Tag Archives: shibui

Root over Rock

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I’ve been growing and developing root over rock bonsai for many years and gradually developed some techniques that help me produce reliable results. Check out some of the Shibui Bonsai root over rock trees.

Trident root over a low rock
Closer look at the rock and roots
Close up of the rock and roots

More recently I’ve been working to develop some really good smaller Root over Rock bonsai. Like other styles, shohin ROR are much more difficult to get right. Getting good trunk taper, good bends and branching in a smaller tree is challenging. Adding extra height with the rock makes shohin ROR even more difficult.

Smaller trident ROR – about 30 cm tall.
Rock and roots.
Another smaller ROR trident.
Shohin sized trident ROR. The pot is 15cm diameter
Another shohin sized ROR under development.
Trident ROR in development.
Roots clasping the rock.

Most of the Root over Rock trees I grow are trident maples. That’s because they grow fast and the roots develop quickly so we end up with roots flowing over the rock much quicker than with other species. The same techniques can be used to develop ROR plantings with other species. Here are a couple of Shibui Bonsai pine ROR but I’ve also developed ficus and Chinese elm as root over rock bonsai. I’m still working on developing branch ramification on these pines so the branch pads still look distinctly hairy and unkempt.

Japanese Black pine ROR
Red pine roots
Black pine Root over Rock
Japanese red pine ROR.

I’ve already shown some of the smaller ROR I’m attempting to grow but bigger ROR is also possible. Just allow for the weight of the rock. The following tree does not look very big but weighs around 20 kg so is more difficult to move for pruning, repotting and other maintenance tasks. The assistants who were helping dig trees from the grow beds that year christened this one Root over Boulder as they struggled to lift the tree and rock out of the ground.

You can find this year’s Shibui Bonsai ROR trees available for sale on the ROR catalogue – Root over Rock

Root over Rock pre-bonsai can be costly to ship due to the weight. For those attending the AABC National Bonsai convention in Canberra in May we can bring selected root over rock trees with no delivery cost. Make sure you get your orders in well ahead to avoid disappointment.

I’ve been asked to present a demonstration of Shibui Bonsai methods for developing Root Over Rock bonsai at this year’s Bonsai By the Harbour in Sydney in June. That’s your chance to get all the tips and proven Shibui techniques. We’ll try to bring examples of ROR at all different stages of development to make that session a really practical how to session.

For any NSW growers who fancy skipping the 3-5 years of growing, Shibui Bonsai will have a sales table at Bonsai By the Harbour so you too can order ROR trees from the Root over Rock catalogue and cut out the delivery fees. Don’t let the Convention attendees get the best trees. Make sure you order well in advance. I’m happy to put a reserve on trees and hold them until delivery at BBTH in June.

2025 events

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Shibui Bonsai will be out and about a bit more than usual this year.

We have secured a trade space at the AABC National Convention in Canberra in May. Space for transporting stock is limited and this year we’ll have a new range of display stands on board. We’ll still try to include a good range of trees but convention delegates are welcome to check out the catalogues and ask to have specific trees included in the stock we bring. Also feel free to talk to Neil if there’s any special species you would like to get hold of.

We have also been invited to present a couple of demonstrations at Bonsai by the Harbour in Sydney in June. This will be our first trip up to the Harbour city so looking forward to meeting local bonsai fanatics there. I’ll be demonstrating Shibui Bonsai techniques to create and develop Root over Rock bonsai in one of the sessions. The other session will focus on techniques for accelerated trunk development: field growing, sacrifice branches and more.

We also have the opportunity to bring Shibui Bonsai stock for sale while we are at Bonsai by the Harbour. We’ll try to take a varied selection of sizes, shapes and species but you are welcome to check out the Shibui Bonsai catalogues and ask us to include specific trees that you’d like to get a closer look at. This is a once only chance to secure quality Shibui Bonsai trees without the delivery costs! Catalogue

Another Shibui Bonsai display stand.

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Show stands are hard to find and invariably, the wrong size or style so I started making my own. This is the latest attempt at a novel shohin stand.

Turned out just a bit small. Only the smallest bonsai fit in the spaces.

Next step is to stain it a dark colour then seal with some timber coating.

Time to start on a couple more medium single stands while I consider how to overcome some of the problems I found with this construction.

Prunus ‘Elvins’

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Flowering bonsai can look spectacular. Species that produce a massed flower display can be even more spectacular.

Prunus ‘Elvins’ originated in Victoria in the 1950s. It is believed to be a hybrid with Prunus cerasifera (cherry plum) as one of the parents which means it is quite hardy. Prunus ‘Elvins’ flowers in early Spring and produces spectacular masses of white flowers that turn pink as they age. Flowers are on the previous year’s growth so they stand out well.

I’ve been so impressed with the flowering display from Prunus ‘Elvins’ that I’ve been propagating it as cuttings so Shibui Bonsai has good stocks of both small starters and a few larger field grown trunks as shown in the photo above.

If you fancy having a bonsai with the capability to produce flowers like that you can email neil@shibuibonsai.com.au to discuss price and availability.

Grafting pines

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This year I have a few extra JBP seedlings so I have the opportunity to graft some Japanese white pine.

White pine seems to be really difficult to source here in Australia as we can’t import seed any more due to strict quarantine, local seed is rare and hard to find and pines are generally difficult to strike as cuttings. That leaves grafting as one of the few methods to propagate Japanese white pine, provided you have a white pine as a source of scions to graft with.

Fortunately I do have a couple of JWP grown from seed I obtained at the Hobart Botanic gardens some years ago.

Some readers may be aware that the bark of white pine is quite different from black pine bark. This means that grafted white pines often stand out with the smoother white pine bark on the trunk and branches but the thick, furrowed, dark bark of JBP on the lower trunk. The only way I know to reduce the visual impact of the different bark is to graft as low as possible so the darker JBP bark is hidden in the roots and nebari.

Here’s my guide to grafting pines

Select a suitable JBP seedling as the root stock. seedlings from around 5-10 mm thick are suitable.

Select a suitable white pine shoot as the scion and remove most of the needles, just leaving a few close to the terminal buds.

Use a very sharp, clean blade to cut a vertical incision into the stock. Note that I’m cutting as low as I can to ensure there will be minimal black pine bark as the tree matures.

Make 2 cuts at the base of the scion to form a wedge. The cut on one side is longer than the other.

Slide the base of the white pine scion into the cut in the stock. The longer cut is against the trunk of the stock. Successful grafts rely on close contact between cambium layers of stock and scion. Cambium is a very thin, actively growing layer between bark and wood. As the size of stock and scion is rarely equal the scion is placed to one side of the cut in the root stock so that bark of both stock and scion are level ON ONE SIDE. This placement should ensure that the cambium layers on that side are close enough to join as they heal.

Wrap the graft union with grafting tape to hold the scion in place, put some pressure on the cuts to keep them in close contact to aid healing. Tape also stop the graft from drying out.

Finally, because pines are evergreen I need to protect the scion from dehydration. There are a number of ways to achieve this but I find ziplock bags really effective and easy to apply. A few drops of water in the bag, slip it over the scion and zip up the seal to make a mini greenhouse over your grafted scion.

The new grafts then go back outside but sheltered from direct sun so as not to cook the scions in their little greenhouses.

I’ll try to remember to update as these grafts progress.

Spring Flowering Bonsai

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We can use quite a few flowering species to brighten the spring bonsai benches.

Crab apples are a traditional favourite bonsai as they are hardy and easy to keep as bonsai. It is also relatively easy to get them to flower. I’ve had this ‘floribunda’ cultivar for close on 40 years since one of my early mentors showed me how she grafted flowering shoots onto seedling root stocks to get an almost instant flowering bonsai.

Azaleas are another traditional bonsai species though I read recently that azaleas were only recognised as bonsai in Japan relatively recently. Before that they were regarded as just flowering pot plants. The majority of azaleas in Australia are from the ‘Indica’ hybrids. These flower relatively early in spring. Mine have started opening flowers in mid September. In Japan, ‘Satsuki’ azaleas are more popular. Satsukis flower later in spring and have some spectacularly coloured flowers. Check out Bonsai Art for the best range of Satsuki azalea varieties in Australia – https://bonsaiart.com.au/satsuki-azalea-stock-list/

Azaleas are relatively slow growing so it takes years for an azalea bonsai to develop a thick, impressive trunk. Most of my azalea bonsai have been dug from older gardens when the owners were renovating the garden bends or extending the house. Fortunately azaleas transplant very easily at any time of the year. here are a couple of my azalea bonsai.

The Prunus family is another large group of species which flower in spring and many adapt easily to bonsai.

Plums are hardy and easily sourced from many nurseries. Some plums have become environmental weeds and can be found growing on roadsides and farmland. Most feral plums have straight, vertical trunks but occasionally you can find a really good trunk to collect and convert to bonsai.

Flowering cherries are a traditional favourite too but not quite as easy to maintain – or to keep them flowering well as cherries suffer from a range of pests and diseases. I’ve been transplanting seedling cherries from our garden bends into pots for those who would like to tackle flowering cherry as bonsai.

Prunus mume is much less well known here in Australia. It is sometimes known as flowering Japanese apricot. Flowers open from mid winter and are very fragrant. Generally hard to find but Shibui Bonsai has smaller cutting grown Prunus mume in 11 cm pots from $20

Japanese flowering Quince – AKA Chaenomeles were once popular as hardy garden shrubs that flower in late winter before the leaves emerge. Look for them in older gardens. Flowers in white, red and pinks. Flowering quince are used as bonsai but rarely develop thick tree like trunks but they can put on an impressive flower show in that dreary late winter period. Shibui Bonsai has limited numbers of several different coloured flowering quince as well as the much rarer ‘Chojubai’ dwarf flowering quince with orange flowers.

RED PINE

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Repotting is almost finished for this spring. Today I looked at a Japanese Red Pine. It didn’t need repotting this year but really needed some shaping so I allocated some time to pruning and shaping. It’s still definitely a work in progress despite being quite old. I’m still not convinced that the smallest trunk is good design but it’s harder to put back than to cut off so it stays until I’ve come to a firm conclusion.

The hour or so I put in only got as far as removing some surplus branches and wiring the right trunk branches. There’s still plenty to do on this one – when I get some more spare time.

Unfortunately I don’t have any JRP for sale at this stage. Seed is extremely hard to get here in Australia. I have managed to strike a few cuttings but they get snapped up as soon as someone finds out I have them. I planted some trees in our paddock with the view to harvesting seed as they mature. They’ve both produced cones for the last 2 years but the few seeds in those cones have all been empty. Frustrating, but that’s sometimes what working with plants can do.

I do have plenty of Japanese Black Pines but only small seedlings and a couple of larger, field grown trees. That’s another hard to get species now, so they tend to sell quicker than I can grow them.

Spring 2024

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Spring seems to have come to Shibui Bonsai a bit earlier this year. This crab apple took centre stage at a BSV bonsai show in October about 25 or 30 years ago. Now it’s flowering in early September a full month earlier.

Spring provides those of us in cooler Australian climates with a reward after months of cold and bare trees as the deciduous species begin to waken and push new leaves. i find it interesting that the trees don’t all grow at the same time. These trident maples are all growing within a few metres of each other and receive almost identical care but are progressing at quite different rates.

The shohin sized bonsai are also waking. 3 trident maples and a crab apple.

Please note that none of the trees shown here are for sale. Many of them have taken me 30 years or more to develop. I’m happy to sell pre bonsai and starters but I don’t want to spend another 30 years replacing these ones.

For those who do want an advanced bonsai I have a few older trees that I no longer have space or time for. If you want a special tree contact neil@shibuibonsai.com.au

Potting up pines

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Managed to get another 30 JBP seedlings potted up today.

These seedlings were left over from last Spring. They’ve been siting in the seed tray all last summer and through the winter. Very crowded so they have not grown much but will still be OK to pot up.

JBP seedlings

After separating the seedlings we end up with something like this.

Because we are growing bonsai we want good nebari. That means removing any deeper roots so these trees will concentrate root growth on lateral roots. No need to be scared, seedlings are programmed to grow roots so we can cut seedling roots fearlessly. Often i cut roots much harder than shown here.

Pine seedlings generally have few side shoots as they prefer to grow tall and straight. If left as they are that will produce a long, bare trunk. There’s a few techniques to overcome that natural tendency. Today I’ve decided to wire and bend some of the seedlings which will reduce the effective length of that lower trunk as well as giving the future trunk some bends.

Spring 2024

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You may have noticed I have not updated here for some time. I’ve been spending too much time on other projects but have resolved to post here more often. Lets just see how long that resolution lasts.

Spring has definitely sprung earlier than usual here at Shibui Bonsai The trident maples are starting to open buds and my bonsai crab apple has flowers opening. Maybe some pictures of that in a few days at peak flower.

The deciduous trees have been dug from the grow beds, pruned and assessed. trees for sale are now potted and the trunks that were not yet ready to sell have been replanted for another year of growth.

Today I potted up some Japanese black pine seedlings. These are left over from last spring and have been crowded together in a seed tray all last summer. I’m sure they will be much happier with some space to stretch out their roots.

I also dug the first of the Shimpaku junipers and potted it into a 30cm orchid pot.

Shimpaku
After 15 minutes with the shovel.
roots pruned
Top reduced
Tied into the orchid pot to stabilise the tree.
All done.

While some growers transplant with as much soil on the roots as possible, garden soil can cause problems in a pot so I prefer to get rid of field soil right at the start. My transplants still seem to recover well. Junipers seem to recover from root pruning much better when they have active growing tips so it is important to keep some of the branches intact. You can see in the photos that I have reduced the top by removing some redundant branches but still retained plenty to help the tree recover.

Junipers are slower to recover from transplant than the deciduous trees so these junipers won’t be available for sale until February or March. By then it should be clear which are growing well and any that have not coped with the trauma of transplant.