On a very cold day (for Florida) i was lucky enough to have the NoNaMe’ Bonsai Study group and Mike Rogers help me to move my large Trident Maple. Altough it fit nicely where I had it, I found that it was too difficult to work on it. So I decided to move it out into my yard for easy access. The fact that the tree and bonsai pot weigh about 500 pounds I’m not worried about it walking away.
The first challange was to get the tree out of the pot and then move the components separately.
Defoliating the Maple
We moved the tree into a plastic tub so that it could be moved more easily. Since the tree hadn’t dropped its leaves yet, the group helped the tree into dormancy by defoliating the tree.
setting the stand
The stand needed to be placed and leveled so that it would support the tree, and sit level. Edwin and David are using a level to make sure we had a perfect stand.
Finishing touches
I added some additional soil to stablize the stand while the rest of the group finished with the tree.
Combing the roots
One last task was to comb out the roots. I don’t know the next time I will repot this tree so we took advantage by working the roots prior to the repot.
Setting the Tree
The tree was then set in the pot (back towards the photo) and the soil was added. The sun rises from the right side of the photo and sets behind to the left. I am trying to develop my first branch and in order to maximize the sunlight we potted it facing this way.
I think that was the best idea to place this tree outside of the screened area. Being exposed to more of the natural elements will improve its overall health and vigor. Inside the screened area limits beneficial insects from being able to do their job. You will see the difference!
Alan, The biggest advantage to having it outside the screen is that now I can actually get behind it to take the wire off. Last year the tree got so big that I couldn’t even get in to take off wire that I put on last winter. It just wasn’t a good set up. It is already swelling with buds that are ready to pop. I can’t wait.