Making Pot...with a rock

[fourteener]

This us one of those gray lava rocks. It was really smooth and boring. I'm trying to give it some life without making it look contrived. I plan on using it for my twisted cascading pine , at least one other pine and several other little things.

Be honest, my wife isn't much help(she's too nice), does it look good or too man-made? Or any carving ideas. I used an angle grinder and stone chisel.

 

[tmmason10]

I think it looks pretty good but needs some weathering maybe. Are there pockets for the soil carved out? I can't quite see them in the pictures.

 

[fourteener]

Some moss and clay will go a long way to fill in gap and give it some more texture. I have not drilled out the holes yet, because I wanted to get the big picture right first. The dead space 2/3rds up will be where the main tree is gonna go.

This is my chance to do a variety of plants as each root system will get its own pocket. Last year the local nursery got some elfin thyme. I hope they get more...it's the tiniest thyme I've ever seen.

 

[crust]

Pumice/lava rock pot

Hey, I did a pumice pot this winter to--I will get a pic of it later. Yours turned out super nice and time I am sure will make it better. I have made a few over time. One thing I learned was if you want to stabilize the the planting pockets--especially if they get thin here and there, is to slather on some West System epoxy inside of the planting pockets otherwise over time they get soft and root invaded--works for me.

I need to get some more chunks of the stuff--where are you getting yours?

 

[edprocoat]

Terry, I grew a Juniper on a piece of red lava rock for over 2 years. I wanted a root on rock style. It looked like your rock all the little holes, like a piece of hard pumicew, I assumed roots would cling to it. I covered the rock, peat muck and soil, draped the roots over the rock and tied them down and the wrapped the whole thing in burlap to hold the soil in place. The Juni grew good for 2 years, I unwrapped it and the roots had grown away from the rock. I thought about screen sided pots that root trim plants, so I soaked the rock in water and held my air hose against the rock in places , top, bottom and 4 sides and the air would blow water out through the holes on many places leading me to believe it allowed air to pass through it. I THINK it worked like a screen sided pot and discouraged the roots from growing on it by air pruning them like screen sided pots or colanders do. The roots grew into the muck that had washed down along the bottom of the bag, really well where it had grown a layer of moss on the outside of the burlap.

ed

 

[fourteener]

I got them from Edelweiss. I wish they would get some more. They are easy to work with. Did you drill a drainage hole? I did in the first one, but the planting of boxwoods I have I didn't. There doesn't seem to be any adverse effect for the boxwoods at least. Maybe a pine is different.

I used an angle grinder and just started making a bunch of lines in roughly the same direction. The I took a pall peen hammer and tried to break up stuff. It look really man-made so I took a stone mason chisel and rounded off every edge and that softened all the edges and made them seem more natural.

This time I'm thinking about making a slurry of my wonderful clay and ground up moss and plastering it with the goup. I need to make moss grow in the cracks faster than other rocks I've done.

 

[fourteener]

Terry, I grew a Juniper on a piece of red lava rock for over 2 years. I wanted a root on rock style. It looked like your rock all the little holes, like a piece of hard pumicew, I assumed roots would cling to it. I covered the rock, peat muck and soil, draped the roots over the rock and tied them down and the wrapped the whole thing in burlap to hold the soil in place. The Juni grew good for 2 years, I unwrapped it and the roots had grown away from the rock. I thought about screen sided pots that root trim plants, so I soaked the rock in water and held my air hose against the rock in places , top, bottom and 4 sides and the air would blow water out through the holes on many places leading me to believe it allowed air to pass through it. I THINK it worked like a screen sided pot and discouraged the roots from growing on it by air pruning them like screen sided pots or colanders do. The roots grew into the muck that had washed down along the bottom of the bag, really well where it had grown a layer of moss on the outside of the burlap.

ed

With these rocks I use a masonry bit and drill out a cavity for the roots to sit in. But I might combine what I've done with what your saying. I could take roots and have them spread down the channels I've made here. It would make it look more natural than a single large hole...now you really got me thinking!!

 

[Dirty Nails]

I made this over the winter. It is obviously very contrived but serviceable. Maybe good for a kusomono. I bought 8 bowling ball or bigger pieces of red lava from a craigslist ad...$5 each. Another one is 16"x16 flat which will be a slab someday.