Repotting the Hawthorn Raft

This Hawthorn raft is probably the tree that most people in the bonsai world know me by, I collected the tree way back in 1991 and after establishing in a box for 4 years the tree has only been re-potted 3 times.

In this repot, the angle of the tree was changed by 5 degrees. Rotating to the right the tree presented itself better to the viewer. The left side being closer… however the right side moved away from the viewer, that had to be corrected (that is explained here) The late great potter Derek Aspinall made the pot, its very narrow and perfectly flat, sitting without rocking when displayed on a table/

This re-pot was done exactly 12 months ago, the tree recovered well and is in preparation for a show in Wales later this year.

This post has over 40 photos and they are all viewable on my blog here

Tony,

Your raft style crataegus is indeed fantastic. Another of your well known trees is the yew you presented as a gift to Mr. Dan Barton and the one you sold to Enrico Savini.

Warm regards,

Jose Luis

I notice on your blog pics that you immediately put moss back on the soil surface after the repot. Does this tree sit with its moss on permanently? If it does, is this because having moss on for most of the time doesn't matter so much in our wetter and cooler climate?

It's such a lovely raft, Tony!

fiona wrote:I notice on your blog pics that you immediately put moss back on the soil surface after the repot. Does this tree sit with its moss on permanently? If it does, is this because having moss on for most of the time doesn't matter so much in our wetter and cooler climate?

The moss helps keep the very loose new soil mix from being washed away during watering. And you are correct... In my very rainy garden whether there is moss or not makes no difference.

Nice Tony, the change worked. I really like raft style trees.

BTW, we were blood brothers yesterday, I cut my finger in the same place protecting trees from a minor cold snap.

That's one of the nicest rafts I've seen Tony! Boy do you have some nice bonsai's and yamadori material (checked out your webpage)! Very impressive quality of work! Just call me Mr. Envious!