AusBonsai

Here's a couple of pines I've just transferred into bonsai pots. I reckon they are ready to start on the refinement phase of development so the smaller pots should help improve ramification.
These have been potted and refined for a few years now.
and a small exposed root style Japanese Black pine. Exposed roots can b quite ugly but I think these have good flow and position but the ramification needs some more time. Finally a larger shimpaku juniper. I've posted this one before with some discussion of the processes involved on getting this far viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18163&hilit=+shimpaku All the foliage is from grafted branches.

Nice!

All very nice Neil. Look forward to the refinement.

You pines all have a lot of moss/lichen. Do you keep them quite wet?

Love that Red pine - I've never tried growing one, but really would like to.
I'm guessing they are a bit rarer to find?

Neil

you still got that cascade red pine I always eye off floating around ? you potted it up yet?

Great work as usual ,especially like the Juniper...

I do tend to keep most of the nursery on the damp side so moss does enjoy it here. That particular one is an arboreal species. It loves growing up the trunks better than the soil surface. I've taken to spraying it with vinegar to keep it in check. You can see the result on the Black pine root over rock.

Red pines are not quite as common as JBP but you can occasionally find some. I grow a few as cuttings when I can but they go pretty quick whenever I have managed to get some to strike.

The cascade red pine is no longer. I think it died in spring after you were here. maybe I should have sold it to you when I had the chance?

An inspiration as always

Nice shibui!
I see you posted these a week or more ago - but I missed it as I have been busy not being busy (on holiday) so haven't been so vigilant. That ROR Red Pine looks promising and I like the neagari JBP too ... hopefully I can create a few with as much potential. Did you use the technique of building up a pot of coarse gravel (or similar) for the roots to grow through before slowly exposing them over time? (AKA Jonas/Phutu technique). I'm thinking about going down this path with a few of the seedlings I have, would love your take on the process.
Great trees!

That exposed root pine was made in one go.
Normally when repotting young pines I cut all the roots short to encourage root ramification for good nebari. Sometimes the seedling/cutting will have a good bunch of long roots. I could probably have cut the roots short and rearranged the remainder as a flat pad but this one just seemed right for neagari. It was planted straight to the current height with some minor rearrangement of the existing roots to enhance the flow and spread. A couple of years since then to thicken the trunk and to start ramification.
I have seen the coarse gravel technique mentioned for developing both roots and trunks with plenty of random bends. Maybe it has some merit but most roots I see are already pretty random so maybe, like lots of bonsai techniques, just an added complexity that's not really needed? The only reasons I can see for uncovering roots a little at a time is where the roots are not long enough for the desired height or to add extra superfluous steps to a simple process.
When making exposed root bonsai I think it is important to consider the flow and shape of the roots. Many I see are just a tangled or random mess which is actually offputting. Exposed roots should be considered as an extension of the trunk. Try to arrange the roots so that the overall root shape compliments the trunk shape above and continues the trunk taper. Arrange individual roots within the root mass so there is no distracting lines just as you would arrange individual twigs in the branches above.

Thanks for your detailed response, depending on how many seedlings I end up with I’ll most likely try a few different techniques and see what happens. There’s always more than one way to skin a cat, depends on how simple or complex you want to make it I guess!