Advanced repotting: Moving roots lower on the trunk improving the bonsai Nebari

Sometimes you have roots in the wrong spot.
Noting you can do about it? Wrong! Here I show how to improve the Nebari of a pre bonsai by moving a root and putting it in place with approach grafts.
Grafting is a technique where two parts of a plant grow together by exposing the cambium and allowing the cells to meet and connect.
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[@FrostBiteBonsai]

I had NO IDEA you could do that with roots! Thank you! That is a nice tree!

[@GrowingBonsai]

Well.. Now you have no more excuses!

[@deepanjanbanerjee3491]

Nice! Perfect marriage of science and art!

[@GrowingBonsai]

Thanks!

[@oachkatzlsmum]

I love the flow of the branches, using the original front. Congratulations on that gorgeous maple, Jelle. 🙋‍♀️

[@GrowingBonsai]

Thank you so much. Note.. A hornbeam, not a maple!

[@rebelliousbrands3253]

Great tip. Love your trees.

[@ernsttencate6699]

Hele leuke video. Creatief met wortels. Dit is wel een onderwerp die ik zal gebruiken als het nodig is. Top...Echter ik ben van mening dat niet elke boom een front nodig heeft. Die boom van het filmpje vond ik daar wel een voorbeeld van. Zo'n wond kan je ook zien als een feature. Ik pleit ook voor ronde bonsaipotten. Goede video. Relevant onderwerp. Duidelijke uitleg👍👍👍

[@GrowingBonsai]

Dank je!

[@Adam-pm2ce]

I love that big scar!!

[@GrowingBonsai]

Would you let is close over, or open it up further?

[@jaiprakashpathak8974]

Made a good use of high up the trunk roots instead of doing away with those. Wonderful sir

[@GrowingBonsai]

Thank you!

[@frenchfries2148]

Personally, the large scar doesn’t bother me a whole lot. The original front looks better because the trunk slants and the nebari helps balance the tree

[@GrowingBonsai]

Thx!

[@christophecadiat7960]

Hello! Nice job. I apply the same method few days ago on Acer palmatum 🤞. For the scare, my opinion is to re work it like a broken branch for a natural look scare ( more easy and rapid than a new branch 😉) Thx for your video!

[@GrowingBonsai]

Thanks for the tips! Lets see where this goes over time!

[@theoschmitt3037]

Das sieht alles vielversprechend aus. Top

[@GrowingBonsai]

Danke dir Theo, lieb von dir.

[@tomekeziowski4293]

It will be beautiful tree. It is now. I would make the trunk to send some roots and make the front, as you said, "the other way". And thanks for the tip.

[@GrowingBonsai]

You're welcome. And thank you.

[@tacobonsai]

Nice demonstration. I have a few of these in process myself (maybe not so well executed as yours) that I am hoping will fuse. It's good to know that they will. I was just uneasy about cutting the roots straight off, honestly.

[@GrowingBonsai]

:) Glad to hear it helped you have more faith in your own ideas.

[@TOMSAI]

Wow cool ! Nice Trick ! Thx for showing 👍

[@GrowingBonsai]

My pleasure 😊 Something new for you?

[@TOMSAI]

@@GrowingBonsai des that was new for me ! Thx

[@andrewbeattie5245]

Very good info. I prefer the original front as the width of the base and the angle of the trunk is better.

[@GrowingBonsai]

Yes I agree, I feel the same

[@BonsaikelapaBambuApusTangsel]

Bagus Kwan bonsai nya keren

[@GrowingBonsai]

:D

[@Marceldbd]

Love this Tree

[@GrowingBonsai]

:) Thx

[@Marceldbd]

Wonderful Jelle! Thanks! Looks like this spring is going to stay

[@GrowingBonsai]

I hope so!

[@gayefanner731]

Yep, makes complete sense, why cut off perfectly good roots just cos they’re too high?! This MY type of Jelle! God bless you 🙏✝️. ✌️🇷🇺☮️🇺🇦✌️

[@GrowingBonsai]

Hey, welcome back. Long time no see!

[@gayefanner731]

Life and death gets busy at my age ! Look at you pushing 10K n your whole life ahead of you 🤗

[@peterjohnson350]

Hi Jelle, I like the 'new' front better. If a new branch comes both would be acceptable. Thanks for the video on moving the roots. I'll have to give that a go. Going back to an earlier video on elm cuttings in winter, I took some fairly thick ones and leaves are starting to come. Hopefully they will have good roots by the end of the year.

[@GrowingBonsai]

Elm cuttings are so much fun! They root so well!

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Now that is definitely a method I must try - never seen that before. Although the second option for the front looks inviting and easy it leaves you with no back branches and in truth I like the first front but would be inclined to either: Get a whip that I could thread graft or make a feature of that massive scar. I don't think it will heal anytime soon so I would be tempted (if option 1 is not possible) to create a craggy hollow and try to make it look like some sort of lightening strike.

[@GrowingBonsai]

You bet! I must find something to do with it. Still not sure which front is the best!

[@bonsaikastur]

Interesting techniq... I mean, the knob cutter used as hammer 😂 I like the scar' side. Scars mean something

[@GrowingBonsai]

😅Is that not what knob cutters are made for?

[@bonsaikastur]

@@GrowingBonsai they aren't from Japan, they must be swiss 😁

[@Kurtlane]

Hi. I like the old front way more. So much more natural. The "new" one: the lower branches on the two sides are almost symmetrical, plus the trunk looks like a cylinder with a thinner/smaller cylinder on top. Maybe it's just me,. but I mostly don't mind old scars after a major branch had been removed. If you look at old Chinese paintings, there are lots of trees with plenty of such scars. They strengthen the chi flow. Thanks for teaching us about making the trunk longer. But I have the opposite problem: I have five money trees (Pachira aquatica) with very long trunks, and I'd like to reduce them by a lot. Should I graft young roots up higher? Something else? Thanks.

[@GrowingBonsai]

Thank you for the thoughts on the trunk! Always good to have different insights! To be honest, I do not know the species so I cannot really make suggestions on how to deal with it. Is reducing the height an option at all?

[@Bonsaiandknives]

Hi Jelle, both fronts are possible. The new one hides the cuts better. - Regarding the roots: thanks for sharing this technique. Hope will help me, too.

[@GrowingBonsai]

Great tip!

[@roehle9962]

Id incorporated the scar and make it a feature, not a flaw. Got the whole mindset from Walter Pall, just carve it out and let it rot a little

[@GrowingBonsai]

Thank you :)

[@MrBoabreeder]

ik vind de nieuwe voorkant miss wel beter. Ook een mooi multitooltje wat je gebruikt , die hamertang 🤪

[@GrowingBonsai]

:) Ja, dat is een halve hamertang. Ik heb de bek ooit gebroken en gebruik deze nu voor allerhande werk.

[@W9SL9Y]

Hi Jelle, have wondered, does exposing the cambium layer under the base and applying rooting hormone not work to generate new roots (similar to an air layer)? Thanks for the great content.

[@GrowingBonsai]

In principle, yes it should. But not as reliable that you can be sure it works every time.

[@Tybold63]

Am kind of split, old or new front lol? The root technique is interesting and will certainly improve the rootbase if successful.

[@GrowingBonsai]

Not sure where I will go yet! :).Thanks!

[@bobcatbonsai]

I think for me I would take the scars. In the long game though, I would go with front two and just keep working on the nebari. Very cool technique on moving the roots. Coul you also do a root graft to try and attach some larger roots?

[@GrowingBonsai]

I could try to do that. Eventually I might have to. Then again.. I might just move this tree along to someone else. Too many trees anyway.

[@TheTickpicker1]

Question Jelle from a newbie could a person clip off the root you want lower or over and strip back some of the bark/skin like you did then drill a small hole where you want the root to be, and will it grow in place the way you are trying with the push pins.

[@GrowingBonsai]

In theory, yes. In practive I have not been able to make that work.

[@johng3669]

Any chance of grafting a limb near the scar to help hide it? Both sides of the tree look nice, but I only became interested in bonsai in the past year so I’m not looking at it with a trained eye.

[@GrowingBonsai]

In theory, yes, one could graft on the trunk. I think I will let Nature take its course!

[@brucedeacon28]

👍👌👌🙂🙂

[@GrowingBonsai]

:D

[@abydosianchulac2]

Could you design the tree so that you can switch back to the "old" front later? If you were able to craft the tree so the new front could be used for the next several years, but then rotated around when the large wound has healed, that would be ideal to me. But then again, I love the pre uro look the wound is giving, so I basically shouldn't have said anything.

[@GrowingBonsai]

The challenge is that a bonsai normally comes towards you. So flipping fronts means working the top of the tree. Lets see where I end up

[@johng3669]

So for the roots you either bury the trunk a bit more than you envision the final tree or you keep raising the tree a little which is how you get the higher roots? Is that a common practice or you only do that occasionally?

[@GrowingBonsai]

The challenge is that the thick main roots were lower than the newer, thinner roots. This is what happens if mulch is added etc. I planted deep now, to facilitate new roots forming. Not sure it will though!

[@JackHussel]

Hi Jelle, what is the best time to repot the tree and what kind of soil/substrates do you recommend? Also, volgens mij ben je Nederlands of niet?

[@GrowingBonsai]

Best time for deciduous in general is as the buds start to open. Check my chennel, there is a video on substrate. I am in Germany!

[@untrecatorprinlume5020]

Please let me know if you use zeolite in the substrate! Respectfully!

[@GrowingBonsai]

Not by default. Do check my substrate video and you will see I have alots of traces in there, as I recycle

[@johnrb9397]

I prefer the “back”.

[@GrowingBonsai]

:) Thx!

[@martinwelters370]

Can't you carve the scar into a hollow-ish trunck, or is that not done?

[@GrowingBonsai]

I could. It would make an Uro, which is a hollow in the trunk due to dying of a limb

[@LeandroLinguidi]

One week too late for my, I have been busy last weekend.

[@GrowingBonsai]

Sorry to hear that!

[@burlo_one3532]

Front with scare is better

[@GrowingBonsai]

:) Thx!