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Clay soil comes good. lonicera raft on rock
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Author:  Brendan [ 11 Aug 2016, 20:57 ]
Post subject:  Clay soil comes good. lonicera raft on rock
Hi live in Kent, and my garden soil is builders' rubble over clay. Nothing grows here, so I put in a raised bad all around my little garden.

I have grown to hate the clay. Dry weeks like this leave huge fissures in the lawn, the beds etc. One of my flowering beds is bisected by a fissure and some plants, whose roots must have been exposed as it opened, have died.

But it is an ill wind that blows no-one any good.

I have found a use for clay.

I like creating root over rock plantings using lonicera. They are basically bullet proof, fast and quite nice looking.

Getting the roots to stick to the rock has always been the big challenge. Wire and raffia work, but up to a point. Getting the roots to really press up against the rock with wire is a waste of time, and raffia is worse.

Enter clay!

I simply plaster the root against the rock, then plop a layer of clay over it and plant it. Obviously the tree itself has to be securely wired onto the rock, but only the trunk - the roots I take care of with clay.

Here's one I stuck in the ground 2 months ago. Lonicera over sandstone.


This was dug up today and here's what emerged. You can clearly see the clay "stripe" where I plastered the root to the rock before I buries it into my much more sandy higher quality soil in the raised bed. The clay stays in place and the root grows out the bottom and slightly into the clay.

Image20160811_181825 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr


Image20160811_181828 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr


Image20160811_181833 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr



Before I dug it up it was buried right to the top. If there had been no clay barrier I am sure the roots would have blown out all over the place. But they remain compact an in the very same line where i placed them - and completely contoured to the rock.


Image20160811_181523 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

Image20160811_181531 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

Image20160811_181535 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

I'll use the clay even now while it is above ground. With carefuyl watering it works a treat to allow the roots to flourish in the cat litter while still remaining viable under the clay and, more importantly, adhering to the contour of the rock.

Image20160811_184302 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr


Image20160811_184304 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr


Image20160811_184310 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr
Author:  Gary Jones [ 11 Aug 2016, 21:52 ]
Post subject:  Re: Clay soil comes good. lonicera raft on rock
Nice one Brendan. Why use posh Japanese bonsai clay (Keto) when you have your own natural source. I like it.
Author:  paulpash [ 11 Aug 2016, 23:03 ]
Post subject:  Re: Clay soil comes good. lonicera raft on rock
Sell Keto Kento on EBay - you'd make a killing :30clap2:
Author:  Deano [ 12 Aug 2016, 08:00 ]
Post subject:  Re: Clay soil comes good. lonicera raft on rock
:07hysterical: brilliant solution
Author:  Brendan [ 07 Jun 2017, 22:33 ]
Post subject:  Re: Clay soil comes good. lonicera raft on rock
I am still a believer in Keto Kento. BUT, as the roots thicken they naturally push themselves away from the rock. Thus a little bit of force is needed to keep them in place while the new growth and foliage thickens them up even more to really grip in the right places.

the result is a bit OTT, but I look forward to the Reveal.


Image20170607_200836 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr
Author:  Brendan [ 18 Sep 2017, 10:58 ]
Post subject:  Re: Clay soil comes good. lonicera raft on rock
Update time.

This is what has emerged over this summer:

Image20170915_170614 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

It has been left to grow all season using the "Escape Root" method. I plopped it into my garden and let the roots grow through the bottom of the pot into the ground. Lonicera like this. and they thicken well as a result, I think.

Image20170915_172553 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

Plenty of healthy roots grew all summer:

Image20170915_172636 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr


I simply tapped them and the cat litter fell away. The tree was a bit dry when I did this, which makes it easy. I'd do this only with lonicera - they are able to tolerate any abuse. The resulting root spread and fibrous roots that had developed are lovely:

Image20170915_172928 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr


But you can see from that pic that, as soon as the wire, rubber, zip ties, small stones etc are removed the roots lift off the rock.

The reason I wanted to repot this tree now was to test a theory I have about how to secure roots onto a rock once they are reasonably developed. I have a better tree that I want to take to the next stage, but first I needed to test this theory.

I think the tree has pretty good roots over the rock, and i want to set it in a pot so that I can start to work on refining the top.

Image20170915_172935 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr


My theory is that a well developed root that is low enough can be used to tie the tree to the rock by joining it to other similar roots on the opposite side. All the wires cross under the rock and join sort of in the middle. That way they are invisible from above, and they very firmly lock the roots around the base of the rock.

What I need to figure out is whether this method will damage the roots. I suspect not, as the wires will never be removed and the roots, even as they thicken over time, will simply absorb the wire. So I started with a loose loop around the thick part of a root:

Image20170915_173054 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

I tied a piece of wire similary to an opposite root and then joined them in the middle under the rock, pulling them quite tight, but not so tight they damaged the root. Just enough to pull the tree firmly onto the rock.

Image20170915_173346 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

I then repeated this for the roots all around the rock. As this rock has roots on many sides it was quite easy to do. The result is that the roots are well and truly locked in place..

A bonus is that the tree and rock are really heavy, and so I don't have to wire it in place. I simply mounded the soil up, plopped the rock on top and then buried the roots.

I did not cut off a single root. They are all simply pressed gently down into the sides of the pot and covered with soil. I want as much root as possible in case the wires do some damage. The tree will recover better with more roots, I think. Plus there was space for them all. Don't try this with many other species.

A bit of moss and Presto!

Image20170915_182744 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

Image20170915_182748 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr




The other side:

Image20170915_182824 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

Image20170915_182813 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr


End on

Image20170915_182840 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

Other end (quite nice, potential alternate front?):

Image20170915_182852 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

Image20170915_182847 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr




This pic from directly above shows what needs to be done next. The tree has slightly too little foliage on the one side:

Image20170915_182904 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr

My plan is to develop the crown so that it is pretty much an even dome over the whole rock:

To do this I need to move the one thick trunk across to the left, and bring the one drooping branch at the back into a higher position: (dotted white lines are the branches as they currently stand, brown lines where I want them to go):

Image2017-09-18_10-54-34 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr







Hopefully I can get to an image sort of like this:

Image2017-09-18_10-44-50 by BrendanR2012, on Flickr
Author:  sputnik [ 18 Sep 2017, 11:17 ]
Post subject:  Re: Clay soil comes good. lonicera raft on rock
That's already becoming a super little tree Brendan. The roots are holding really well to the rock. That clay is doing an amazing job. :Big Thumb:
Author:  Keith Hansell [ 18 Sep 2017, 11:29 ]
Post subject:  Re: Clay soil comes good. lonicera raft on rock
Well done, that has turned out to be a lovely tree and will look even better if you can get the movement you want in the branches. The shape of the rock works well with the composition. Strangely enough, reading through your post and arriving at the bit where the roots were lifting, I was going to suggest the method you had used. I have not done it myself but it sprang to mind and seemed, the same as you thought, to be the most logical solution. About 28 years ago I had a successes with root over rock but with a variegated lonicera, which has long since gone. Instead of clay I used soil and bound it tightly in muslin.

Looking forward to seeing the progression on this one.
Author:  Brendan [ 18 Sep 2017, 11:35 ]
Post subject:  Re: Clay soil comes good. lonicera raft on rock
Thanks Sputnic and Keith.

Keith you are a man of mystery. Your profile says you have been growing bonsai for 3 years, but your experience and stories seem to suggest a different vintage?
Author:  Gary Jones [ 18 Sep 2017, 12:09 ]
Post subject:  Re: Clay soil comes good. lonicera raft on rock
Well done Lonicera King. It looking very nice and a good technique. Like you I wonder about the long term effects but I suspect it'll work fine.
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