Sweetyness
Seedling
So excited to find this forum! Before I ask for advice, I would like to share the history of this tree, and a little about my experience with Bonsai. Spring of 2021 I was gifted a large Liquid Amber bonsai tree from my beloved cousin living in Newport Beach, CA. She passed away that Sept., making the tree even more dear to me. She had owned it for 37 years (told to be 35+ years from reputable bonsai nursery when purchased), and I have admired it for years. Her gift to me included caring for it to ensure its longevity.
Most of my experience was in the 1980's when I purchased and dug up and created several trees and a mini maple forest. After the tragedy of losing them all while on vacation during hot weather and proper watering not performed (drip watering was just being introduced) I did not get back into the practice until about 5 years ago. I have never owned a tree as spectacular as I think this tree is.
When I received the tree I was told it was overdue for a repotting- her husband had health issues and was not able to for at least 3 years. Its pot is 19.5” square on outside, 15.5” on the inside. The soil was so compact around the tree I could not even stick a drip spike into it. It had not been trimmed properly for a long time, and the leaves were much larger than previous. Nothing that cannot be fixed.
I left the tree as is through 2021 summer, fall colors and winter. It had no trouble acclimating to the inland warmer temperatures of Pasadena, CA, from its previous home by the beach. (Positioned to have afternoon shade.) Once it started to bud out this month, I set to the task of repotting. This past Sunday, after a very long time cutting the roots around the edges of the root ball to remove from the pot (trying not to damage the pot), my garden helper and I were able to finally pull it out. By then it was dark, and I needed to get new soil from our Bonsai nursery on Monday (after work). Today I started to remove the soil from around the roots- oh my! I have never seen such large pot-bound roots before. I needed to take an axe to the large ones. Then I started getting nervous that I might chop them to the point of putting the tree in shock and am so afraid of losing it! I stopped- So to the experts I am turning!
The first photo is the tree in 2015, next 2 are 2019/20 in Newport beach yard. (The base pedestal is very heavy limestone with a teak inner table.) And the tree being loaded up by movers to travel to my home (to show size).
Next photos show cutting the roots so the tree can be removed, the 1" thick root pad from inside of the pot once removed, and the root ball.
Now comes the (not so) fun part! Removing the soil from the roots- finding HUGE roots grown and twisted around inside the pot. So I got the axe- but once I cut the one large one, I saw there were more large ones, and trying to remove any dirt was not easy! I know I need to make room for new root growth- but need guidance on how much I need to leave so as not to distress too much, and any easier ways to break apart the root mass to see what is going on. After loosening what I could from this one section I used water to removed loose soil and the heavy pot I would like to reuse for it.
This is an urgent request as right now the tree is lying as you see it on its side elevated (to protect the branches) with a wet thick quilt on it (watering twice a day to keep wet). I cut back quite a bit of the height and width of branches- but know more is needed. (Makes me cringe...LOL). I need to get it repotted ASAP. but want to make sure I do it right. I have never seen such tight roots that I cannot tell what is where or anything!
Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you! Jana
Most of my experience was in the 1980's when I purchased and dug up and created several trees and a mini maple forest. After the tragedy of losing them all while on vacation during hot weather and proper watering not performed (drip watering was just being introduced) I did not get back into the practice until about 5 years ago. I have never owned a tree as spectacular as I think this tree is.
When I received the tree I was told it was overdue for a repotting- her husband had health issues and was not able to for at least 3 years. Its pot is 19.5” square on outside, 15.5” on the inside. The soil was so compact around the tree I could not even stick a drip spike into it. It had not been trimmed properly for a long time, and the leaves were much larger than previous. Nothing that cannot be fixed.
I left the tree as is through 2021 summer, fall colors and winter. It had no trouble acclimating to the inland warmer temperatures of Pasadena, CA, from its previous home by the beach. (Positioned to have afternoon shade.) Once it started to bud out this month, I set to the task of repotting. This past Sunday, after a very long time cutting the roots around the edges of the root ball to remove from the pot (trying not to damage the pot), my garden helper and I were able to finally pull it out. By then it was dark, and I needed to get new soil from our Bonsai nursery on Monday (after work). Today I started to remove the soil from around the roots- oh my! I have never seen such large pot-bound roots before. I needed to take an axe to the large ones. Then I started getting nervous that I might chop them to the point of putting the tree in shock and am so afraid of losing it! I stopped- So to the experts I am turning!
The first photo is the tree in 2015, next 2 are 2019/20 in Newport beach yard. (The base pedestal is very heavy limestone with a teak inner table.) And the tree being loaded up by movers to travel to my home (to show size).
Next photos show cutting the roots so the tree can be removed, the 1" thick root pad from inside of the pot once removed, and the root ball.
Now comes the (not so) fun part! Removing the soil from the roots- finding HUGE roots grown and twisted around inside the pot. So I got the axe- but once I cut the one large one, I saw there were more large ones, and trying to remove any dirt was not easy! I know I need to make room for new root growth- but need guidance on how much I need to leave so as not to distress too much, and any easier ways to break apart the root mass to see what is going on. After loosening what I could from this one section I used water to removed loose soil and the heavy pot I would like to reuse for it.
This is an urgent request as right now the tree is lying as you see it on its side elevated (to protect the branches) with a wet thick quilt on it (watering twice a day to keep wet). I cut back quite a bit of the height and width of branches- but know more is needed. (Makes me cringe...LOL). I need to get it repotted ASAP. but want to make sure I do it right. I have never seen such tight roots that I cannot tell what is where or anything!
Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you! Jana
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Thank you.
