And Now, A Word On Nebari

bonsaial1

From time to time on the forum I have seen the word nebari used to describe what one might think of as a good root structure. I have wondered if these folks really knew what nebari is.

Nebari; exposed roots.

That is all the word means. It does not have much to do with the roots structure under the soil, nor does it have anything to do with the tachiagari, or lower trunk.

The roots of immature or seedling trees grow covered by the soil above. As the plant matures, the root become exposed to the weather and show the ravages of time. Good nebari is not a necessary thing to have on bonsai. Though, good nebari will capture the great age we seek in bonsai. A good nebari is one of the things that a judge will use to break the tie at a show or display. It is a very important part of the look of great bonsai.

Nebari is broken down into three catagories;
Shiho-Hapo Nebari (In all directions) The main roots radiate evenly in all directions. The roots are of the correct size and taper. The may show evidence of bark. This style is highly regarded in bonsai.

Bankon (Rock-like Roots) As the Shiho style roots grow with age they may fuse together into a rock like mass. This style is very unusual and show great age and power.

Kata-nebari (one sided root) In this case the root grows to one side. This style will add visual weight to a cascade or slanting style tree. The assymetry will also add weight to slanting bunjin styles.

Some methods for creating great nebari are as follows;
1. Ground layering
2. Grafting
3. Thread Grafting
4. Large growbox with flat board
Most all these techniques should be done in growboxes or in the ground. Ground layering is the easiest, making slots in the bark at just below ground level, applying rooting hormone and covering with soil or moss. best results are obtained with keeping the area moist. Bottom heat in the spring would encourage growth faster. Inarch grafting of small sapplings around the base would add larger roots faster, but does require specialized techniques. Thread grafting is probably easier. Obtain long shoots from same tree, or use rooted cuttings from parent tree. Drill holes at the trunk base and insert branches using the correct techniques. Growboxes with a flat board works well with most deciduous trees. A flat plate or board is placed under the flattened roots. The roots are tied to the board with twine. As the plant grows the roots are forced up a little and become more exposed. The twine rots off in time to not restrict the growth of the root mass.

Nebari does not have anything to do with the roots that grow under the ground. Of course, if the roots that are exposed are growing in a good radial pattern, then the roots under the soil would have recieved the same care, and can be assumed as being healthy. Cuttings seem to have the natural tendency to produce good nebari, since the roots will have been worked on from the beginning of the plants life. Nursery stock is a poor producer of plants with good nebari. The plants are kept in nursery containers too long, and the roots wind around the can. Constant watering washes the soil from the cans. Minimum wage workers never replace the soil and the plant withers.

Knarled, coiled, crossing exposed roots are not nebari. Radial knarled roots might be good, but that would be the exception.There should be no spaces under the roots. The soil should come to half way up on the roots, and the roots should look as if they are clasping the soil. Seeing daylight under the roots means they are totaly exposed and that is something different, Neagari (exposed root style).

I have included a drawing of the most of the areas I have talked about, except one. I have seen people measure the tree at the root base. I think that is OK. It should also include the measurement of the trunk at the waist. Most trees are measured at the waist. I have seen trees with a 11" trunk. When you see the picture of the tree, at the soil line it is 11", at one inch above that the tree is 3" across at the waist. I feel that is decieving. The better thing IMHO would be to say: " The tree has a 3" trunk with a 11" root spread. Nobody could argue with that.

Attached Images

nebariinstruction.jpg (25.3 KB, 1358 views)

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bonsaial1

An example of Shiho-Happo Nebari. Roots radiate evenly all around the trunk. The roots are exposed enough to show but no light show underneath.

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nebari2.jpg (26.9 KB, 1358 views)

bonsaial1

An example of Bankon. The roots have fused into what OMC calls an "oil spill". Some like it some don't. I personaly like these type of roots and think it adds powerfull weight to the composition.

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nebari1.jpg (29.0 KB, 1359 views)

bonsaial1

An example of Kata-Nebari. The single root adds weight to the left side of the composition. The visual weight on the left side of the trunk, due to foliage, requires added power in the root system on that side of the trunk.

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nebari3.jpg (14.9 KB, 1305 views)

bonsaial1

In the whole of my collection, I have only two trees which have the nebari I feel contributes to the meaning of the word.

This would be my example of Shiho-happo Nebari, Trident Maple

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rootsclose.jpg (51.2 KB, 1302 views)

bonsaial1

This would be Bankon, Trident Maple.

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bankon.jpg (44.4 KB, 1262 views)

stephentoddpope

thanx for the list of ways to get a good nebrari, cause i was woundering how, would these techniques work on juniper

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Carl_Bergstrom

Well, you're right, Al. I would indeed label that tree as the outcome
of an oilspill. It's not the worst one I've ever seen, but it's an oil
spill, for certain. In fact, when I saw the picture I was about to
post a deprecating remark to that effect, but you beat me to it.

---

Let me explain why in general, I tend not to like this style.

We've talked a lot on this forum about how trees can tell a story
about their history and the conditions of their growth. To borrow some
examples mentioned recently, a twisted broken base may look strange if
the upper part of the tree is full and spreading in an almost
broom-like manner. What kind of growth conditions could have given
rise to that? Or as another example, lots of deadwood can be glorious
on a gnarled old windswept juniper, but on a swamp tree the same
features seem suspect. Why wouldn't the dead parts have rotted away?

What kind of story does the oil slick nebari tell? Beats the heck out
of me. I've almost never seen a tree in nature that looks like this,
or even one that gives me the same feel I get when looking at a bonsai
with this feature. The only story I can think of that goes with a root
mass like this is that (with apologies to Jules) a foolish Creator
fashioned trees out of wax, and come the first rays of the
Australian summer the bottom third of each tree melted into a
spreading puddle.

---

OK, then why do people like these trees? I have two guesses.

The first is simple, but inadequate on its own: growing oil-slick
roots is damn hard and takes a relatively long time. And so just
because it's so hard to do, it becomes valued, much as certain
precious metals (worthless as they be for any industrial use) are
valued simply because they're a pain in the butt to go dig up. Or to
put it less gently, these oil slick roots are another symptom of the
Good Ol' American contribution to bonsai, namely, the "mine is bigger
than yours" attitude that gave rise to the popularity of the so-called
sumo style shohin.


---


But I don't think this is the whole story. After all, this explanation
begs the question "Why are oil slick roots in particular valued,
instead of any of the other things that are hard to do?" After all,
it's hard to braid golf balls into cactus stems, but thankfully we don't
call that bonsai (yet).

I think that reason this particular feature has become popular is that
when people see extraordinary masterpieces, they try to emulated
them. And in doing so, they emulate the bad (or at least coincidental)
features of these trees along with the good.

Try growing a beech in shallow pot for a hundred years. You'll get
get one of these oil-slick nebari, I imagine. Pretty much no way
around it.

And then what happens? Then I see a photo of it in Bonsai Today. Or
maybe I'm even lucky enough to see it in person at a show. And when I
see a beech that's been in training for 100 years, I'm typically
pretty darn impressed. The top looks great. It's inevitably in some
amazing antique pot. The bark is to-die-for. People are praising it to
high heaven. It's been styled by some great master. Definitely
something to emulate.

So I go home to my own garden with my own personal collection of
ten-year-old beeches in Korean mica pots. And I try to emulate
that gorgeous tree I saw at the show. I get a better pot. I keep
working on the ramification. I let the bark age....and I try to make
one of those god-awful nebari that I saw at the show. Because I have
failed to distinguish between the elements of the artistic
composition that made that tree great, and the necessary
accidents of age that go along with it.

The illusion of age is obviously an important component of the
artistic design. But here we are aiming to create the illusion of an
old natural tree - not the illusion of a tree that has had the
misfortune to spend a century in a bonsai pot and thus has welded
together its entire rootmass into a single unbroken ice rink of a
nebari.

With my best regards,
Old Mister Crow

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In love with trees

Tony

I kind of like those bankon [oil slick] roots myself. I never new there was a special word for them though.

There is a 100 foot oak tree at a local park with similar roots. The cause of it was constant skimming of the top of the roots with a riding mower which made the indiviual roots expand laterally due to the new scar tissue being formed. I guess the old guy must have finally retired and the new guy has started lifting the mower blade when he runs across the roots and the tops have started to heal. Is this nature? I would have to say so. Manipulated by man sure but man is part of nature too. I can't think of a good story of how trees could do this on their own. But I like them much better than golf balls in cactus stems.

Tony