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Suiseki Mountaineer
Join Date: Jun-2006
Location: Doncaster
Country: England
Posts: 233
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Hi Dale,
The tile technique works very well - I have a maple i started 10 years ago in a growing bed that has a very nice Nebari. My advice to you if you are going on the growbed path is to retain sacrifice branches low down on the trunk and let them grow wild (if possible keep these branches at the back of your tree) so that the base of the tree fattens up.
Plant the young seedling at a gentle angle if you are going down the informal upright style and keep the shape fairly feminine as this style mirrors the leaves and trunk of this species. Select a new bud / branch to form a new leader and train it up (be very careful if you use wire as it will bite in much quicker than if in a pot!). Use full strength fertiliser (a balanced one like Miracle-gro or the excellent Seaweed extract organic plant growth stimulant by Maxicrop) every 2 weeks.
Good luck - if you want advice trimming your baby trees take a snap and post it here.
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