury themselves under the leaves and come up and bite you on the ankle.

I grew up in the bush, I know all about them. Hence why I said "tried and true"

Rory wrote: The adders that live here on the coast wont eat wallabies. The adders all throughout the scrub here are only slightly thicker than a pen, and the length of a keyboard. They sit and wait for rodents and frogs etc. They will only attack if provoked or you are rustling around them.

What type do you have near you? They sound like babies.

Rory wrote: anyway... this is getting off topic.

Agreed.