MACH5
Imperial Masterpiece
This Japanese white beech was purchased two years ago from Julian Adams. The tree was offered for a very reasonable price. It had a well developed top but for me the trunk was uninteresting and too tall. The nebari was also quite poor. The only way to make the best out of this material was to air layer it. The challenge was to do it successfully. Japanese beech can be difficult to air layer well. Despite this, I went ahead with it since it was the only way I was going to be able to maximize its potential.
Below is the tree as it looked at the time of purchase.
In opted to air layer right at the collar where several branches emerged with the intention of creating a multi-trunk beech bonsai.
A few photos showing the technique used. I used the ring method in which I also applied the tourniquet wire method as was recommended by some people. To be truthful I still question the effectiveness of the wire. The jury is still out on that one. The purple stuff is rooting gel.
This is the tree in early summer. At this point I was noticing a few roots coming through the sphagnum moss. Unfortunately, in late summer, during a vacation, the caretaker in charge forgot to water the air layer and many branches died back. Despite the set back, the tree still survived and kept producing roots well until the end of the growing season.
Last week, one year later the bag was completely filled with roots. Although I started to see lots of roots last year I decided to wait and separate my new tree this spring.
As I pulled the plastic away, I saw not only a dense mat of roots but also thick masses of callous tissue. I decided to scar the tissue and apply root hormone to encourage new roots on these areas.
The root ball was extremely dense and there was no way to pull it all apart without causing damage to them. So I decided to leave it all alone as the priority was to get this tree in a pot and growing vigorously on its own newly formed roots. The tree was also cleaned and all unnecessary or dead branches from the watering mishap from the previous year were cut off.
Below is the tree as it looked at the time of purchase.
In opted to air layer right at the collar where several branches emerged with the intention of creating a multi-trunk beech bonsai.
A few photos showing the technique used. I used the ring method in which I also applied the tourniquet wire method as was recommended by some people. To be truthful I still question the effectiveness of the wire. The jury is still out on that one. The purple stuff is rooting gel.
This is the tree in early summer. At this point I was noticing a few roots coming through the sphagnum moss. Unfortunately, in late summer, during a vacation, the caretaker in charge forgot to water the air layer and many branches died back. Despite the set back, the tree still survived and kept producing roots well until the end of the growing season.
Last week, one year later the bag was completely filled with roots. Although I started to see lots of roots last year I decided to wait and separate my new tree this spring.
As I pulled the plastic away, I saw not only a dense mat of roots but also thick masses of callous tissue. I decided to scar the tissue and apply root hormone to encourage new roots on these areas.
The root ball was extremely dense and there was no way to pull it all apart without causing damage to them. So I decided to leave it all alone as the priority was to get this tree in a pot and growing vigorously on its own newly formed roots. The tree was also cleaned and all unnecessary or dead branches from the watering mishap from the previous year were cut off.
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But there is enough left for sure to do something nice. Itching to wire the whole thing but must abstain.
