What's your favorite stone/rock for ROR?

[CatInATree]

I have not heard of ficus being sensitive. A lot of the coastal rocks they grow on down here are limestone based and I rad a large ror ficus on coastal limestone for nearly 30 years until I sold it.
Seryu stone seems to be a metamorphic limestone. It will slowly release carbonate but regular watering should leach that away no problem. Maybe steer away from known alkaline sensitives like Azalea but otherwise I think Seryu should be fine with most trees.

Our ironstone is not sandstone. It is much finer grained, harder and seems to come as intrusions in other rocks. typically found in gold bearing rocks in my area.

Okey thanks! I say this because I found a cool looking seryu rock at an aquarium store, had cool crevices and texture. Maybe I'll go out rock hunting too, could find some cool rocks for free.

 

[johng]

For me, it boils down to a couple of things:
1. It’s really a nice tree that has a lot of effort put into its development. If I’d put that much effort into a tree, I’d want the tree to be unambiguously the central focus of the composition. I would argue the narrow base of the rock that is the source of the precariousness, threatening to yield to gravity and send the tree tumbling into the abyss, is the primary focal point. It’s human nature to stare at the source of impending doom.
2. The level of precariousness is perhaps a bit much, straining my suspension of disbelief. I would expect a tree in such an exposed location like that in nature to have met its end already or to at least have considerably more battle scars from lightning strikes and wind.

But, it’s not my tree, so if it floats the boat for its owner, that’s what matters, unless the goal is to win a prize in a show (and I really have no idea what the experts who judge shows would say about it, as I have little interest in such things).

Sounds like it did exactly as intended...made you think deep and interact...positive or negative. As a teacher, I have had to learn to use what is available to me...the shimpaku was grown from a cutting and I collected the stone locally. This composition has beed awarded both times it was displayed. Unfortunately, it was knocked over in an unexpected storm and the stone was broken about a year ago.

 

[johng]

Funny, I appreciate the precariousness of the tree leaning away, the symmetry of the trunk shape across from the rock, and ultimately the balance over the narrow base. I think it’s a cool composition out of not particularly special material.

Thank you, Brian!!

 

[Lorax7]

Sounds like it did exactly as intended...made you think deep and interact...positive or negative..

That’s just me being me. I’m that guy in the museum or art gallery who’s standing back and gazing at a painting, then getting right up close and scrutinizing the brush strokes or the texture from a palette knife, then stepping back away again to gaze further, perhaps having a conversation about what themes, symbols, etc. I’m picking up on in the work, if I happen to be with someone. Most people walk up to a painting, glance at it for less than 30 seconds, decide if they like it or not, and move on to the next one. I often spend several minutes looking at one painting. That’s how I look at art. I bring my critical faculties to bear regardless of what the artist’s intentions are.