ONE of the things I've been dying to try and do over the last few years is to grow a forest in a pot - a few Steemians reading this may be thinking: 'What the hell is he talking about'.
This is what I am talking about:
I know, I know. To those unfamiliar with bonsai, such a concept may sound rather stupid - I mean forests grow out 'there' not in your yard or house but, believe me, it is more than doable.
So, I pretty much have everything I need in terms of the proper soil mixtures etc, a rather large pot and a few young bonsai I would like to use - I was thinking of using Chinese Junipers for this initiative since they take really well to this kind of bending and will more than likely take form smoothly.
I would however like to use Italian Cypress if I can but, this is a species of tree I have never worked with.
The little bit I know is that they are well suited the climate in my country and should do fine during both warmer and cooler months since we never dip below 10°C in winter however, this tree species will be receiving some shade in summer when temperatures can go as high as 40°C.
My thoughts are that the Chinese Juniper may be better suited and would be easier to control, especially when there are roughly 10 of them in the same pot.
I'm not so concerned about general maintenance or care however what does have me concerned is the process of re-potting these trees every few years and I assume that since they will all be sharing one pot, that this would need to be done annually so as to avoid the roots growing into each other.
My first question and where I mostly need advice would be: How does one go about re-potting in a scenario like this without possibly damaging the other trees and their roots?
My theory that I have, which I think may work, would be to layer individual compartments into the large pot using clay which I can bake to harden and in so doing rule out the concern of roots crossing roots - I am however worried that this may add too much weight to the pot. (Meaning I may need to find a more permanent spot for the pot and even perhaps consider building shelter of sorts which would provide it with morning sun and partial afternoon shade/indirect sunlight.)
I was advised to use Siberian Elm trees for this project however, I don't like Siberian Elm trees since their just way too easy to grow and work with - more on that in a later article.
My second question: What am I missing since I feel that with a project like this (something I am probably not ready to tackle) could get out of hand quite fast.
Drainage of course would be no concern regardless of whether I create individual planting compartments or not since I can always drill a few holes into the pot.
Should I consider using other trees for this or was I correct in choosing Junipers/Cypress?
Any advice would be great!
PS. If I end up choosing Cypress I'll have to use the seedlings I have which I would rather avoid however, it would mean that I could get straight to work since they are still young enough and will be much easier to control.
That's a wrap.
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Building a forest can take several years. Even more than the lifespan of human beings.
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Indeed it can however within bonsai concepts the time frame can at times be altered especially if you already have older trees on hand which have already gone through the process of training. Let's say I had 10 Juniper bonsai trees, all trained years ago to take on a specific shape, I could no transplant them all into one giant pot and alter the landscape to mimic that of a forest. Then my goal would have been achieved. But yes, I am doing this mostly from scratch so it will be difficult I assume as well as time consuming but totally worth it in the long run. Also, the visual impact created by such a display is simply out of this world. Perhaps I need a larger pot still and use cherry blossom trees instead - now that would take quite a few lifetimes hahaha
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Smiles
You are determined and I would say you should go for it. You have got good plans and ideas
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This is a good idea. Can't wait to see what you come up with. Just a heads up if you trying to build a forest less is more and work with uneven number.
7, 9, 11 or something like that. I find more than 7 trees are trick as on trunks must cross when view from all angles. Leave some open spaces inbetween the trees to give the impression of scale. There are two ways you can do it biggest tree in the front or the back both of these create different feelings of depth.
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Great feedback, thank you @romanolsamuels I think it would be best for me to perhaps design a layout first using precise measurements of the actual pot itself and then go on from there. I like the idea of using 11 trees however that might be too many in terms of space - 9 and 7 are still good numbers in terms of the visual element. I think I would go for smaller trees to larger to create that depth look - I mean when you walk into a forest it usually gets denser with every step...
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Usually a forest grows together, with the roots intertwining through the other roots. I think you are supposed to train the roots to grow like a single tree root ball mass.
When building on rock, usually the trees are wired in separately to their designed spaces, and can be repotted separately.
This is design choice you can make. Do you want to have a single root mass to train and let them compete with and support each other, or do you want to grow your trees in separate compartments to ensure the health of each tree's separate development?
In my saikei I'm choosing to let the trees grow together, and let some of the weakest trees die. The roots will be supported by a screen that runs across the bottom of the pot, which should aid in lifting the trees out all at once, without disrupting their arrangement.
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You've given me a lot to think about - I am more concerned about the trees and their individual health. If planted together my concern would be that when re-potting comes, it would be difficult to remove them all together especially since I would love to try and get the roots to also grow above the surface somewhat however, I like the idea of including mesh below the surface which would definitely aid in removing them all at once.
I did not think about grafting the trees onto rocks though - that sounds like it could work much better and greatly increase the visual appeal. I really like this idea and I believe I will opt for this. Maybe I should shift away from a simple forest idea and create an entirely unique landscape from scratch for this. I can see myself breaking the bank on this project. I'm going to get to the drawing board and come up with a few ideas. Thanks for the feedback.
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