In the last Shibui Bonsai post I showed how I start root over rock trident maples. They are then planted in large pots or boxes in the nursery for the summer. I find the nursery is the best place because the trees get regular water that can trickle down between the rock and foil and keep any of those shorter roots alive until they grow long enough to reach out the bottom and into the potting mix.

Spring is rapidly approaching at Shibui bonsai nursery. Some of the Chinese elms already have tiny green shoots opening so the trident maples can’t be far away from starting to grow too. That means I need to get on with any jobs that involve root work.

Making new root over rock plantings is one of those jobs, so this week I emptied out a polystyrene box of last year’s trident seedlings to select some candidates for new root over rock plantings.