Ebihara nebari musings

[leatherback]

I am thinking about howto's in nebari development and tried to see all I could on the method made famous by ebihara.

I am however wondering what the KEY component of the method is. I see a lot of people putting focus on organizing the roots and screwing the tree to the board. I however cannot help but wonder whether that is the core of the technique. I doubt this will cause the roots to fuse (much) more than under normal well-managed conditions.

Could it be that tying to roots down onto the board so they grow flat rather than round, is more important?

Any thoughts?

 

[MrWunderful]

I think arranging the roots is where the technique actually is. Other than that, planting on a tile is just that.

The skill brought to it by Ebihara is the art in the root arrangement.

 

[Clicio]

I swear I've heard a tale of gently (!!!) hammering down the tied roots with a wooden hammer.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Those pancake nebari you mean?
I think clicio might not be too far off. Scarring seems a very likely catalyst for roots melting into each other.

Weird mindfart.. But escape roots, just like escape branches? Fatten them up fast, hack back, repeat.

 

[leatherback]

gently (!!!) hammering down the tied roots

Scarring seems a very likely catalyst for roots melting into each other.

Yeah; as said. I find it hard to believe the magic touch is arranging them. So something else must be part of it.

I was bored and have tried to do something on a trident stump that has not progressed in the 7 years I have had it.

But I would really enjoy a reflection here on what could be the reason he gets this fusion going so fast.

 

[JoeR]

Those pancake nebari you mean?
I think clicio might not be too far off. Scarring seems a very likely catalyst for roots melting into each other.

Weird mindfart.. But escape roots, just like escape branches? Fatten them up fast, hack back, repeat.

Scarring definitely can contribute to the nebari development.

For example, here is a trident that I attempted to ground layer a few years ago. No roots, but it calloused all over and left me with a much, much larger and better nebari than before. You can see the line where the top of the airlayer was.

There are many ways to skin a cat.

There are also people who use, instead of a flat tile, a more 'cone' shaped board for nebari development

 

[JoeR]

Before:

 

[TomB]

According to Meriggioli in the big book on Japanese maples, an important factor is constriction of the roots where you staple/nail/tie them to the board. This causes them to ground layer themselves, with consequent multiplication of the number of roots at that point.

 

[sorce]

Arranging major roots so there is room to promote feeder roots is the key, if there is a single one.

Using a soil and watering which promotes feeders is also necessary.

As I understand it, the fusing that creates a smooth pancake is done by fleshy feeders.

The entire method keeps these close to, and eminating directly from the trunk.

That's what keeps it from being "pipey" or "buttressing" then flattening.

But I'm not sure pancakes are synonymous with Ebibara, or that an "Ebibara" method is synonymous with only pancakes.

I think we, as a whole, underestimate, or don't consider feeder roots enough. Mostly cutting them all off, rather than using good diligence to grow them close to a trunk to got in a small pot, and continue keeping them.

As I see it, this pancaking of roots is nothing more special than something anyone would find in an effort to .... get a tree in a small pot.
Which is IMO, why we, as a whole, lack a lot of vigour, hence lack good trees, hence lack good shows, hence hold bogus ones.

Point is....we can't skip the step of doing things right, and jump to a method that is, in it's most basic form, just excessive "doing the right thing".

Sorce

 

[Adair M]

I am thinking about howto's in nebari development and tried to see all I could on the method made famous by ebihara.

I am however wondering what the KEY component of the method is. I see a lot of people putting focus on organizing the roots and screwing the tree to the board. I however cannot help but wonder whether that is the core of the technique. I doubt this will cause the roots to fuse (much) more than under normal well-managed conditions.

Could it be that tying to roots down onto the board so they grow flat rather than round, is more important?

Any thoughts?

Bonsai Tonight has a few old articles of the Ebihara method.

Screwing the trunk to the board prevents the roots from growing down and pushing the trunk up. Roots can not grow down, they must grow “out”. The roots are arranged radially so that they all grow out from the same level, in all directions. Ebihara arranged the roots so that they did not cross over each other, so all the roots contributed to making a flat surface. He did not “pin them down” or smash them to bruise them, he used nails to keep them separated, and in their own space. Each year, he would dig up the roots, and inspect and adjust the roots as necessary. Ones that were too strong, he would cut back so that the roots would develop evenly overall. Any upward growing roots, he would snip off. He would leave the tree screwed to the board, but just cut off all the roots at the edge of the board. As the roots grew, they would go across the board until they reached the edge, then they would grow down. He left a lot of soil under the board so that they could grow wild under the board. This would cause thickening, thickening all the way back up to the base of the trunk. The thickening causes the “fusing”. He likely let the top grow unimpeded, too. To get rank root growth. Remember, he could remove most of the sacrifice branches and just graft on whatever he wanted later.

 

[Adair M]

“Growing on a tile” is not as effective because the roots can push the tree up. Roots really like to grow “down”. And when they grow “down” they’re not as restricted as to their growth. Therefore, they won’t fuse as well.

 

[Adair M]

Also, it has been suggested that you can achieve the same result by simply placing the base of the tree on the bottom of the pot. Well, not exactly. Part of what makes the board method work is there is soil under the board. And the roots can go wild once they get there and grow a lot. Potting the tree on the bottom of the pot... it’s difficult to affix the tree firmly enough to prevent the roots from pushing the tree up, and even if you did, the roots would circle the pot. Yes, they would extend but they would not grow as strongly as they could with soil below the board.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Scarring definitely can contribute to the nebari development.

For example, here is a trident that I attempted to ground layer a few years ago. No roots, but it calloused all over and left me with a much, much larger and better nebari than before. You can see the line where the top of the airlayer was.

There are many ways to skin a cat.

There are also people who use, instead of a flat tile, a more 'cone' shaped board for nebari development

Before I got to @JoeR comment I was thinking that a layer must certainly be a key to a faster start. I've got some in progress and will post as I unearth them

 

[JoeR]

Before I got to @JoeR comment I was thinking that a layer must certainly be a key to a faster start. I've got some in progress and will post as I unearth them

There really is no debate that air layers work, as they help create evenly sized, radial roots from the same point on the tree. Then screw it to a board and youre well on your way to a good nebari.

It was by complete accident that the trident calloused like it did, as its said a happy accident. But I think it does demonstrate that for certain species, creating callous can be a tool for making pancake nebari. I dont know of any solid techniques yet, but I would imagine scarring the roots on the sides between other roots may speed the process for species like tridents.

 

[leatherback]

And when they grow “down” they’re not as restricted as to their growth.

Hm. SO wit the board you get the roots initially growing in 2D space rather than in 3D in a way. Guess that would reduce the space they have to avoid eachother.

 

[BonsaiNaga13]

Also, it has been suggested that you can achieve the same result by simply placing the base of the tree on the bottom of the pot. Well, not exactly. Part of what makes the board method work is there is soil under the board. And the roots can go wild once they get there and grow a lot. Potting the tree on the bottom of the pot... it’s difficult to affix the tree firmly enough to prevent the roots from pushing the tree up, and even if you did, the roots would circle the pot. Yes, they would extend but they would not grow as strongly as they could with soil below the board.

From what I've seen of Ebihara's garden he also uses large pots not anderson flats to grow out his trees. A lot of westerners immitae his methods with anderson flats with a heavy drainage layer of pumice and the roots get air pruned once they get past that. Maybe that also plays a factor.

 

[Davidlpf]

The roots fuse together when there are no space between them.

So IMHO the key factor is to force them to grow together without possibility to go away (up or down or a side). If you screw the tree to the wood, and there are a lot of roots over all the perimeter; then they have no option and melt in a solid mass forming the flat nebari as they go growing.

Greetings.

 

[andrewiles]

Agreed. I just read the entire Ebihara maple thread (whew!) and my takeaway is the same as @Davidlpf and @leatherback above: the strategy is to force radial roots to widen into each other at the gradually expanding base of the tree. That is done by limiting them to the 2D horizontal space directly above the board. Any allowed up or down growth greatly slows nebari expansion because the roots will almost always push away from each into that additional space instead of fusing. I think the secondary strategy is to promote the largest number of roots at the base, since a larger number of small roots wastes less vertical space (smaller radii, that pesky 3rd dimension) than an equivalent volume of larger roots.

Disclaimer: I don't know what I'm talking about, just trying to contribute my interpretation of the fantastic discussion in that thread.

 

[Shibui]

I have been growing trident maples for bonsai commercially now for around 30 years so I think I do know a bit about roots, especially trident maples. I seem to be able to achieve very similar results just by selective root pruning. Initial pruning to remove vertical roots which promotes a number of laterals which are then allowed to grow freely. After a year the roots are again pruned. All down roots removed completely. All laterals cut back to a few cm long which promotes more laterals roots, especially from the cut ends. That gives an increasing density of lateral roots growing from the trunk. Allow free growth for another year then repeat. Always ruthlessly remove any vertical roots and shorten laterals leaving just a few cm of new root each time.
All the nutrients and water coming from lateral roots really causes the base of the trunk to buttress out which is a bonus.
Plenty of lateral roots means they will fuse naturally. There does not need to be a reason except as they thicken the spaces between reduce. Fusion happens from the trunk outward. Roots that are anchored to the trunk cannot move away from neighboring roots as they thicken and the new wood growing between just fills the spaces. Same thing happens to forks in the trunks above.
The only thing that is really necessary is to promote lots of lateral roots from the start and prevent vertical roots. Screw to a board if that excites you but pruning roots is the key to promoting more roots and lateral roots whether the trees are on a board or not. Allowing lots of growth then speeds the process up significantly, especially when the ends of the roots can grow down into cooler, constantly damp soils below.
Layering can also promote plenty of lateral roots but still needs to be followed up with good root pruning techniques aver the following years to get even better results. I use seedlings through metal sheet to get them to do their own layering and then restrict the roots to laterals only. It is quick and produces a high rate of good root systems and flared trunks due to the callus as mentioned in some other responses.

 

[Fonz]

it’s difficult to affix the tree firmly enough to prevent the roots from pushing the tree up

With a wooden growbox the tree can be screwed directly to the bottom of the box. Not sure if that would benefit the whole process. Just saying