Tree Planting On Rock

ozzerbon

Opinions sought after very seriously, please.

Had a bonsai dealer in my apartment today and added a further 20 trees to my collection, some of which are quite surprising, like an Exposed root, yamadori Ilex, and a Pinus Thunbergii Corticosa - cork pine, to name but two.

The moment when I can get to taking stock of my excitement, I shall get down to do some pics to upload, but until then, I would like to have your input regarding what does one do with the rock?

Like for instance, does one glue/cement the rock into the pot?

This I am very loathe to do as the 'old' Japanese pot that I have picked up, a large, flatish, cream on brown coloured, with a very interesting riffled edge, is to my eyes very beautiful. My overall plan is to create a small landscape scene with 5 yamadori Larix,
[grazed by Dutch sheep] and the ground will be covered with a generous layer of rich mosses.

Hoping for some good advice....Nigel

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Attila

The last couple of years I've attended a few saikei and penjing demos here in Los Angeles. The landscapes these artists assembled had a considerable number of rocks (more than 5, sometimes over 10) and they allways glue the rocks to the tray. They used waterproof cement (plastic-based) which lasts longer. In case of a shallow pot/tray, if you don't use glue, it takes very little for the rocks to roll off the pot. A rock that is slightly out of place can easily ruin the whole effect. Plus, you have to reinvent the lanscape every time you repot.

If you are only using one or two rocks and a deeper pot, you could get away without the glue. However, lanscapes are much more convincing in shallow trays/pots.

Regards,
Attila

Geodude

The latest demo I attended, the artist used muck to "glue" the rocks into place. The muck was clay and chopped sphagnum moss mixture that was very sticky and did the job in holding the rocks together. This may be the way to go if you don't want to use cement.

Good luck.

__________________
Paul

"Life will be sweet like a rhapsody
When I paint my materpiece"

Lui

Hi there, If you are using a good pot and dont want to glue the rock to the pot you can epoxy glue wire to the rock then wire it into the pot. or drill a hole into the rock and use the fishing sinker trick. or epoxy little screws to the rock and tie wires to them. and by making like a chopstick frame inside the pot you can place the rock anywhere you wish to tie it in. With a little ingenuity you will find the right solution.
Lui

Attila

Here is an idea for you if you want to avoid gluing to the pot:

Take a sheet of plexiglass (1/2 centimeter thick) and cut it to the spape of the bottom of your pot. Then drill the drainage holes to the right places to match the holes on the pot.

You can glue the rocks to the plexiglass and place the whole assemby into the pot.

I've never seen this but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Regards,
Attila