Page 141 - Ebook cây cảnh Art of Bonsai

Creating a clump-style maple 141

Preparing to plant

1 Take the trees out of their
pots and carefully remove
the soil. On young trees, like
these two-year-old maples,
soil should come away easily.

2 Keep the bare rooted trees
in water while you make the
rest of the preparations. The
trees will suffer if their roots
are allowed to dry out.

3 Prepare a training pot
for planting, securing mesh
over any drainage holes,
and inserting anchor wires
(see pp.130–131). For this
technique, one anchor wire
will suffice. Partially fill the
pot with a low-maintenance,
water-retentive soil mix,
including some compost.
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4 Prepare a piece of plastic.
Drill a series of holes, slightly Use a deep pot Strong, fairly rigid Anchor wire
plastic sheet will
will be used
larger than the trunks, in an to establish
the clump sit in pot and hold to fix plastic
asymmetrical arrangement trees in place
to form an interesting clump.
Fix mesh with
a wire staple
Take care to consider the
ultimate height and thickness
of the clump you are making:
the larger the trees of the
final design, the greater the
separation between them at
planting. This example is for
a chuhin-sized clump with
relatively thin trunks.
Holes are big
enough to
accommodate
the trunks

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