Corker with Exposed Roots or Without?

[fredtruck]

I loved that red pot. But, ya know... I was working on some other trees. We were having high winds, 18-25mph. Nothing really unusual. Then, this gust came along. It went down the hill from my house. I could see it coming by little things flying in the air, and the grass flattening. Suddenly, it swooped down into my driveway, and picked up the Ondae by the lower branches. I saw my tree spinning in the air, about a foot higher than its resting place. And then, the wind threw my tree on the driveway.

Other than the pot being smashed, the tree lost only one very tiny branch. The Ondae was actually improved by this violence.



Of course, I had no other container, but in a very similar circumstance a number of years ago, I went to a local garden store and bought a pot from Vietnam. On this trip to the same store, I wound up with this Maylaysian pot for about $31.00. It is not stoneware, but a kind of hybrid made of terra cotta, and a very thin layer of really hard clay. But what attracted me was the color--Rustic Black. It blended so well with my tree its purchase was a foregone conclusion.

 

[fredtruck]

Sometimes in bonsai a month makes a huge difference. Here's the Ondae in anaglyph format:

 

[fredtruck]

Those of you who have followed my trees over a period of time know that I frequently shift my point of view when taking a bonsai picture. I’m doing it again.

This tree, my Pinus thunbergii corticosa ‘Ondae’ has great cork. When viewing, the corking is frequently obscured by needles, or other necessary features. With this picture, by changing the point of view, I was able to show much more corking than usual. Such a situation is shown in the picture above. Now consider this:



Note: This picture is an optimized anaglyph, which shows truer colors than a regular anaglyph. Use red/cyan glasses to get the full effect. You'll be surprised by the change in perspective.

 

[Cadillactaste]

sorce>>May we see more angles?

I have pictures somewhere, but when rotating the tree to get a better angle on the roots, important features of the tree are not visible. For example, this shot from last August shows the roots to better advantage:

View attachment 70576

This picture also shows the cork to better advantage, but it mostly obscures the falling branch on the far left. I've shown this tree about 5 times. Every judge has suggested a different front. There are a lot of features on this corker, so no one is going to be completely thrilled with any front. I guess that's a condition of the tree.

By the way, this front and the other one are the only ones in which the top is more or less centered over the base of the tree, so these are the choices I have. This angle also shows much thicker roots.

I'm not a big fan of planting things out (though I've done it with other trees) because with corkers, the bark develops much better in a pot than in the ground, and I am still trying to develop the bark more fully.

I am glad to say...I didn't have to go against my love of exposed root on this call. First images. I was 100 percent with covered. But this is more substantial and can be pulled off. The other side as a front I felt the roots didn't seem to ground the trees structure. I do like the exposed root in the second image shared.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Well, no exposes roots seemed to have panned out. That bark dreamy!

 

[Potawatomi13]

I was able to show much more corking than usual

As well as bulges and reverse taper. Picture before was better to my eye. Sorry everyone is slapping back or critic. Top picture after damage looks good for this type cork bark tree.

 

[fredtruck]

The needles on the Ondae are a little long at the end of the growing season for my taste, but there is something engaging about this tree in its very spiky foliage. And the bark is still very visible.