Suitable Sized Root Over Rock

Cre8tive

I have read various articles about root over rock styling and believe I have a general understanding of how to actually accomplish it.

The example in "The complete book of bonsai" by Harry Tomlinson uses a seedling. My question is: Does it have to be a seedling or should it be close to the size of the expected final product?

Regards,
Mark

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TreeBay

No, it doesn't have to be a sapling, but your success will depend on the conformity of tree and stone. You could, conceivably, plant a mature bonsai on a stone if you found the right tree and the right stone! Younger trees have more malleable root systems, so you could make a young tree conform to stones of different shapes.

Regards,

Matt

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Cre8tive

Thanks Matt.

If I wanted a large root over rock, say 4 inch diameter trunk, would I:

Create it using common methods with a sapling (taking 1-2 yrs)

Then plant it in the ground or grow box until desired trunk diameter had been reached?

I realize choosing a rock of suitable size to complement the end result as opposed to the sapling would be necessary.

Does this sound correct?

Regards,
Mark

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ART - An object or event that evokes an aesthetic reaction—a sense of beauty, appreciation, harmony, and/or pleasure; the quality, production, expression, or realm of what is beautiful or of more than ordinary significance; the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria

TreeBay

That is A way. The correct way is the one that gives you the results you want, OR teaches you something, OR gives you the satisfaction of having done it yourself OR gives you the fastest possible result OR the biggest bang for the buck OR makes best use of a cherished plant OR an otherwise worthless piece of stock, OR

So you can't have it all. What you're suggesting is a reasonable approach. Usually, the sooner you can combine the plant and stone, the more convincing the result. Some people will get a tree going with longish roots and then friction tape it to a stone and bury the whole thing in the ground or within a plastic pot buried partway in a larger growing container, exposing the plant an inch or so each year, which encourages the roots to grow downward. Maybe duct tape would work!

Do try more than one way, and experiment as you go to see what works best. Popular species for root over rock are Trident Maples, Pines, Pyracantha or Cotoneaster and probably some others I'm forgetting at the moment. With the exception of pine, the other trees offer root systems that are exceptionally well adapted to container growth. Although, you probably could adapt many other species. Poor choices might be trees that use a lot of water or trees that don't look right in the alpine environment. Birch, Baldcypress, Wisteria and Redwood would be on my "NO" list. Juniper should do okay.

Regards,

Matt

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