by Brian Schanding
After reading a lot about bonsai and attending our meetings for a while, I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way to get a set of my own trees to work on—and perhaps one of the cheapest ways—is to have an open area in which I can allow younger trees to develop unrestricted for one to three years. As so many have informed me, decent trunk and root development on a tree is often the first stage of a bonsai’s development. In addition, growing unrestricted is said by some to be the best way for a sick or heavily pruned tree to regain its strength.
However, being a resident in a semi-urban environment doesn’t allow me much room for planting out small trees for trunk and root development. When I first moved into our home with my fiancé I used some of our flowerbeds. Of course, after one year of these gangly, awkward-looking trees taking up all her gardening space, she suggested (read “demanded”) that my plants find a new place to grow.
My solution, then, was to have a small growing space in an unused area at my community garden in the Limerick neighborhood. With the manager’s permission, I loaded up a large pile of masonry bricks that I’d collected over the years and started my project during the first week of March. I chose a spot on the asphalt that had a pothole. The hole was about 2’ in diameter and lead straight to soft earth, so I figured that might allow for drainage on an excessively wet day.
The Construction and Soil
My first task was to erect the bed walls. I stacked the bricks so that the walls were two bricks thick (approximately 10”), helping to keep it stronger. I didn’t want to mortar them in just because that would feel a little too permanent for me. Since this is a new attempt I would like to be able to undo it if it doesn’t work out. The small gaps between bricks also allow a little extra drainage during those heavy rains. I suppose other materials could easily be substituted; wooden boards or cinder blocks might work just as well.
I stacked the bricks and formed a space on the asphalt that is about 4’x 6’. I stacked them up until they reached about 10” high. For soil I used about ½ rich topsoil, ¼ small pine bark chips (which I found at Frank Otte) and about ¼ calcined clay conditioner (Soil Master Red, available at Bunton’s). This isn’t an exact measurement, but an approximation. I mixed it up and have what I think will be a good medium for the trees. I’ve heard many people suggest different soil elements, so I just settled on this. The topsoil by itself seemed like it might puddle up too easily. The fired clay and pine bark would provide better drainage but still allow for water retention. Most of my trees are maples or elms, but I also have a tiny hemlock and a small juniper in there too. I’m honestly not sure whether a different combination of soil elements would improve or hinder these trees’ growth. Any suggestions would be welcome.
I decided to make my bed only 10” deep, thinking that the roots on my trees will now be more likely to push out laterally as soon as they hit that heavy asphalt below. This will allow me to pot them up later without having to carve out too much of the root system from under the trees. For any trees I planted out over that deep pothole, I put a ceramic tile underneath them to have the same affect as the asphalt.
Potential Problems
There may be some drawbacks to this plan. First, since the garden isn’t right outside in my back yard, I’m less likely to be as consistent about watering and fertilizing. However, we at the community garden often look out for each other and hate to see others’ harvests going to waste. While I am committed to being vigilant in my watering schedule this growing season, there may be a day or two that I cannot visit the garden. In these cases, I’ll have to rely on a garden ‘buddy system’. Another potential problem is that even though there’s a lot of dirt in the bed, being surrounded by black asphalt in August may be somewhat intense for the trees. To remedy that, I plan to furnish a piece of netting that will shade them during the hottest hours. Finally, there is the possibility that since the bricks are not sealed together, I may lose some of the finer soil particles over time with watering and rains. I suppose I could have lined the inside of the bed first with some sort of plastic sheeting, such as that used in gardens to reduce weed growth—hindsight is 20/20, right? If I do see a lot of soil loss, I may plant some small ornamental grasses around the borders, allowing their roots to hold the dirt in and prevent runoff. Something like mondo grass may be a good choice.
Conclusion
I know that this method isn’t necessarily ideal, but I guess I’m just trying to do my best with what I have available. Improvising is perhaps an overlooked skill sometimes, especially when we get so bogged down with all the "rules" we see in books that we’re scared to do anything original with our trees. I expect that this raised bed will serve me well. It’s still too early to tell this year, but I’ll keep you informed.
I’d love to hear how others in the group go about raising “pre-bonsai”. If you see me at a meeting, tell me about your method! If you’d like to find more on bonsai trunk development or raised beds, check these links:
• Raised Beds: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/bonsai_retired/22806
• Growing Trees in the Ground http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATfieldgrowing.htm
Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/louisvillebonsai/~3/262302577/post.aspx
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