We are now well into autumn here in North East Victoria. The deciduous trees have been progressing through their autumn colour changes before dropping leaves.

Japanese maples changed colour a little later than many of the tridents I posted a few weeks ago. These Japanese maples were at their best when these photos were taken last week.

Trident maples also develop good Autumn colours here in North East Victoria. Different trees of the same species can have different colours. Some of that is genetic, some is due to conditions – whether the tree is more protected or exposed to cold, sun, etc.

Now that the leaves are dropping it’s time to get some trimming done. Maples tend to ‘bleed’ clear liquid when pruned closer to spring. Losing some juice from pruning cuts does not usually seem to hurt them but when I trim earlier in autumn there’s little, if any, bleeding so I prefer to trim as soon as the leaves drop.

There’s lots of small trident maples on the sales benches in 11 cm pots and these trees often drop leaves earlier than the larger trees so I’ve started with them. Here are some examples of how I trim the smaller trees.

The older bonsai are also trimmed now but it takes much longer due to the extra branch raminfication.

For bonsai growers in the southern hemisphere, now is a great time to give your deciduous bonsai a good tidy up. For the northern cousins you’ll need to way a few months.

June marks early winter here at Shibui Bonsai. The leaves have fallen off most of the trident maples and that means it’s time to start work on the developing trees. Most years I start with the Root over Rock plantings because it is always great to finally see what has happened over summer.

After cutting the roots under the box I gently ease each tree out of the soil. Breaking a few of the roots at this stage doesn’t matter as I intend to cut them back much further in the next step

Just a quick, rough trim of roots hanging out from the foil to make the trees easier to handle.

I won’t trim the tops at this stage. I really want to see the shape of both rocks and new roots before deciding where to prune the long trunks and branches.

Next time I open them up to see how the roots have developed.

Removing the foil wrap is easy. Unlike some other methods the roots do not get tangled up or grow over and through the bindings.

And some more.

Now I can assess the shape better. Look at shape of the rock, flow of the trunk, flow of roots, etc to determine which side looks better. That can determine where the longer shoots will be chopped. These still have some growing to do so they may still change appearance. At this stage I’m just making some guesses and anticipating what may happen in the next few years and trying to direct future growth along the lines that I think will look best.

After preliminary pruning the tops.

From experience I know it is important to assess and manage the roots now. Too many roots may seem a good problem to have but over time they will all thicken and spread to completely hide the rock. No point having a root over Rock planting if nobody can see there’s a rock!

Also need to deal with crossing roots. As well as being confusing to the viewer, a root growing under another will push the overlying root out away from the rock as it thickens and spoil the arrangement.

A few of these little ROR starters are already good enough to pot up and begin training trunk and branches. Others still need some more grow time so those are rewrapped with fresh foil and will go back into pots or boxes so the roots and trunks thicken a little more next summer.

Now that the roots have been thinned and adjusted it’s time to take a more thorough look at the overall shape in case trunk lines need any work.

When I initially planted these I tried to match trunk shape to the shapes of the rocks while also trying to get good root lines. Since then strong growth of new shoots and trunk thickening have often changed the appearance so they need to be reassessed. Some will obviously need to have slight adjustments, others may need more radical pruning and a few will just be so bad I’ll scrap them.

Many readers will already be able to assess and prune for developing trunk lines but for newer growers I’ll try to work through some of my decisions with the following tree.

Check the appearance, roots, rock, trunk line and any branching from all sides and angles.

The main trunk line seems to compliment the shape of the rock from a couple of viewing points so that’s a good start. I can see that the original trunk was wired and bent (thinner upper section) but a new shoot has grown strongly vertical. Both those lines would be Ok as a trunk but the new, thicker shoot is almost the same thickness of the lower trunk meaning almost no taper in the trunk. Also that new shoot has long, relatively straight internodes so I would not be able too develop branches where I want them if that’s chosen as the main trunk. I decide to chop that new part just above the first node. New buds will sprout and grow in the coming growing season and I’ll reassess again next year.

Next subject

The twisted part of that trunk comes down too close to the top of the rock now. As it thickens it might obscure the view of the top of the rock. The new part is more upright so probably a better trunk line. I chop the thinner section.

I don’t usually start digging the grow beds until July but a Shibui Bonsai customer has been keen to learn more by volunteering to help. Jim had a couple of days off work due to wet weather so we picked a dry day and got started a week early.

Jim is younger and enthusiastic. He started on the shovel and kept me so busy pruning that I did not get any photos of the actual dig.

In a few hours we managed to dig and do a rough top and root prune on most of the larger trident maples, some Japanese maples, a few crab apples and some of the first year tridents.

They have all been ‘heeled in’ to a spare patch where they can wait until I’m ready to do a final inspection to decide if they get potted for sale, put back in the grow beds for more growth or go on the scrap heap.

Winter is here and so is the annual seedling sale. Thousands of trident maples seedlings direct from the garden beds to you from just $1 each plus post costs.

Also a limited number of Japanese maple seedlings but due to limited numbers, slower growth rates and higher demand small JM are $2 and the few slightly thicker trunks $5 each.

Also this year a few more XL and XXL tridents. These grew fast in an area with plenty of water and now have trunks up to 5cm thick at ground level. Remember, very little taper, large cuts and roots have had no work so as they come. Happy to send photos of these as individuals. $10 – $20 depending on size and roots. Be prepared for slightly higher post cost when buying these larger trees as they do take up more space.

email [email protected] to order

Note that I usually sort the seedlings according to trunk shape as different shapes and sizes are better for some projects. I can often supply selected packs that will suit your projects better if you tell me what you want to do.

More details of Shibui Bonsai winter seedling offer

Some customers plan to wire the trunks and make lots of twists and bends as potential shohin and mame sized bonsai. If that’s your plan please tell me and I’ll specially select thinner, more flexible stems which should allow for better bends with less unwanted snaps. From experience there’s no point trying to put tight bends into thicker maple trunks. They rapidly get hard and brittle so larger trunks snap rather than bending well.

Large trident seedlings are from 6mm (around pencil thickness) up to 10mm (almost small finger thick) $5 each

Also available:

XL and XXL tridents – These tridents were hiding last year when I culled so are now 2-3 years old. Trunks from 2cm -5 cm thick near the base will give you a head start on growing larger trees. Be aware that these larger tridents have grown quickly and have very little trunk taper. The necessary trunk chop will leave quite a large scar though tridents heal rapidly if they are allowed to grow freely again in the year or 2 after the chop As untrained seedlings they may have good radial roots or not. I’m happy to send photos of potential XL and XXL if you want to see before committing to the purchase.

Forest packs – Bundles of different thickness trident trunks specially selected to make starter group plantings. Forest pack typically consists of 2 large, 6 medium and 6 small trident seedlings at just $20 each. See this post Trident maple group planting for my tips and techniques to build your own group from a Shibui Bonsai forest pack.

All winter seedlings are sent bare root. That means no soil but don’t worry. While they are dormant your maple seedlings won’t even know. Roots are packed in wet newspaper or damp sawdust so the roots don’t dry out, then wrapped in a plastic bag to retain moisture while they travel and packed in a cardboard box to protect them while in transit. Seedlings can travel for up to 2 weeks this way with no ill effects. When your package arrives, open the bag and check that the packing is still damp. Add a little water if required. Bare root plants can be stored for several months if necessary. They will eb fine in the plastic bag for a few days but for longer term storage – dig a hole in the garden and cover the roots with soil or place the roots in a suitable sized container and cover the roots with damp soil, sand or potting mix and they will be fine until you get round to dealing with them. Obviously the sooner you pot up your new Shibui Bonsai seedlings the better but provided the roots don’t get dry the seedlings can be stored this way until leaves start to open in spring.

Don’t forget if you don’t think you have the time or patience to grow your bonsai from small seedlings Shibui Bonsai has lots of more advanced trees in pots. Prices starting at just $10 and up depending on age, trunk shape and branching.

Make sure you include your mailing address when you order so I can calculate post costs to get your order delivered right to your door.

I tackled some bigger garden grown trident seedlings today. Thicker roots so these took a bit more time and effort to extract than the smaller ones I usually offer.

Trident trunks like this are still available bare root – until the new shoots start to open. Prices from $15 through to $30 for these XXL bare root tridents depending on how good the root base, trunk taper and trunk bends. This one priced at $20 as an indication.

As shown, XL and XXL tridents are usually tall and thin. They are good for larger groups as is but can be trunk chopped and grown on to create trunks will have good taper in a few years.

I’m sure many beginners are concerned about purchasing bare root trees and having them delivered through the mail so some of you may be more interested in some trident maple trunks that are already established in pots.

These are some of the XL and XXL bare root tridents that were left after last year’s winter bare root sale so I potted up some of the nicer trunks. That means these have had a full year to grow new roots and re-establish in the pots ready for whatever projects you’d like to try with them. Some might need another trunk chop to establish a better trunk line, others are ready to start growing branching this summer.

Delivery for some of these will be a little more than the bare root equivalent but generally a single pot doesn’t change the post price much. As usual, I’m happy to provide a delivery price quote before you commit to purchase. Please supply a mailing address or at least a postcode because post rates depend on what Auspost zone you are in.

Shibui Bonsai also has plenty of smaller trident and Japanese maples in smaller 11 cm pots as well as a good range of other bonsai species. email [email protected] to order or enquire about your next bonsai starters.

Spring has arrived earlier than usual at Shibui Bonsai. Tridents are growing leaves and flowering species that are usually in full flower for shows in October are already opening. As a result I’ve had to get potting up and repotting deciduous species done quicker than usual. I’m still repotting any pines and junipers that need doing this spring as they don’t seem to mind root pruning a bit later than the deciduous species.

There’s also a couple of other Prunus ‘Elvins’ still available for sale.

Even the newly potted transplants are fast putting on leaves. These won’t be ready to travel for a few months but look out for new catalogues in November or December as usual.

Pictured below: New Root over Rock trident maples; Prunus ‘Elvins’; Crab apple ‘Profusion’; collected cherry plum and collected hawthorn and a few of the newly transplanted trident maples.

There are still some good trees from last season’s offering for those who don’t want to wait. I recently updated most to the catalogues to show what’s still here. click HERE for the Shibui Bonsai catalogue page We can post trees to Vic, SA, NSW and Qld customers. Post prices vary according to destination, size and weight so let me know your postcode when asking about a tree so I can calculate delivery cost for you.

As most of will now be aware, Spring has come a bit earlier this year. The trident maples hear at Shibui Bonsai have already begun to leaf out. We know that it is safe to dig, root prune and ship bare root tridents while they are dormant but having leaves puts a lot more stress on these trees. Spring budding means an end to the Shibui Bonsai bare root winter sales.

Trees in pots are a much safer bet for beginners and experienced growers alike as the roots are already well established in the pots. Shibui Bonsai has an extensive selection of trident maples and other bonsai species in pots. Select from a range of sizes, shapes and prices from $10 through to around $300. Email [email protected] and let me know what species, sizes and shapes you want to consider. I’m happy to take some photos of trees that may match your needs so you can select the right tree(s) for your project.

The trees that were transplanted from the grow beds last winter have grown well and the new roots should be strong enough for them to cope with the posties now. Most have already had one haircut.

I spent last week dodging storms and rain to get photos and the new catalogues are now uploaded to the catalogue page. Feel free to browse and see if anything takes your fancy this year.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 [email protected]

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.

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.

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.

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 [email protected] to discuss price and availability.

My back is not getting any younger or stronger so it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage larger bonsai so I am reluctantly offering several older bonsai for sale.

This is an opportunity to obtain well developed, 30-40 year old bonsai.

Trident maple – informal upright, root over rock.

Grown from seed in the late 1980s. This trident maple is one of my early trials with root over rock. You can see that the rock is on the small side and the tree has grown so the roots have almost swallowed the rock. Branches are well ramified and few scars on the trunk. Priced at $2,500.

Ficus rubiginosa – informal upright.

Grown from seed in the early 1990s. This tree started out as 2 seedlings fused together to form a twin trunk bonsai. The trunks fused very well but, as the individual trunks continued to thicken, the fork between them moved higher and higher so it is now an informal upright bonsai with a very thick lower trunk and a large first branch. The cold climate here is not the best for ficus so ramification is not as extensive as the trident above but plenty of primary branches to continue building on. $2,500

Cedrus deodar – informal upright

Cedars grow slowly so it’s not surprising that this is one of my oldest bonsai. Obtained as a pencil thick seedling from Nell Saffin in the early 1980s and developed slowly in pots, this tree is a beautiful example of deodar bonsai. Cedars of this age and quality do not come up often. Priced at $3,500.

If you’d like to see more photos of any of these trees, please ask. I’m happy to take shots of different sides or any particular aspects of the trees that you’d like to see.

I don’t really want to consign trees of this size and quality to the tender care of the postal service so alternative arrangements will need to be made for delivery. Pick up by the buyer is preferred but other options may be available so, if you don’t think personal pick up is possible, please talk to me about other delivery options.

My apologies for the late listing of new trees. There always seems to be something more pressing than formatting the new catalogues or loading them to the site.

I haven’t fully proof read the new catalogues but, if I keep procrastinating you’ll never see the new stock so I’m crossing fingers that most of the trees are included and that I’ve matched the correct descriptions to the right photos.

Already the prunus catalogue is out of date as someone purchased a large cherry and a Prunus ‘Elvins’ after I’d finished that list. Make sure you ask whether any tree is still available to avoid disappointment.

Please note that the catalogues only list larger and field grown stock. We also have a wide range of smaller starters – way too many to list individually. If smaller, less expensive trees is what you want you can email [email protected] and let me know what species, what size or shape and your price range and I’ll try to find some options that might match your needs.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.