Inward rim overhang on pots

I recently asked for some critiquing of my pots at a local
bonsai club meeting. The pots I offered were a slab built
rectangle, a slab built hexagon, and a thrown round.

The critiquers didn't care for the fact that the rims on my
slab pots extend in toward the pot about 1/4". The rim extending
inward, it was explained, makes it difficult to remove
a pot bound tree. Is this a valid criticism?

The reason that I extend the rim inward, is that it's easier
to create the impression of straight symmetrical walls when looking down from the top. When
I join the rim and walls flush, I have unevenness just from joining and smoothing the clay.

I've been pulling up rim photos of hand built rectangular
pots. I still can't decide about if/how much overhang is ok.

Does anybody have an opinion about this?

thanks,
Casey

I have a pot with a lip on the inside of it and when I go to repot that tree it does take some doing to get the tree out. On the other hand I look at it as helping to hold my seiju in her home. I run a knife around the edge a couple times and it comes right out. I wouldn't want it too big though. The lip that is.

I have a customer who prefers a raised lip on the inside of my pots.  He says that it helps keeps the soil stable during vigorous watering and violent rainstorms.


Notice the slight inward facing rim.

Casey, it depends on what species of tree I would want to put in it.
I wouldn't put an Azalea or a Crab in a pot with an inside rim, or a grass accent, Larch and Pine yes, but some species have such vigorous root systems that it makes repotting a struggle.
Having said that it has never been a deciding factor in whether I like and buy a pot, but then I have pots that have never seen any action (root that is).

I also had a customer that SPECIFICALLY requested an incurved lip on a large custom square pot.





FYI, I don't do this on 'speculation' pots due to the reasons you stated, but I also OFTEN hear it from 'shoppers' about ovals, etc. with tops. If you look through any books you'll see that traditional bonsai pots have been made this way a long time. Designing your pots to fit those customers who don't get their trees repotted before they are root bound is not a criteria I'd worry about.