This maple has been in training for about 8 years now. When it went to the US National Bonsai Exhibition last summer, I knew it was still early…maybe too early with regard to the green trunk and developing nebari. I also decided that after the show, I’d evaluate the tree and try to spend a few years really correcting a few flaws and improving the overall quality of the tree.
First, the nebari is radial, on one plane, and pretty flat. The tree has been repotted annually, and the roots get shortened to about a 6″ radius around the trunk. It responds by filling the pot each year. Still, some gaps remain, and I want a more buttressed base. Not necessarily a dinner plate, but better than it is now.
This is last year’s root pruning, just before filling in the soil:
This year I took it to Kathy Shaner’s…
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