Back in May when I came through Sydney on the way back from Canberra I was chasing some long growth juniper for tanuki work.
Bonsai South had some that fitted the bill nicely .See Sergent Junipers
In June I set up three air layers on each of the three trees I bought.
In parallel I was working on tanuki designs and by July had finished and fired number 4 which I posted with a series of pictures. Tanuki no 4
I was anticipating having to have the layers in place until at least later this summer but noticed over the weekend that there were some roots showing on the surface of the layer pots. A little exploration showed that they were all well rooted and ready to come off; a pretty amazing performance over 4 winter months with almost no new foliage growth.
This is one of the three trees with three air layers set up in open pots.
Just a different view of the same tree.
And here are the bits that came off it. Even a small branch rooted just by being immersed in the mix. It was really interesting that most of the rooting came from just being under the soil surface and damp rather than from the debarked ring.
Here they are potted up. The one on the right is the one I had preselected to go on the tanuki. As you can see it has three leaders. In the end I kept just two but needed them both to fill the space.
All of that is a long way to get to the final picture of the tree mated to the tanuki. It is as you see still well clamped into place and wired. Coming into the growing season I'll be able to remove most of that pretty soon, particularly down lower where it is already tight.
It is currently about 360mm from tree tip to base. A different pot will come in time to get the right positioning. Engagement and growth is all I'm after right now. The future for this one looks good.
Bonsai South had some that fitted the bill nicely .See Sergent Junipers
In June I set up three air layers on each of the three trees I bought.
In parallel I was working on tanuki designs and by July had finished and fired number 4 which I posted with a series of pictures. Tanuki no 4
I was anticipating having to have the layers in place until at least later this summer but noticed over the weekend that there were some roots showing on the surface of the layer pots. A little exploration showed that they were all well rooted and ready to come off; a pretty amazing performance over 4 winter months with almost no new foliage growth.
All of that is a long way to get to the final picture of the tree mated to the tanuki. It is as you see still well clamped into place and wired. Coming into the growing season I'll be able to remove most of that pretty soon, particularly down lower where it is already tight.
It is currently about 360mm from tree tip to base. A different pot will come in time to get the right positioning. Engagement and growth is all I'm after right now. The future for this one looks good.
Hey, this is a cool discovery, thanks for sharing. im surprised to hear you say that you need not ring bark the layers for them to root. Will try it out with other junipers.
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