Bonsaify | Refreshing a Juniper Bonsai Slab Planting With a Surprise!

Eric decides it's time to refresh the soil on his Juniper raft because growth on the tree slowed down last season. The planting has been on this slab stone for 15 years.
00:00:32 The first thing Eric needs to do is clear out some space by removing the dense soil and replacing it with fresh soil. The difference between a standard repotting and this is that instead of a ceramic hard wall, the "container" here is a mix of muck (sphagnum moss, clay, and akadama) with moss over it. As the tree grows, it populates all the space available. To refresh the soil, Eric needs to do more aggressive root work around the root ball to get deep enough. He doesn't want to remove the tree from the stone.
00:02:24 A view into the layers of muck and soil.
00:03:15 There's not a lot of free space for the roots to continue growing. Eric realizes he needs to be more aggressive during this session in replacing soil.
00:04:12 More moss and muck removal around the perimeter.
00:04:57 Eric removes some big crossing roots, and SURPRISE! realizes the tie wires broke off!
00:05:53 This is an opportunity for him to re-do and either re-attach to the original stone or use a new one.
00:06:40 One consequence of the tree getting weak is a portion of the raft isn't doing well, so Eric removes it.
00:07:28 The core of the root ball is still intact and since the planting is removed from the stone anyway, Eric decides to proceed as he would with a traditional repot and remove the bottom matte of roots.
00:08:09 Look at that root ball! Now Eric needs to think about how to keep the plant secure and what he'll use to build a wall.
00:08:38 Rock prep! Includes a drill :-)
00:09:34 Eric used a masonry bit to drill 3 holes into the rock, and placed #10 stainless steel 1" long screws.
00:10:44 Next he wraps a few pieces of aluminum wire around each screw to use as anchor points, and then he starts to prepare the slab to receive the tree.
00:11:04 Eric describes some characteristics of the rock shape. He uses the muck mixture to create a low wall to keep soil from rolling off the edge of the slab. He'll then apply a think layer of soil on the slab before placing the planting black on top.
00:12:07 Eric places the planting back on the slab and explains why he added a little extra soil in places to change the angle of the planting.
00:13:13 Eric ties the planting down and adds some extra soil to fill in spaces before building the wall. He explains his plan for the wall sizing in relation to the slab and root ball.
00:14:23 BUILDING THE WALL!
00:16:38 MOSS! He uses a combo of wet shredded sphagnum moss and shredded moss to populate the areas where Eric applies it.
00:18:18 How do you think it looks after all the work?
00:19:26 Eric credits Ryan Neil for popularizing this technique in the U.S. and gives a shout-out to Mirai Live for great content.
Have you tried any rock plantings? Tell us about your experience in the comments below. Please subscribe to our channel! Give this video a like and a share, to help spread the word about how-to refresh rock plantings!

[@baldyeti]

Daggum, Eric! That was fantastic. You filled in the gaps on my understanding of slab plantings. I sure appreciate all the details you show. Thank you, Eric. You’re The Man

[@capriusacropoles2317]

Excellent job my friendy ! 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

[@conspiraterry7393]

I've been obsessed with this type of bonsai, and I kind of skipped through today but I will reference back at some point I'm sure, thank you so much for this knowledge.

[@sukantaghose]

Amazing your videos are very inspiring

[@jasongannon7676]

It was worth the work.

[@davidmorgan3508]

Aussie Dave here Eric, Wow loved your engineering work 🤗🤗. I use peat moss as a under laying because moss like a low pH, peat moss also has a low pH where spagman moss is neutral 🤫🤫. Loved the end result 👍

[@Bonsaify]

Thanks Dave! I've never been a peat moss fan, but I wonder if in a thin layer it would act differently than it does in "potting soil".

[@BONSAIenCORTO]

15 years.... guaoooo. Well done with lot of foliage. The piece is really interesting and has a lot of mochikomi. Great work and glad to see it.

[@arnoldmmbb]

Beautiful composition!!

[@teaniner]

Great looking tree!

[@henzobonsai]

Nice character 👍

[@9daywonda]

Though more aesthetically pleasing on the eye, it seems far more hard work than just placing it in a pot hey.

[@Bonsaify]

Lol, yes, a lot more work at least when you're doing it. But, "repotting" is not needed as often as it is with pots!

[@69racer69]

This is a great video. I just bought a latch group that is on a slab almost exactly like yours, I would love to see an update on how the surface moss grows after the shredding and relaying 😁👍🏻

[@Bonsaify]

Very little rain around here this winter - so the moss is just starting to turn green - then it has to go through the slime phase I guess. Lol.

[@69racer69]

@@Bonsaify slime phase sounds interesting lol. Mine slab has been covered with chunks of moss that lift very easy when watering, so they’re not part of the soil. Would you recommend doing what you did to reset it all together?

[@bobmccarlie382]

Super Tuesday! I have a 7 tree larch forest on a large stone slab. I realized last year that the floor of the forest is much higher now than when I created it 3 years ago. So it will get a treatment similar to what you did. When I built it I used the sphagnum/aka Dana wall that Ryan espouses. It worked great. I’ve had to retouch the wall a couple of times, but now it’s so full of roots there really isn’t a distinct wall anymore. Great video!

[@PlantCraftDIY]

Great job.. 😍👍👍

[@acheronexile]

Lovely raft! Legend says that even a dry bit can be used on a wet material, the added water mixes with the dust to make a mud like mixture that seems to aid in giving the drill bit a fresh surface to penetrate.

[@OjaiBonsai]

Slab forests or rafts are my favorite. Great work. Cheers from Ojai California

[@bulebonsaibatam1758]

I have a slab planting with 3 trees. Love it and basically the same method you have used. Love it.

[@Shinrin_koen-en]

I have a very large Dawn Redwood forest on a slate slab. Was put together spring 2021. So as of now I'm not at this stage yet. But judging by how new roots punctured through the muck wall many times throughout last years growing season I will be doing this sooner than later. Thanks for sharing this video. Now I will have some idea of what to do and what to expect.

[@richardwilson2118]

it would be interesting to see the how it got on now.

[@RonMaurer]

Very cool Eric! Thanks for another fun to watch informative video!

[@Boredoldman]

Learning much from you videos. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@Planted.Aesthetics]

Great video man!! Been wanting to attempt one of these slab plantings at some point. Thanks for all the tips!!

[@Bonsaify]

Thanks!

[@arnoldmmbb]

5:36 haha so funny

[@nickaleshin7149]

Such great work!!! Really satisfying to watch! Looks fantastic. Think it’ll be ready for the foliage to get a refresher later on this year too or are you going to let it recover the rest of the year untouched?

[@Bonsaify]

I'm not sure TBH - the tips look very healthy, but the density is low, and those two factors are not something I've seen before in this species (together). So I'm waiting to see what happens this growing season!

[@raynorris135]

Reslly like the technique to clean out the roots and layering in sphagnum moss. I think the bonsai soil you used for finishing was smaller size than root area.

[@Bonsaify]

Ray - correct - the bottom was medium size - 1/4"-5/16" and the top mixed with the sphagnum was small - so like 1/8"-3/16". The other difference was that the bottom was 40% akadama, 30% pumice and 30% lava while the top was 70% akadama and 30% pumice (aoki shohin premix.) Higher akadama percentage and sphagnum is all to retain more moisture at the top.

[@raynorris135]

@@Bonsaify thanks

[@JesusChrist4ever]

It looks amazing man man I want to creat one now rlly bad but this is centuries later I would have to start from scratch any tips Mr bonsaify!?

[@JAMES-dv5ns]

Great video very informative thanks ! I’m beginning a deciduous mixed forest in a couple weeks on lace rock. The lace rock will be tilted up for drainage. Would you recommend using wetted akadama underneath and a wall of muck around? Or wetted akadama and just using tie downs then top dress with moss/ sphagnum?

[@Bonsaify]

Each situation is a bit different, but generally a muck wall can help retain some soil so you can make a pocket on a vertical planting. However using plastic drainage mesh can also work for this purpose, as long as you can figure out how to conceal it. Muck isn't perfect as it does crack and also is super dense, so the roots don't like it as much. But, as long as it doesn't brick up from drying too much it can work well. The sphagnum akadama (particles, not fines) mixture is messy to put together, but seems to create more water retention and finer root structure with less problems with cracking, but it's not well suited to things that are very vertical.

[@JAMES-dv5ns]

@@Bonsaify it’s not a vertical stone it’s kinda like Mirai’s lace rock planting composition. I think I’ll use muck on some outer walls but use akadama and pumice for soil under the trees and on top of roots with anchor wires / mesh… then top dress with moss and sphagnum to eventually grow moss

[@frankhalstead20]

Thanks! This was great information. Maybe you could clarify a couple things for me. I couldn't really see what you were tying your tie wires to. were you tying from point A to point B, etc? The other thing is this. Is it possible to maintain a raft planting or any other bonsai without ever root pruning again if you are applying a small amount of fertilizer everytime you water?

[@Bonsaify]

Hi. Yes I generally tie across the rootball - so point a-b and b-c etc. The other option is to do a vertical loop and prop, but this is better applied to trees that do not have established rootballs. As for maintenance - No, not really - Eventually the roots will become too dense and the tree will slow down. That's actually what happened to this one. I had it on there for over 10 years, maybe 15. I had excavated sections before but never done a full re-do. That said - it is a longer repotting timeline than the same tree in a container. Note that shimpaku/kishu roots are slow - so other species you may need to re-work the roots more frequently.

[@estherlovesveges]

Repot/rest looks great. What clay body did you use for the walls?

[@Bonsaify]

Mix of sphagnum and akadama mostly. For the low part it's just an old block of Laguna stoneware clay - can't recall the name that I had laying around and mixed with lots of sphagnum and akadama dust.

[@bonsaioni9737]

Hi, i used Super Glue and salt, the chemical reaction makes it hard as rock

[@Bonsaify]

super glue and table salt?!? I'll have to try that.

[@bonsaioni9737]

@@Bonsaify yessure, wait a few minutes and dry

[@bonsaioni9737]

@@Bonsaify the glue is ATTACK

[@Alex-iw2ok]

does the typical wiring technique with holes and wires though these and guided across the bottom of the slab not work? whst's the advantage of using screws on a slab ?

[@Bonsaify]

Well, I didn't want to drill all the way through, but yes, you can do it that way. However with natural slabs the wire may be visible, since there is no recessed bottom like a pot. Many people will use a 2-part epoxy type product or other adhesive to adhere the tie wires to the surface. I just didn't have any of that handy so I used my drill and screws, which will be secure for a long time.

[@TheUncleLem]

Would you mind sharing more details about your muck recipe?

[@Bonsaify]

Shred up some sphagnum, wet it, add a bunch of akadama dust, the fines you sift out normally. Then grab some clay (I used ceramic clay from a store, but you could use it from a river also) and mix it in. You'll have to get the clay quite soft to be able to mix it. The proportions are not exact, you can play with more clay to make it more sticky (but also dries more like a rock) or more sphagnum to make more of a flexible muck. Depends on whether you want to make it stick to the side of something or are using it like I did in this video.

[@TheUncleLem]

@@Bonsaify thanks a lot! I also have access to some keto soil, would it be enough to mix it with sphagnum, what do you reckon? I don't have much akadama dust, the one that I buy is quite well sifted already.

[@chris_jeske]

Just a question: why not some stones to break up the surface area of the mound?

[@Bonsaify]

Stones? not a bad idea.

[@kimrichardson8376]

Hi there, what type of insecticide do you use to keep pests at bay. Last year spider mites were terrible here. I used need oil and even another type and although it helped,, within a week these pests were back. I’m almost debating putting my plants on my screened in deck to keep them away. Any suggestions? Kim🇨🇦🍁

[@Bonsaify]

Mites are problematic for sure. A few thoughts - soap/oil spray is a good first line of defense. Most serious bonsai growers will spray fungicide and/or insecticide at least once per month to prevent infestations and diseases...because once they happen you have a less attractive tree. For mites - I would recommend you cocktail soap/oil with a miticide - they're not cheap but they are much more effective than insecticides on mites because they don't harm predators as much and they have a longer residual effect. I currently use "Sultan" and "Avid" which are both systemic and can provide protection for up to a couple months. www.domyown.com/avid-015-ec-miticide-insecticide-p-2330.html www.domyown.com/sultan-miticide-p-14523.html One other note: look around you at the neighborhood - mites are wind-spread. If you're getting repeat infestations then it's likely that you have an infected tree nearby. Italian Cypress (the pillar-shaped cypress) and other ornamental conifers are often their targets. Look upwind of your location.

[@kimrichardson8376]

@@Bonsaify perfect thank you!

[@kimrichardson8376]

Is there any particular type of fungicide and insecticide to use?

[@Bonsaify]

There are a lot. Not all fungicides handle all infections. Check this: www.growertalks.com/pdf/2023_IMF_Guide.pdf

[@kimrichardson8376]

The difficult thing is Canada doesn’t allow some of the insecticides you have there. There’s a spot near me that Carrie’s all kind of these things. So I’ll go there Tuesday and look for a combination spray. Thanks so much for your help. Kim🇨🇦🍁