Prunus Incisa "kojo no mai" ground layer

[Lilliput]

Hello good people of BonsaiNut.

I want to ground layer this Prunus at the point of inverse taper. The tree was bought during a fall sale last year, and I want to repot it into better soil this spring. Would attempting a ground layer at the same time be possible? Does anyone have any tips for the best way to go about it? Do I need to purchase rooting hormone to be successful? Also, should I wait until the flowers are about to burst, or wait for leaves to come? Seems to be a little different advice and practice on this, from what I have read.

Any advise or help would be much appreciated. Also any tips for styling. I bought another Prunus as well, that I will be planting in the ground to grow, as I want a big Prunus bonsai as well in the future.

Thanks in advance

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I don't recommend any layering and repotting at the same time if you want your layer to succeed fast.

In this soil, it should be fine for another decade or so. I would not repot; there's no reason if you are making new roots anyways. But rather scrape the bottom part of the soil and put that same soil back on top to bury the inverse taper part.
Organics are good for air layering. Instead of cutting a ring of bark off, I would instead girdle it with two zipties. Above those ties a bulge will form that will contain enough cells to produce roots from just a little wound induction or maybe even from moisture alone. It's a safer technique, albeit longer. Even if you switch techniques after a year, the ring-cut will be way more effective due to the bulge full of cells and nutrients being there.

Cherries without scars are rare, and you should be able to just carve the inverse taper off. That wound should heal in two or three years, or even faster in unrestricted conditions like a large pot and unchecked growth.

Good luck!