New Field Maple Airlayer

Created during 2020 on Field Maple material that has been grown in the ground for 8 years. The airlayer has been put in the ground to protect it over the winter. I’ll have a proper look at the roots in the spring.

A Sneak Peek

Like all bonsai enthusiasts in the dead of winter, I’m excited about the potential of the growing season ahead. I’ve a lot catch up on after two years of inactivity in the garden but in some cases this has been a good thing. Some of the field grown material has flourished and thickened considerably and today I decided to check if some projects were progressing as I’d hoped. The following trees were all ground layered two years ago to hopefully produce a better surface root system:

First was a European Hornbeam

It was planted in cat litter in the ground and I found lots of fine root throughout this. Didn’t go down to Nebari level though as I didn’t want to do much damage at this point. I am satisfied though with the new flare at the bottom of the trunk. While I was at it I took care of some top pruning but left the bottom branches. I’ll airlayer the sacrifice branch in spring. Can’t wait to lift this tree when buds fatten up!

Field Growing Oak

Now that leaves have mostly dropped and trees are almost dormant, time to do an annual prune of material growing in the beds.  This oak was a seedling planted this year.  It fairly thrived but had too many branches coming from a single point on the trunk, and these had to be thinned out to avoid inverse taper.

Lower branches left on to allow thickening.  I’d like this to be quite a chunky tree so I’ll keep new growth short next year.