All,

I tend to disagree with Andy on this one. Paying good attention to the
roots whenever you repot will pay very good dividends later on. Getting
a good radial set of roots that are relatively uniform will make
developing a good root system and nebari much easier later on.

I agree with Andy that focusing too much attention on the roots early on
will have an adverse impact on the development of the trunk. As a
result, during the trunk development phase you will let the tree go
longer between repottings than is optimal for refining the roots, but
the attention paid to balancing the roots and cutting off the strong
downward growing roots should be the same as during refinement. Yes,
the top growth will be weaker for a year than if you had not cut them
back much, but you will be rewarded with a more uniform and flatter root
system when you repot.

My advice is more important for most conifers than most deciduous trees
since they are slower to regenerate roots. In some deciduous trees
(trident maple, European olive, bougnavillea come to mind) it is
possible to cut off all of the roots and make the tree into a very
larger cutting to produce a new, generally well ramified root system.
However, there is still some risk in this, particularly if your growing
conditions are not optimal. I prefer to put in a little extra effort at
each repotting and not face nearly as large a risk that a tree I have
spent, 3, 5, 10, 15 years developing the trunk will either die due to
turning it into a cutting or take another 5, 10, 15 years to develop a
decent (not yet great) root system and nebari.

I also believe that the branches will at least partially mirror the
roots. If the roots have a good radial distribution and at least
moderate ramification when you start to develop the branches (you have
already developed the trunk at this point) that it will be easier to
develop good ramification in all of the branches. It is not a perfect
mirror, but there is generally a lifeline between a set of roots and a
set of branches - if the roots in one area are weak then the connected
branches will generally be weak. I have lost branches on trees where
the associated roots were either pruned too heavily or got too hot/dry
and died.

Regards - Marty


-----Original Message-----
From: Internet Bonsai Club ] On Behalf
Of Andy Rutledge
Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2003 5:06 PM
To:
Subject: [IBC] root theory 101

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Wolfinger"
aside from removing large roots and encouraging lateral growth should
anything else be done when just trying to develop a trunk and a base
on a
tree?
-------------

Hi Steve,

Generally, when working on trunk/base size, you concentrate on that and
address the rest (all of which is, in essence, refinement) afterwards.

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas

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