Iris and all,

I have had great luck in developing good nebari on Japanese Maples through
drastic root pruning over a period of years. I have had less success with
airlayering.

I would repot in the spring cutting out all of the roots that are growing
down and spreading the remaining roots - cut off the strangler root or at
least make some solid cuts in it to promote growth of roots from it. Use a
somewhat largish, but rather flat pot with good draining soil and make sure
you tie it in the pot very well. Make sure any cuts that you want to root
are under enough soil so they won't dry out - a little sphagnum moss on the
cut site also seems to help. I have never bothered with rooting hormone,
but use it if you like.

Plan to repot in one to two years depending upon how strong the tree grows -
let the top grow wild for the first year if the goal is to improve the
roots. Once again remove the bottom roots and also make sure you cut back
the large surface roots nearly to the base of the trunk with a cut that is
longer on the top than the bottom - you want them sprout a couple of smaller
roots that are better matched with the others. When repeated a couple of
times this process will give a good nebari.

The good thing about maples (particularly Japanese Maples) is that they will
tolerate severe root pruning very well so you can recover from the clustered
roots caused by just moving the plant into the next larger pot without doing
any root work. It is much harder for pines and similar trees and the lose
rate with aggressive root pruning is higher, but it is possible to fix bad
roots even in those species. Of course you can grow your trees from seed
and get perfect roots (a great way to learn how to do root pruning) or buy
from folks like EvergreenGardenWorks that do some root work when they move
the tree into a larger pot. They can't afford to completely sort out the
root system, but at least it will not be a tangled mess.

Marty

-----Original Message-----
From: Internet Bonsai Club ] On Behalf Of


The big problem with this maple is that it was left in its nursery cube way
too long, so the bottom of the trunk is like an old-fashioned Chinese
woman's
foot, all knotted up with a dead lump in the middle. When I got it, there
was a
terrible strangler root. I can't tell if it was originally a seedling or a
cutting. I was thinking of air-layering it, but I was told that is too risky

with Japanese maples. This winter, I will cut out all the dead area & treat
the
bottom of the trunk with root hormone.

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