Update.
I just read Graham Potter's latest blog where he basically reminds us that bonsai is about growing stuff. Sometimes all the fancy techniques are a poor substitute for just letting nature get on with doing what it does best. Our job is staying out of the way, or at most making the odd useful contribution.
That is another way of saying that sometimes the best thing you can do with a tree is leave it alone. Which is what I did. This one stood for about 4 years untouched. A few times I lifted it out and checked the roots, wished I'd not wasted my money, and popped it back again.
End of last growing season I gave it a serious haircut. This week I saw a bunch of new buds all over the place. I decided it was now or never to do the big root chop - the chop it needed since day one.
Thing is, today when I pulled it out I couldn't get my root hook into the thick mass of fibrous roots in the pot. It took me about 30 minutes to get even an idea of where the thick ugly roots were. That meant plenty of health built up over the last few years. Good reserves and good attributes to aide a fast and safe recovery.
20200328_165330 by BrendanR2012, on FlickrThat boded well for the next part of my plan, which was to simply saw off the ends of those darned roots.
20200328_165512 by BrendanR2012, on FlickrI angled it so the roots face directly out when seen from the front, creating the impression of a good root flare. The reality is that the front of the tree has no roots coming off at all.
20200328_171450 by BrendanR2012, on FlickrWhich made me think about what we do in bonsai. This is a truly awful piece of raw material. Thick ugly roots, coarse upper growth, large compound leaves. But I think by the ned of this summer I will have a half decent looking tree. Becasue I faked it.
20200328_171418 by BrendanR2012, on FlickrThat's maybe one good definition of bonsai - the art of good faking coupled with horticultural science.
We make things big young things look old and small.
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