repotting a group

[shibui]

I've just repotted my trident groups and thought some might be interested in some photos of the procedure.

Trident group .JPG

First cut around the edge of the rootball. I roughly follow the outline of the group. Cut the matted roots from the bottom of the rootball and finally clean the surface down to surface roots.

trident group roots cut.JPG

This last shot from above gives a clearer idea of how I have trimmed around the rootball following the outline of the group.

trident group above.JPG

Finally a thin layer of potting mix in the tray and pot the group back into its tray, water in and wait for leaves. (forgot the photo for this stage)

[Bretts]

A very nice forrest Sibui. Wil you be doing any wiring ?

[cre8ivbonsai]

Nice work how long have these been grouped for? and were they individually trained before being grouped? They look well aged and a very comfortable composition

I'd love a group like this, my first attempt is going to be pulled apart this repotting season and starting again

I'd love to see a follow up pic of the final repot after bud break (if you get the time)

Cheers, Ryan

[shibui]

When I get time to look more closely I will decide if wire is needed. This group has been together for about 20 years so it has already been adjusted quite a bit and probably doesn't need much now. A couple of the smaller trees died back a little last year so I might have to look at them as they grow back.

The trees had not had much pretraining before being assembled as I had very little knowledge then. It was assembled by Tom Yamamoto at a workshop from a batch of 1 and 2 year seedlings and I couldn't understand why he grumbled about the trees I had brought. He said that trees for a group should be grown together for a few years before assembling the group. Experience has shown that he was right.

Many groups have been reassembled more than once to iron out the bugs. You might find that some sections of your forest might be able to be left intact and used in a different position or with other trees to produce a better result.

[Andrew R]

He said that trees for a group should be grown together for a few years before assembling the group. Experience has shown that he was right.

Meaning just plant them all together in a growbox and then arrange the group in a couple of years? Thinking I'd like to create a swamp cypress group but unsure on how to start...

[shibui]

Not certain exactly what he meant as his English was somewhat limited but I have found that planting a number of seedlings in a box and letting them grow for 2-3 years produces trees better suited to groups. Having trees in individual pots but kept close together can also yield suitable trees.
Note that to create a group of trees you will need to have 2-3 times that number of trees to choose from as some just will not match the style of the group. It is also good to have trees of different ages so plant a new box each year so there's trees of different height and thickness to choose from. After that the only difficulty is to arrange the trees so they look natural - harder than it sounds!

[Andrew R]

Thanks for the info shilbul