Coffee can around roots for planting

Ok so i'm getting ready to plant some starter trees into a garden to allow them to grow for some time. My mother, had a intresting suggestion that she often uses when she's planing on transplanting a plant sometime after planting it in one spot. Her suggestion was to put a can (with both ends cut off of it) around the roots to keep the roots straight for a while underground so that when its dug up later the roots will not suffer as much damage from being cut. (my mother lives in Kansas, not PA, and is suggesting what she's done there. if that makes any differance)
My question is, weather putting a coffee can around the roots of my trees cause them any harm, or just allow me (and the tree) a little ease later?

It's not going to hurt the tree, but it will determine the direction of root growth. You'll have the initial horizontal root spread and then an abrupt growth of roots straight down. This is the sort of technique used for exposed root style bonsai. I have a post on a Nagasaki crabapple where I used a piece of pvc in order to do just that, but I ended up working a braid on the roots instead and it took a few years. If that's what you are thinking of doing then it will work. If not, then I wouldn't restrict the roots like that.

Hello

You want the roots to spread out laterally when growing for bonsai (assuming its not intended as an exposed root sort of styleas Orion mentioned). It might be an idea to spread the roots out radially and plant them over something flat, like the lid from a coffee can.

What trees are you growing?

I'm not planning on doing the root over rock, but I dont have alot of space for the saplings and wanted to reduce their roots intermingling.
As for types of trees, I have quite a few, Sugar Maple, Pin Oak, Common Sassafras, Crab apple, Dogwood (I belive it to be anyway), Lilac, two I havent identifiyed yet (one may be a sycamore but I havent confirmed it, the leaves just look very similar) and some type of fern. I also recently found a relly nice birch that seams to of been let grow wild in the yard for a number of years but that one I'm pulling up to pot, it has a nice thick trunk already.

I am not really sure how long we will be in the house we are in right now but I had a few trees that I wanted to put in the ground. I have been lining the hole (shaped roughly like the pot I might eventually use but larger) that I put trees in with a good landscape cloth and then planting the tree in bonsai soil in the hole. The cloth sticks up enough that I can use it to lift the trees out (which is why it's good to get good cloth). A few vigorous roots will get through the cloth and if left a while will become big enough to be a minor problem but finding them is easy since you just pull on the cloth to give you some space to feel down and cut with some cutters. I have been lifting the trees every/every other spring to cut back the roots outside the cloth and then set them right back where they were.

What about an above ground grow box??? Slightly larger than a coffee pot, but not so large that it takes up all your space. I'm currently renting a house and don't know how long I'll be staying so I've been thinking of trying something similar. If I do, I'll post it up.

I'm in the same boat.

I don't have a lot of area to grow trees in open ground in order to fatten their trunks.

I would like to use the tile technique (or a saucer) where you drill a hole in the middle of the tile and then thread the seedling through it. This promotes lateral growth over the tile or the saucer while also allowing for roots to grow downwards. The downward grown is eventually cut away leaving a fattened trunk with a wide root spread at the base. As I've already mentioned I don't have a large garden area, so the idea of accomplishing this in a grow box is appealing. The trees I'm considering using this technique on are maples and hornbeams.

Here's my question:

How big a box or container can I put a seedling into? Would a colander work?

I've read you should only pot up to about three inches bigger than the current root spread.

Any thoughts on containers out there that are small enough for that first potting? Is there a pond basket small enough?

it sounds like you may be somewhat new to bonsai, I remember starting with a lot of these very same species you mention and after years of trying to make them work they just dont (usually). I am still messing around with a giant old trunk of a sycamore which may never be showable. The rest have become yard trees. When getting into this hobby stick with species known to work well, and remember quality not quantity. If I were in your situation I would get a few trident maple seedling (or other proven species) plant them on tiles in ground or grow boxes with roots spread out evenly over the tile using burlap twine tying them in place(twine will rot away and not scar the roots) and let them grow like crazy for a couple years. youll have huge trunks with perfect nebari. You must remember that all these trees will eventually need wiring and attractive/expensive pots, so stick with a few quality plants rather than lots of mediocre plants that may end up dying during transplanting at some point down the road anyways (sasafras and oaks dont like their roots disturbed)

The coffee can idea would be fine. It doesn't sound as if you plan on keeping them in the ground for any length of time. The can will keep the roots confined, and all you will have to do when you dig it will be to spread them out.

However, if you plan on keeping them in the ground for longer than 6-12 months, the tile under them might be better.

Remember, you can wire roots just like you wire branches.

bucknbonsai wrote: If I were in your situation I would get a few trident maple seedling (or other proven species) plant them on tiles in ground or grow boxes with roots spread out evenly over the tile using burlap twine tying them in place(twine will rot away and not scar the roots) and let them grow like crazy for a couple years. youll have huge trunks with perfect nebari.

This is exactly what I had in mind.

Is it OK to put seedlings in large (say 14X14X3) grow boxes?

i think that is fine, they grow fast enough to soon fill the box. i think on the bonsai 4 me website or evergreen garden works articles website there may be an article about root pruning seedlings, that may be helpful. There is nothing like planting them in the ground though, but i understand not everyone has ground to plant stuff in.