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Originally Posted by Larry
Thankds for the help Matt!
As a practice piece, i have a black Alder(different leaves to the UK native) in the garden that i dug up as a twisty sapling last year. It has produced a mass of foliage since and long shoots, but there are plenty of low shoots and I do believe this species backbuds easily. (I also forced one branch to grow horizontally by laying a small forked twig over the branch, so i should get an interesting shape when I dig it up next year!)
But how do i reduce a massive rootball to one that will fit in a tiny pot?
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As in all things bonsai: WITH TIME!
Two schools of thought- All in one fell swoop- if the material can't survive the creation process then it let it be damned. OR, only take off 30-40% at a time allowing the tree to recover between sessions...
Depends on one's philosophies, the type of tree, health status, etc...
Start by taking off all massive roots that have few feeders then some bottom material... Then work on pushing your lateral roots back.
Your goal: Ideally you have top roots that are your "nebari" that are really a facade. On the entire underside is a mass of fine feeder roots.
Each time you repot you should nick any bare underside without fine roots and rub in a little hormone.
Jim Stone
TX