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let me start by saying i am new to bonsai but have been very thorough in my research and have recently gotten a serissa and juniper bonsai (the serissa is about 5 years old and was trained when i got it, the juniper is still young and i look foreword to training it).

so my question is, at the end of may i will be getting 7 blackhills spruce trees in the 12 to 18 inch range for a bonsai forest. i have been reading quit a bit online about how to achieve this but one thing keeps eluding me. i will be getting the trees from the state USDA farm service agency's conservation dept. and i am not sure what to do with the roots? they will be bare (no soil, just a long root system), my question is do i trim the root system and if so how?

any help would be great

John

This is just my opinion...
I'd plant them without pruning the roots this year. You might be surprised at how little roots they have when they come.

i agree, you will need to grow these for a year or 2 befor setting up the forest. if you want group them together in 3 seperate pots 3,3 and 2, this will get the trees acustom to growing in close quarters and make creating the forest a little easier in my opinion.

I just read a really good article on bonsai4me.com about drilling holes in a piece of wood and putting the trees in the holes close together to create good nebari and get them used to growing as a forest. There was a LOT of time and root trimming involved, but it looked good!Is It okay to post links on here? I think it was that website, if not I'll find it. I think you would find it useful.

Valerie

Go ahead Val I do it a lot. I guess as long as it's related to the subject it's fine.

yes please thats a new skill i have yet to see

I realize now it's for Multi trunk bonsai from different trees but I think it could be used for a forest. It's good reading anywho!




Valerie

That is absolutely madly awesome! Ive got to try that. thank you for the link .
It looks like a great way to grow surface roots.

thanks val i think ill be digging up my "forest" maple saplings and gettin' the drill out

No prob! It looks like such a great idea I think I'll get over my fear of power tools and try it myself . First one to try it must post pictures! (second and third, etc must post pictures, too, but the first one had to post to get the rest of us moving )


Valerie