Air Layering Instructions (1/3)

TreeBay

These are some brief notes on how to propagate a plant by a process called "air layering." _This will eventually become an illustrated article on the TreeBay website.

REASONS FOR LAYERING
Layering is performed to propagate material, to take advantage of interesting or pleasing forms, or to improve the rootage of a tree. _Layering is an easy way to create "perfect rootage" on a tree with a one-sided or unattractive root system.

HISTORY OF LAYERING and GROUND LAYERING:
Layering is a process used to induce roots to grow on a mature branch. _The process of layering was probably developed in conjunction with hedging. _Hedges of boxwood, privet or thorns were a convenient way to designate property boundaries, particularly in the absence of good material for fences.

"Ground"layering was performed by making a cut approximately 1/2 way through a low branch, wedging it open with a stone and pushing the wound area into the ground a foot or two away from the plant. _The branch produced roots at the wound site and so extended the length of the hedge by a couple of feet. _ In this way, a few plants spaced at regular intervals could serve as hosts to create a wide perimeter hedge over a number of seasons.

AIR LAYERING AND BONSAI
Air layering is a technique based on the same principles as ground layering, but the technique has been refined in such a way that it can be applied to branches in any position on the host tree. _ Some trees like wisteria and elm layer readily. _Others like pine and cedar are much slower at developing roots.

MATERIALS REQUIRED
In addition to a suitable host tree, you will need the following materials:

• Sharp knife
• Narrow bladed saw
• Canadian Sphagnum Moss
• Polyethelene sheeting, thick (clear plastic)
• twine
• bonsai wire]
• marking chalk
• rooting hormone

HOW TO CREATE A LAYER
To make an air layer, first determine an appropriate site. _Layer sites can be based on points of convenience or interest. _There is no physical limit to the size of a branch that can be layered successfully. _ Branches up to 12" across have been successfully layered.

Convenient sites are those that will be pruned away eventually anyway - to redesign the host tree or reduce its size, perhaps the top 1/3 of the tree is intended to be pruned away. _This may make a great small bonsai if it is instead layered.

Interesting sites might be areas on a bonsai, or even a yard or garden tree that has unique characteristics, such as:

• fast taper
• interesting curves
• unique species[*:c0cc3e2d3e]interesting forked branch arrangement, etc.

CONTINUED NEXT MESSAGE

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TreeBay

Air Layering Instructions 2/3, Cont'd from prior message:

MARK THE SITE OF THE LAYER
Using a piece of chalk, mark a line around the circumference of the branch. _This will define the new "soil line" from which roots will emerge. _Roots sometimes emerge slightly higher than this point, so take this into consideration.

Mark a second line below the first, completely around the trunk. _This line should be positioned at a distance approximately equal to the width of the branch being layered. _ This line defines the lower portion of the layer. _The bark between the two lines will be removed as follows:

• Using a sharp knife (Our folding grafting JR-0190 is ideal) scribe a 1/8" deep cut around the upper chalkline. _The idea is to completely penetrate the bark down to bare wood. _This is usually around 1/8" deep, but on thick- or rough barked trees like elm or pine it can be substantially deeper.
• Cut a second line around the lower chalkline.
• Using the knife, peel away the bark between the two chalklines. _Remove it all the way down to the bare wood, which will be evident by its whitish color. Remove anything greenish between the cuts

PREPARE THE SITE

• Make sure that the wound near the upper chalkline is cut cleanly. _It may be necessary to clean up the cut with the grafting knife. _This is particularly important, because this is the point at which the roots should be developing.
• You may twist a thick piece of bonsai wire tightly around the circumference of the upper chalkline, just beneath the newly cut edge. _This helps to ensure that the tree generates roots rather than simply healing over the wound. _It also helps ensure a balalanced root system by helping to define the edge at which the roots will develop.
• Swab the area with a liquid rooting hormone or paint on a slurry of powdered rooting hormone.
• Drench a handful of moss in water. This should be the long, threaded Canadian variety of moss used in planter baskets, not the chopped fine sphagnum.
• Pack the region with sphagnum moss and tie it in place with twine or bonsai wire applied lightly.
• Add more moss to the region. _You want enough moss to enable a rootball large enough to sustain the layered branch. _This requires some judgement, but it would be approximately the size of an appropriate bonsai pot for a "tree" of equivalent size.
• Wrap the moss with clear polyethylene sheeting. _This will preserve the moisture while allowing you to assess the condition of the layer. _Tie the bottom of the sheeting below the lower chalkline. _ The upper end may be left partially open to facilitate watering the layer if you are in a moderate climate. _If it is very dry, you may need to seal the top edge of the bag as well and open it occasionally to water.
• Mark the plant with a tag indicating the date of the layering operation

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TreeBay

Air Layering Instructions #3, Cont'd from prior message:

LAYERING

• After some weeks you should observe the development of white roots issuing forth into the moss
• Do not disturb the layer during this period. The roots need to harden-off into a darker, more mature form.
• Rotate the plant occasionally to ensure that the entire layer receives the sun's warmth.
• As necessary, water the layer area to keep moisture in the moss. It should be damp at all times, but should not remain sopping wet for long.
• The period of time required to create the layer varies with the season and the species. During the growing season a wisteria might fill the bag with roots in just a few weeks and be ready to separate in just a couple of months. A pine on the other hand might grow much more slowly, requiring up to 2 years for sufficient root to develop.

TIMING THE REMOVAL

• By the time the layer is ready to separate, the bag should be filled with roots that have matured from a pure whitish color to a darker appearance. The branch itself should have grown somewhat, indicating that the roots are functioning properly.
• The ideal time to separate the layer is the same as repotting; early fall through late winter

REMOVING THE LAYER
In removing the air layer from the host plant, caution should be taken not to disturb the roots, which are extremely brittle at this time.

• Using a pruner, cut back the extremities of the foliage on the layer. This will reduce the load on the new roots.
• Using a thin-bladed saw such as JR-0111 Keyhole Saw, remove the entire branch and bag, leaving a generous stub
• Open the bag and remove the poly.
• Fluff the rootball just a bit, and plant it in a well draining bonsai soil. Do not disturb the roots very much or they will break. Do not try to go straight into a bonsai container on the first transplanting. Be very gentle with the plant at this stage.
• Tie the plant securely into the growing container.
• Update your tag with a record of the date of first transplant.
• Next year, when the tree is repotted, the stub may be entirely removed and the roots can be refined to create a more even, pleasing appearance. At this time the tree may be planted in a bonsai container.

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ripsgreentree

Following the information above here are a couple of added techniques.

Never hurry. I will spend as many years as is necessary shaping the crown of the tree that I am intending to airlayer, this is one of my favorite tricks. I have several fifteen-gallon elms that I am developing trunk on. In the spring the elm will send out limbs that run straight up. If you cut one of these limbs it will sprout five or six new limbs. If you pull these together and tie them and cut them about two inches above the original cut they will all bud out again. after they have grown for a week or two you can release the tye and the limbs will stay pretty much in the direction that they were tied prune the next set of limbs about one inch and the next set at about 1/2 in you now have a broom shape created on several limbs on one tree.

The next spring apply the technique described above and the ones that give you good roots will be great little broom stile trees ready to pot. Also because they are all from the same parent they will go through all changes in concert, when one drops leaves all will drop leaves if one has fall color change all will have the same color change. When designing in living material it is good to know how to get all of your material in concert.

Next to insure that you get good even roots take a small piece of clay moisten it with water and when you get it good and moist add two or three drops of concentraited dip and grow rooting hormon, use a spoon or spatula to mix this in. Do not use your bare fingers. Now with rubber gloves on and after you have stripped the bark on your airlayer.

Make a ring of clay on the upper cut, smoothing it upwards so that it fills the gap between the hard wood ang cambium layers. This will hold a small amount of rooting hormone at the point that the roots are going to form.

Add the sphagnum moss and plastic. I have found that this will help to get a more even ring of roots to work with.

Last: If any of you enthusiasts have been succesful at airlayering post your experiances up so that we can all see them, It would also help to see some of the unsuccessful attempts.

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ripsgreentree

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Soildoc

I've had a couple of successes airlayering crabapple. But my methods seem fairly simple compared to yours. I cut away the bark of the limb I'm wanting to separate and continue cutting fairly deep into the wood. I'll wet the cut area with water and then apply a paste of dry rooting hormone mixed with water. After I've sealed the cut with the hormone mix, I'll wrap soaked moss around the area followed by a layer of thin white plastic (think grocery sack) and then a thick layer of back plastic. I tie the plastic at the bottom with wire pretty tightly. This will cause the limb to put out roots much more quickly than a loose binding. I leave the top of the plastic open so I can keep the moss wet. After a good amount of roots start emerging, I'll tighten the bottom wire a little at a time until I feel that the root ball is enough to support the plant. After I remove the plastic, I'll cut the limb and stick the whole mass of roots and moss into a pot with soil. This method has worked pretty well and I want to try it on a bald cypress and a crepe mytle in my front yard next year. I also want to try trimming the new roots before planting. This is a method we use in the lab to increase our rooting for plants going into the growth chamber. It works well for row crops (I've worked with corn, cotton, and soybeans), but I don't know how it will work for trees.

TreeBay

Hi Soildoc,

Trimming just the tips of the growing roots should encourage them to ramify and improve the root density. You would need to be very careful doing this with newly struck cuttings or layers because the point of attachment is brittle and the roots might break off if the treatment is too heavy-handed. _

Regards, _Matt

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ripsgreentree

Doc: Sounds like you have the technique down, I will be interested in how the bald cypress respond.

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ripsgreentree

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Soildoc

I'm debating on whether or not to start the cypress and myrtle now or later on in the winter (more toward spring). I don't know if they would strike roots quickly enough to set before the cold hits. Since we are in Mississippi, we normally don't get real cold until Jan or Feb. Any thoughts?

ripsgreentree

Doc: It has been my experance that bald cypres fall apart if you work on them in the fall. At least here in california. If it were me on the bald cypress I would start air layers in the late spring as the tree comes out of dormancy and hope for roots befor fall.

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ripsgreentree

It requires an open hand to give and to recieve.