Drunkard_Hawthorn progression

Crataegus monogyna

In a pot since  2012
Style: Slanting/On a rock
Current height: 40 cm ca
Width:  + 50 cm

Summer 2015


Winter 2017. Please note my well known addiction to precise wiring...      


Summer 2018
Current back to prove there is a rock  .   If I manage to get the surface roots in shape the plan then is to remove the top soil to make them visible.


Current front +/-


The surface of the soil will be now covered by the sphagnum moss to promote the development of the surface roots. At least that is the plan that works for a number of species. The only thing to resolve:  how to keep the blackbirds in a distance.  I have used a screening mesh and  pices of a steel wire to keep it in place.  It has worked for some time but now some of the female birds have learned to pull the wire away to get to the moss.  Great stuff for bedding their nests apparently...

Thank you for sharing this beauty, Vlad!
I like it a loot but the previous one is a winner over this

Well, I have obtained one little Crataegus and because the trunk at its base is splitting into two fat roots I have also put a stone between the roots. Kind of similar to yours.
This is a leafless picture of it

I have yet to come to a decision as to where I am going with it, though...

Good to hear you have managed to get a hawthorn. Nice fit between the stone and the tree. Well done.

my nellie wrote:

I have yet to come to a decision as to where I am going with it, though...

Alexandra - have you considered cutting some "windows" into the large roots, dusting them with rooting hormone,
and then burying the tree in a deeper pot in order to begin making a root over rock ?

Hi everybody!
Thanks for your suggestion, Kevin. I haven't thought of that and it is interesting.

Vlad, here is a link to a French webpage where I have found some very interesting information regarding winter pruning of Crataegus for ramification and what one can expect with different ways of pruning.
Ramification de l' aubépine

Thank you for the link, Alexandra. Yes, it looks interesting. As I can say based on the version from Translator I think that Mandarin Chinese and French is beyond my scope of abilities.
Anyway, I hope to get just a little bit more branchlets in next 2-3 years. On the other side I am a fan of "airy" looks of bonsai. The trees in Nature have far less branches than their relatives in pots. Don't you think? And yet again - there is always a difference between the species. Zelkova is different from Ume, elm from oak. Then there are differencies within the species based on the biotope they live. A tree that lives in harsh conditions is quite different from a tree that lives somewhere in lowlands. Nothink new, we all know that.

Vlad wrote:... ...On the other side I am a fan of "airy" looks of bonsai.  The trees in Nature have far less branches than their relatives in pots. Don't you think?   And yet again - there is always a difference between the species.  Zelkova is different from Ume,  elm from oak.  Then there are differencies within the species based on the biotope they live.  A tree that lives in harsh conditions is quite different from a tree  that lives somewhere in lowlands.  Nothink new, we all know that.

I agree with all the above.
I do like best the natural look when designing bonsai trees and I do understand the "airy" look you mentioned.
From the pictures of your two Hawthorns I am under the impression that the ramification is in a satisfactory level.
I am lacking ramification in my Hawthorn, though.

kevin stoeveken wrote:

my nellie wrote:

I have yet to come to a decision as to where I am going with it, though...

Alexandra - have you considered cutting some "windows" into the large roots, dusting them with rooting hormone,
and then burying the tree in a deeper pot in order to begin making a root over rock ?

This is a good proposal, Alexandra.
I am using this technique quite often. To be fair - sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.  But worth trying, you never know.  



As you can see I am using a sphagnum moss as a protection from drying out.   In my oppinion the "moist" is crucial for the success.  If interested there is a link to the original blog about this method.  If you start please do not try to unpack the cover too early.  Give it at least 2-3 month so the white roots ( if they will develop ) get a bit more resistant.  In my experience it takes much longer time than  airlayer.  Good luck.

https://doriyama.blogspot.com/2017/11/rorsort-off.html

actually Vlad, that was my suggestion
so, did those new roots emerge from a "window" that you cut in the main root ?

kevin stoeveken wrote:actually Vlad, that was my suggestion

Indeed, Kevin.  That's why I have quoted your post ...

kevin stoeveken wrote: so, did those new roots emerge from a "window" that you cut in the main root ?

Hard to tell, Kevin. They have started from numerous locations some of them from the window some of them not. I think that the main triggers are the right conditions ( dark, moist place with right temperature and the plant should be in a "growth" mood ). The "window" is an additional help but if you do not get the first ones right the roots will not develop - that is my experience.

yeah... if the roots dont pop out from the window, the window will likely just callus over...

Thank you Gentlemen!
I believe I have time to start this project even now.
We have a long growing season here.
I think I will put a cut plastic bottle (dark color if I can find one) around the two trunks/roots and fill it with sphagnum moss.