Leaving trees to establish in their pots

[Paulneill]

I just watched a Graeme potter video on a collected hawthorn. And also Walter palls blog on collected hawthorn both of them emphasised the importance of leaving these trees in there bonsai pots and not to touch the roots. Walter said it is a misconception that trees are regularly root pruned . Walter also said this one collected hawthorns roots would remain untouched for over 8 years.

I would never have thought this was the case. I can understand this with a juniper or pine .

So what other trees should we be leaving untouched in a bonsai pot ?

Also I think this only applys to collected trees and trees with developed trunks.

Can anyone explain This farther please.

[pommie_mal]

I think this would be more applicable to colder climates. Here in Oz we would get much faster root development.
Even so, I would leave a collected tree untouched for a least 2 years to establish itself. Once you get strong new growth then you know the tree is recovering well.

[Pup]

Each time the roots of a tree are pruned whether from repotting or collecting. They need time to recover and repair. This is dependant on many things.

The ability of the person who collected it, the species, and the growing conditions.

I have collected Natives and 6 months later they have been in Bonsai pots in exhibitions. The particular species is one that recovers well puts out plenty of new roots and new foliage.

A Bonsai Buddy collected a Juniper 6 years ago started work on it 2 years after, it is still in development stage, It will be another year or two.

So the answer is how long is a peice of string.

Cheers Pup

[Paulneill]

Thanks for the replies guys. I thought there was more to it and maybe they wanted there trees to loose vigour and have smaller internodes or something .