windblownhermit

Hi everyone.

This is my first season exploring bonsai and I'm getting started with some trees I got from nurseries. Among them is a mugo pine with a nice upright leader and many branches to choose, but unfortunately not the root base I was hoping for. Basically it looks like an upside down "Y" planted into the ground, with the main roots going downward opposite of each other with no real radial structure appearing at the base. Now I know it's said better to have good nebari in the beginning than any other desirables, but here I am nonetheless.

So I want to know of any and all good ways of developing nebari, especially in mugo pine. I have read of some techniques that involve layering but I have also read that pines do not take layering well, or at least very slowly, like sometimes five years or more for good roots to develop.

What would be the most effective way to accomplish better nebari in this case, and will it take a longer time because it is a pine? This little guy is pretty much fresh from the nursery and the only thing done to it is its been given a larger pot to grow in due to slightly rootbound condition in the nursery pot, so the future is pretty much open to any regimen though as a beginner I'd like to see results sooner than later if there are any shortcuts.

Advertisement