Working on Shishigashira maple

So here I have Craig, and I saw this tree about two years ago, was it? Yes, a year and a half. A year and a half. And this is a beautiful tree, but it's not in leaf. In case you don't know what it is, those of you who are knowledgeable will know that this is called a Shishi Gashira. That means the lion's head maple. And to get one so big is quite a feat. I did tell Craig that because it's so rare, he could either have alienated it in different places, because this trunk can really only support a tree of this size. You want to make it into bonsai. We're going to get it in a bonsai pot. We're now in the third week in February, which is the ideal time for repotting maples and other deciduous trees. So before I repot, I'm going to do some pruning. So you've got to trust me. Okay, so the tree's going to be about this size, more manageable as a bonsai. So we always think of an imaginary shape, like a dome shape. The extremities are okay, so you've just got to imagine it. Some people have some difficulty, but with a bit of practice, you should be able to do it. You will see how the shape will emerge in front of your very eyes. So I'm doing the bonsai first. The Shishigashira is a very, very slow-growing maple. Very slow-growing. So that right-hand side has been done. You can see the shape. I hope you can see the shape. Can you see that shape? That's not been done. So I'm going to tackle that side as well. How long have you had this tree? For 11 years. 11 years? Yes. Was it that big to begin with? No, it was approximately... Half the size? Probably 30, 40 centimetres tall. I bought it at the Detland Gardening... But because you've grown it in a large pot, it's had a chance to grow. It's almost like growing in a garden. So I've got to stand on this trolley to reach the top. It's massive. I had it in smaller pots, but every couple of years I would change them to larger pots, and that's when I decided to call you and ask you to come and have a look at it, because I'd put it in a very big pot, but I wanted to reduce it. So now that is a manageable size. I could have taken it down further, but I would lose a lot of these branches. I could have taken it down to there, and so on. But that's a manageable size. It's up to you what you want. No, no, that's perfect. That's okay. All right. So, now the hard work begins. So, this is where I want you to use your muscle, and tease away as much of this root as possible from the top, We're just teasing the surface roots as well, and if you look carefully, you will find that these roots are going round and round the trunk. This is what we call the start of the girdling root. You see it goes round, and if you're not careful, these roots will eventually strangle the trunk. I've had it happen to some of my big maples when I grew it for a long time in flower pots. You remember I took out a big tree with a crowbar and a pickaxe? Wow. That is what happened to it. It was left to their own devices. So, we're going to take these girdling roots out. You can cut it with secateurs or whatever, but this is the best time to do that. So, we're going to take those roots out. Okay. So, when I'm prodding around, I've seen one very big thick root, which is starting to go round and round. Like I said, this eventually will be a very serious problem, and it will strangle the tree. So, I'm going to bite the bullet and take that out. There are enough fine roots to sustain the tree, so I'm not afraid. Can I just get round here? Can you see how it's gone round? It's gone round half circle already, and when that root swells, you're going to have a real problem. See, when it's buried under the soil, you don't see it. That's why Bonvite people are clever than ordering gardeners. An ordering gardener would just plant this and would have a problem, but because we like to get the cosmetics right, it also is beneficial for the tree. See, that's why I'm getting out like that. All that has to come out. See, if you didn't prod around, you would think that everything is hunky-dory underneath. It's not. Don't do anything. Just concentrate. Okay, so this is what we're going to do. I don't want to show the entire process, because we've got to handle the camera as well. So, can you see that root started there and started going half way around, and we caught it just in time. We would have never seen it had we not dug below the surface. This is a very serious root. You have to use all sorts of devices. Saws, loppers, the lot. See, if you don't have a tool like that, it's not that easy. So, a combination of cutting and sawing. Because this is a grafted tree, I dare say that the understock is an ordinary mountain maple, and they are very, very vigorous trees. Okay, we can stop doing that. I've taken large chunks of root out, but some of that I can't access. So, this is where I have to bring the axe out. Even the secateurs can't do that. As I say, if you leave that root, it will go, can you see it going round and round? It will completely encircle the trunk, and in time, it will strangle the tree. I've seen that happen many a time. Okay, so this is what we're going to do. I don't know how long it will take. It does take time. It's so badly embedded that I can't even get my secateurs in there. I don't want to use a chainsaw and blunt the blade. I don't want to use a silky saw because that will blunt the blade as well. The axe is the most efficient way. So, I don't have time to show you what I've started doing. So, this is the danger of leaving things in pots for too long. Flower pots. Okay, we'll show you again when we've completed the task. You see how thick that root is? Two or three roots. Yeah, that's it. I think it's really fused. Yeah, it's fused. So, we're not using force. We're just using the right tool, and using it correctly and gently. So, stop that root going round and round. I think that's not bad. We got it away from the surface. Yeah, you don't want me to remove any more or try and get through it. That one, if you chop it, it won't go round. In there? Yeah, just sever it there. Yeah, that's it. Okay, now deal with this because this is on the surface. And this one over here? Have you already cut that one? No, we've cut it. We'll look at that next. The one on the left-hand side. Because that's popping out on the top. Yeah, it's really raised, isn't it? Then we can create a nice surface root, radial root system. Many people have garden trees like this, and they ask me what to do. So, this is a good example. But luckily, you put it in a big flower pot or big ornamental pot. Unfortunately, it was an incurved pot. You had to break it. Okay. So, that gives you a flavor of what we're doing. So, look at it. We're using a boar saw to cut the root like cutting cake. See the amount of soil we got out of this root ball. And there you are. Can you pull that away, Craig, for me? Yeah. Can you lift it? Yeah. Okay, lift it and let's see it. Lift it high. Look at that. One massive root. So, we can now easily get into a pot that we can cut off. And we can test it. Watch the branches, Joe. Okay, I think that is it. We will now get it in the pot. So, this is the debris we got out. Look at it. All these thick roots we had to chop off with the axe. And that was the amount of soil that came out on my great big trolley. Look at the soil, old soil and old roots. And we reduced the root ball to that size. We chopped off those thick, big girdling root. We got a better base for the tree. And that is what the tree looks like. You must admit that it is quite a handsome tree. It looks like a mighty oak tree. You can take another six inches but do it gradually. You can eventually get it down to about this size. Okay. Yeah. But it looks nice as it is. Okay. I think it has got a lot of character. Okay, so we are going to put it in this great big Chinese pot. If you just clonk it in. This is more or less the front. Straight in, Joe. Let us see what it looks like. That is a serious repotting job. Let us check it. I think we still need to take about an inch or two off. Here we are. We have got it into this lovely bonsai pot. I am using our Heron's Bonsai Mix which is 40% Akadama. Ever since I showed the repotting video about a week ago, we had a run on our soil. We could not keep up with the demand but it is a superior soil. I had Kevin Wilson here and he was saying how good the soil was. He has never seen compost as good as this. So, the bulk of it is Akadama. So, look at that magnificent boom style Kiyohime. I would have reduced the top by another 30 cm but no matter. Let it grow and then you can gradually get better ramification a bit at a time. So, there you are. Are you happy, Craig? Absolutely ecstatic. Thank you very much. So, we had a good time. Thank you. Thank you.