Unlike last week’s azalea, this fella is on an annual Repotting cycle. It’s been in straight akadama for the last few years, and the root system is doing very well in it.
I take my time on this tree, combing out the roots carefully, and then hosing out the soil between; repeating the steps several times until the old soil is washed out. It allows me to find and eliminate any of the roots that are growing on the bottom and are trying to get strong. “Planing” the underside of the trunk keeps it spreading out over time.
Wired back in, and planted deep enough to keep those roots growing. One day, it’s going to have a very nice, natural nebari.
This tree has been in a bonsai pot for 13 years now, and while it’s tough to see progress year to year, looking back 10 years shows a different story.
I have been studying bonsai since 1994, in an ever-increasing obsessive fashion. In our last 5 years prior to moving from Iowa to Alabama pursuing a career in the foodservice industry, my bonsai collection was limited to a few varieties that could survive brutal winters outside, or winters under dim light in the dank basement of our humble duplex...my wife puts up with a lot. Including the trailer hitch I put on our brown 1983 Chrysler New Yorker to pull a U-Haul full of trees to Nashville for a 3-month stop along the career path that led us to Alabama. 12 years later, we no longer have the New Yorker; and not a single one of those trees remain on my bench, having given the last holdout to a new club member this summer. I prefer collecting native trees and buying the classical species used in Japan, feeding organic, and reading everything I can get my hands on.
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4 thoughts on “2017 Repotting: Japanese Maple, Chishio”
Its always nice to see an improvement on what nature gives. Japanese Maple Chishio is one of my favorites, as I own one of them. It looks like the root pad will turn out great please keep up updated on the process. Ihave several maples in pots and you have helped me in forthcoming designs.
THANKS
Nebari Bonsai 
How big is it and what size pot?
The maple is 30″ tall from the soil surface, and the pot is 18.5″x2″.
Thanks for reading!
Its always nice to see an improvement on what nature gives. Japanese Maple Chishio is one of my favorites, as I own one of them. It looks like the root pad will turn out great please keep up updated on the process. Ihave several maples in pots and you have helped me in forthcoming designs.
THANKS
Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.