Nice one!👍 The other day I created a rock planter with some virginia pine. Eventually them roots will spread over the stone. The moss I've wild collected was growing on a steel slab all ready used to Utah's hot dry climate.

I really enjoyed this video from start to finish!

A nostalgic trip back to my mud pie making days... this will be a interesting planting to watch Tony. I was a little stunned to see you cover that lovely rock with muck, i know you'll eventually expose it so its all good.

Bonsai phill very good video nice shape tree looking good nice job Tony thanks mate

Tony joins Pottery Throwdown 🤣

Not sure this is a great way to go about it, tbh. Ideally you use much younger material to really have the roots cling the rock.

That rock would have made a great Scotch Pine. Interesting choice.

nice job changing the seat to make sure the tree has a good chance. It really nestles in there nice. I hope this works nicely for you. I've never tried but it looks like what you did will work!

I'm watching this in my car and the sound system is really good.. I can hear a mouse fart in this car😂

Looks like an interesting technique look forward to seeing this one in the future 👍😊

I put my newly mucked tree out on the shelf outside and then we had two inches of rain. For some reason I had covered the muck with a plastic bag, and it didn't rinse away. This is one of those rare instances where something I did was a good idea!

Pretty cool

I can’t wait to see how this one develops.

Every time you try a Technique I just read about it in one of my many books on bonsai. But this technique involved using muck to ball around roots to make them easier to do a forest composition or group planting.. I really think your root over rock experiment will turn out amazing.. Excellent choice in the rock you used btw good luck with it as always 👍

Nice one Tony. I can see where you're going with this one. Confident that them roots will grow. Alls good.

With that bag of clay, there HAS to be a sculpture coming soon! Tony the Renaissance man.

the only thing i would have added to this mixture would have been some bone meal or some other kind of feed for the roots/tree i wish you the very best of success on this composition Tony and i for one will be trying this method at some point in my bonsai journey.

thx for sharing this technique i like it.

Really good to see you try this technique. I remember that Ryan Neil planting very well. I think he also used a combination of akadama and sphagnum to bind the soil in place. Not having any knowledge of clay combinations I shall wait and see. I do have a couple of slab plantings I want to try but finding the right (affordable) muck is definitely the thing that has been holding me back. Full marks on this one...again

When my kids were young we had a pitching mound and a home plate in our backyard in a net, so they could practice pitching and hitting for Little League baseball. Why am I telling you this? It's because the mound was made of red clay, wonderful red clay which would make such colorful muck! (I just have to dig it up)

Good job well done mate, should work well Tony.

Missing your presence. ✌️❤️🇳🇿

Three handed person can be a very good bonsai artist but unfortunately I didn't find any one 😀🌱

Interesting muck recipe. Job done! I cheat with my ROR. I use ficus’😂. It will be interesting to see how those roots grow into that clay muck. A recipe I learned from Nigel is composted manure and bonsai soil. Looking forward to seeing your larger project and who gets the honor of being another set of hands. Thanks, keep growing

I built a mudbrick house, so this certainly looks like fun to me! ROR compositions are some of my favourite, and I have a few on the go, but generally just tied on rather than using muck. One question that I would ask (and I didn't ask myself with some of my early RORs), is why did the seed grow there in the first place? This is exciting and has a promising future, but that question niggles at the back of my mind when I look at the tree on the corner. Of course, bonsai is not necessarily a copy of reality, but an idea and representation.

Bravo Tony! You have the start of a terrific RoR Bonsai. I wish I was there to assist you, but I’m sure you can find an able-bodied and willing dad type person to help out with the larger planting.

Spoiled today almost 30 min of Tony fun! I am going to give you a tip that I don't think much used in "old" Bonsai school rule book. I have been doing aquascaping for ten years now. Been competing in world championships not to brage 🤣 but if you use aquasoil. Substrat for aquarium. Ada or tropical is good and a great pH. And a little water mix with very fin cutting of sphagnum moss. And mix it. You gest best "mukk" than money could buy. I have done many wabi kusa and the plants are doing amazing. I understand you want cut roots. But I had used a thin layer of mukk in the cracks in the stone. And sorted the best roots. And placed them in the cracks. Cover by the aquasoil muck.

Shape the rock to suit your tree. Show it who's boss. The rock can be easily shaped and sculpted to suit your material.

Lovely stuff but some comments if I may. 1. The tree is probably a bit too old for this; am sure you would have taken this into consideration 2. Limestone has lovely cracks but is not chemically inert. May react adversely with the roots 3. Limestone will decompose with time I used to do this with ficus (banyan) in India. A thin layer of muck on the rock first, drape the roots and tie with jute or coir rope, spread muck over the ropes liberally, pot and bury it inside a larger pot. As an extra precaution during summer, a wet gunny sack to cover the root base would ensure success! Keep us posted.

Wow! Good job going for it, you could've used a potato masher when breaking up the clay but you took ''making a mud pie'' to another level, friend! All joking aside, I think what you did was inspiring and right. Can't wait to see all these projects you've been working on a year later. Your attention to detail like making sure the buds on the small, wired branch were pointing up is something I think everyone would've missed. Keep making your videos, friend, we're watching and learning..Cheers!

I would have gone also with younger material so the roots are easier to move into the right shape but I hope this project turns out well for you Tony, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you ! 🤞

Think this is going to be great Tony, look forward to seeing it progress. I think the roots will contour the rock as they thicken. If you don't mind what's the name of the Mirai vid? Not sure I've seen that one. Can't wait for the big project.

Don't want to be picky but am pretty sure it is not true sphagnum moss (has a more water absorbant texture and denser growth)😉. My wild guess it could be Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus or related. True Sphagnum moss can probably be substituted with other moss for use in bonsai context so no worries in that aspect. Apart from that I am very interested in future development on this technique, wish you luck Tony ☺. Looks to be quite fun to get hands dirty playing with mud 😂

👍👌👌

Not sure how you’ll get it away from the roots in the end. Interesting method hope it works for you, Im a bit scared for you in it changing the colour of the stone. That would be disappointing for you. 👍👍👍👍👍

Also not something I’m gonna try 😂 Nice going again mate!

I think I would have definitely removed a lot of the fine roots from the top of the roots. Just to make the root path clearer

Looks great Tony,where can I get the wire from?

Hmm... going to have to try and check out messrs Warren and Neil. At the moment i don't see how this is any different from just putting the roots in place and covering with sphagnum? 🤔 i realise that the ends are in the potting mix below the rock but will the clay not just harden and kill the roots? If you could firmly fix the trees to the rock before you start laying the roots, you may get away with doing it single handedly. Going to be a great composition if it survives.

Tony I am inspired to try a root over rock. Can I ask what type of clay I need to get to make some muck please. Thanks Pat Jones

I see where this is heading… 😂

I don't like cocoa soil. When I buy a nursery tree it makes impossible to clean the roots without breaking most of them

Turn the rock vertical ?

I've tried this method a few times before using Keto and Sphagnum moss but always had bad results and in most cases the tree dying. The last two years I've been trying a different method which has been much more sucessful. First I mix (very wet) long strand Sphagnum moss with Akadama dust and fine particals (The stuff you find at the bottom of a Akadama bag) then I create channels for the roots to follow, and as the Sphagnum is long stranded and wet it holds quite well. I then adjust the roots to follow the channels of Sphagnum channels, using cable ties if needed, then apply another layer of Sphagnum over the roots. I then mix up a batch of Keto and Sphagnum moss which is placed over the last layer of spahagum to hold everything together and cover the spahagnum. It creates a very easy channel for the roots to develop in and also travel down to the pot. It's also very easy to gradually remove over time and reval the roots. - It's fun experiementing and I hope the method you have tried in this video works for you!

Foist

Interesting... But, it is pronounced 'koyer' not 'kwaah'. Sorry to be a pedant! Keep up the good work.