markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
And avoid plywood
I've gone through this thread start-to-finish quite a few times. Although it has been a while since I last read through it, I can't remember coming across this detail that Andrea Meriggioli spends 3 pages on in his new book. I thought it would be important, or at least interesting, to include this information in this famous thread.
Meriggioli notes that when nailing or stapling roots the board for the 'Ebihara nebari-development technique', the nails and staples are not merely meant to hold the roots aligned on the board. The nails should also cross at locations where we want the thickening roots to choke and air-layer themselves, causing root ramification.
@Adair M @markyscott Is this something that Boon ever mentioned? Matt O is currently traveling but i'm going to run this by him as well.
here's a thread on the book:
Bonsai Maples- Andrea Meriggioli
Received my newest book the other day and i am finding it well worth obtaining. Of particular interest so far is the clear summary of development techniques and stages described beginning in chapter eight. Clear pictures, descriptions and discussion. I am only part way through the book but...www.bonsainut.com
No, Boon hasn’t mentioned it. It might be something that Meriggioli came up with.The first I heard of that trick was in his book. I’ve heard one other artist talk about it since reading it. I think it’s interesting and is a good add to the thread. I plan on giving it a go if there’s an opportunity at the next repot.
S
It might be something that Meriggioli came up with
That's what i'm hoping to verify. In principle it is a sound idea and i have no doubt that it works. I'm just curious for the sake of 'history' (and my inner nerd) if this was something Ebihara himself did.
I'm going to try it myself this spring regardless. I'm going to use nails for alignment, and staples for 'choking', so that it will be easy to distinguish and investigate the progress when i re-pot.
So, the message seems to be that if one is nailing roots (so to speak) don't sweat pinching them between nails. The corollary might be to use thin wire cranked down really tight to tie the tree into a pot to promote ramification.Meriggioli notes that when nailing or stapling roots the board for the 'Ebihara nebari-development technique', the nails and staples are not merely meant to hold the roots aligned on the board. The nails should also cross at locations where we want the thickening roots to choke and air-layer themselves, causing root ramification.
So, the message seems to be that if one is nailing roots (so to speak) don't sweat pinching them between nails. The corollary might be to use thin wire cranked down really tight to tie the tree into a pot to promote ramification.
Meriggioli's root pic and Scott's show roots with little ramification (apparently after years of work).
I get heavily ramified roots like this, doing nothing (no board, no nails, no screws) but let it grow in Turface MVP and root prune with repotting every year or two.![]()
In the context of Ebihara horticultural magic, I am becoming a bit confused about just what the goal is.If your goal is to make roots that look like cotton candy, using a fine-grained soil like turface is the way to go. It’s just not my goal personally.
My understanding was pancake nebari as that is the Japanese aesthetic. I would think that root ramification would be of benefit to increase the surface area to allow for a smaller container but that is a different issue.In the context of Ebihara horticultural magic, I am becoming a bit confused about just what the goal is.
- root ramification
- pancake nebari
- just nice nebari
You can use the technique for all the above. Getting the pancake nebari takes longer.My understanding was pancake nebari as that is the Japanese aesthetic. I would think that root ramification would be of benefit to increase the surface area to allow for a smaller container but that is a different issue.
In the context of Ebihara horticultural magic, I am becoming a bit confused about just what the goal is.
- root ramification
- pancake nebari
- just nice nebari
Well, here is confirmation from Andrea Meriggioli himself!
In his book, Andrea added the 'choking' technique to the 'Ebihara' nebari method, and confirmed that it works beautifully for him.
View attachment 282233
This is the essence of the scientific method. We're of like minds in this regard, though I would dispute how 'proven' a result is, if it cannot be duplicated.I like to learn from those who came before me who have proven results by attempting to replicate what they’ve done.
This is the essence of the scientific method. We're of like minds in this regard, though I would dispute how 'proven' a result is, if it cannot be duplicated.
This is a really important point regarding duplication. One challenge is that Ebihara seems to be so technically gifted that it is very hard to duplicate. I think of the example of an incredibly skilled surgeon who can operate on cases that no one else can. His/her results may not be reproducible, but that is because of the technical gap and not because of some additional treatment metric.
Hm.. Am I understanding that people besides ebihara have been unable to do this?And that may be. I like to think that we’re just growing plants here, not doing brain surgery - how hard could it be? But it may be hard indeed - as a student of bonsai I hope through this thread and others like it, we can all learn together the degree to which Ebihara’s work may be replicated by we mortals.