Bonsai Air Layering

Before I go in to it though there are a number of different ways to apply an Air-layer. People have their preferred methods and I don't say they are right or wrong - if it works for them, then that's great. This is the way I do it because it works for me.

Air-layers can be put on the trunk or on a good thick branch. I've done this one on the trunk, so that's what I'll refer to.

Ok, first off gather the tools and materials you are going to need together. Photo 1 shows the things I used. On the left is a bag of Sphagnum Moss. Next to that is some string. Alongside is a roll of sticky tape - Gaffer or Duct tape is quite suitable. Next to that is a length of wire. In front of that lot is a jar of Rooting Hormone Gel then a sharp knife and a pair of scissors (for cutting the clear and black plastic sheet). Underneath is the clear and the black plastic sheet I've used.

Put some of the Sphagnum Moss into a bucket of water and let it soak. While the moss is soaking, select where you want to do your air-layer. The ideal place is right under a node.

Photo 2 shows the trunk of this Benjamina and every brown dot on it is a node. Another place to do it is right where a branch has been removed. When you've selected where you want the layer cut through the bark right round the trunk. Make another cut around the trunk about 3-4 cm below the first one and then make a cut from the top cut down to the bottom
one.

When you've done this, remove the bark between the two cuts by levering it off from the vertical cut. What you should be left with is like photo 3. It's important to cut right through the bark layers down to bare wood - as if you are 'ring-barking' a tree in the garden. If you leave any of the bark layers there is a high possibility that the tree will repair itself without sending out roots - yes, it can bridge a large gap like the one in the photo. It happened to me with this very tree. Photo 4 shows where the gap was bridged because I didn't cut deep enough or didn't make sure I'd taken off all the fibres from the layers.

Wrap the clear plastic round the trunk and using a strip of tape seal it along the join, then bring it all together at the bottom and wrap a bit of tape tightly round it to hold it in place as in Photo 5.

Put some rooting hormone gel or powder on the top edge of the bark (I prefer the gel), then squeeze some of the water out of the Spagnum Moss, but don't 'wring its neck' - just enough that it doesn't drip. Put this into the cup formed from the clear plastic until it completely covers your 'ring-bark'. It must cover the bark at the top of the section - Photo 6.

Bring the top of the clear plastic together and wrap a strip of tape tightly around it. Now wrap some wire round the top and the bottom where you've put your strips of tape and twitch them up with a pair of pliers as tight as you can without snapping them. The whole thing needs to be watertight - no drips or leaks - Photo 7.

If the moisture leaks out, The moss will dry out and any roots will die off. If you do find your layer drying out you can either open it again at the top and put some more water in and reseal it or you can use a syringe and make a small hole near the top to put some more in - don't forget to put a bit of tape over the little puncture hole.
Finally, put the black plastic round the whole thing and tie it top and bottom - Photo 8.

I use clear plastic covered with the black plastic for two reasons. 1. I can take the black plastic off and with the clear plastic underneath undisturbed I can see if there are any roots growing. 2. Another reason for the black plastic is that by my reasoning, roots normally grow in the dark underground so I'm sort of re-creating this by covering with the black
plastic - it will also help keep the layer warmer in the cooler climates. As any gardener knows, bottom heat is good for cuttings and seed propagation - and this is sort of a cutting (you want roots to grow where you've taken the bark off).

I don't remove any of the foliage above any layer I put on - that's where the layer gets its energy from to grow the roots. Now all you do is sit back and wait till the plastic ball is full of roots.

Bonsai Lillipilli 'Hot Flush'

This is an Aussie native LilliPilli (Acmena Smithii Var: 'Hot Flush') I purchased from a normal garden nursery (and I got

Photo 1. I particularly liked the leaves on it and it had an 'interesting' lower trunk.

Photo 2. When I cut it back to see the basic shape I realized the trunk wasn't as good as I first thought .

Photo 3. But no matter, I decided to keep going with it. In that photo you can see two branches on the left growing sharply upwards - better view of those branches in photo 4.

Photos 3 and 4. Were taken after I'd cut it back and allowed it to send out new shoots. Photo 3 was the view I chose as the front of the tree. I've found out from working with it that this variety of LilliPilli is very prolific at sending out new shoots, which is great for Bonsai. Over the last year, I've been continually cutting it back using the new shoots. Last week it was as you see it in photo 5. When I pruned it back it looked better turned round the other way, so this is now the front of the tree - photo 6. Those two sharply upward growing branches are still there, but considerably shorter now. I'll leave the front one and cut the other one off.

Photo 7. Is what I see as the future development of the tree. The lower branch on the left (red arrow) needs a bit more length on it but the foliage pad is developing nicely. The lower branch on the right (purple arrow) needs a small amount more growth and as new shoots grow, I'll spread them out horizontally to start developing the foliage pad on the branch. The blue arrow is where those two 'V' branches are and as I said, the back on will be cut off. I'm not sure yet whether I'll keep the branch with the yellow arrow or cut it off. If I cut it off then I'll wire down the branch above it to fill in the gap (green arrow). The branch on the other side (orange arrow) will be allowed to grow considerably to get it to thicken up, then it'll be cut back to the shape of the tree. The branch above it (white arrow) will then be cut off because it is too thick compared to the ones around it, and the thinner ones will be wired in position to replace it.

The overall shape I'm aiming for is depicted by the triangle. I'm going to either put this in a styrene box or in the ground to grow it on a bit quicker and hopefully thicken up the trunk a lot more. If it does thicken up like I'm hoping I could then possibly take off some of the branches along the trunk as the tree will look unbalanced with a lot of branches close together. That's one of the interesting things I find about Bonsai: As the tree grows and develops, your view of it, and its potential can change dramatically - and what a persons view was for the tree originally may be a lot different than what they end up with further down the track.

If you have any questions please visit us on the Bonsai board.

Bonsai Tools

It really depends on just how far into Bonsai you want to go as to what tools you will need. For just the odd tree or two, Liatris has a couple of good ideas - a bent fork as a root raker and a cheap pair of nail pincers ground to sharp edges for a basic branch cutter. My root raker is a bent phillips screwdriver and I've had that one for 20 years now. I don't have one of the expensive shop bought ones. The shop bought ones have two or three tines on them so they may be quicker to work with, but my bent screwdriver does everything I want it to.

The other necessity is a chop-stick. It can be wood or plastic, it really doesn't matter. The chopstick is for working the soil in round the roots when you re-pot and is a necessary part of re-potting. If you don't work the soil in around the roots, you leave large air pockets and any roots in those air pockets cannot draw nutrients, so they die off. The other thing it does is to help make the tree more secure in the pot.

There are Japanese and Chinese tools available. The Japanese ones can be very expensive depending on the manufacturer but they will last you a life-time. The Chinese tools are fairly cheap but don't have the quality of steel in them, so depending on how many trees you intend to have, they can wear out after only a few years. You can also get stainless steel ones, but personally, I prefer the black carbon steel tools because they hold a better edge.

An example of price differences is that in the photo below, the medium branch cutters (No.9) are somewhere around $75.00 for a reasonable Japanese pair, and the Chinese equivalent ones are between $16.00 and $20.00 depending where you get them. On that photo, No's 1, 4, 5 and 8 to 14 are all Japanese tools, the others are Chinese.
In the second photo are 'non-bonsai' tools that I also use: Pliers for straightening out wire afer it has been taken off a branch (too expensive to just throw away), Normal garden secateurs (these are an old pair of wilkinson sword that I've had for many years). Small secateurs, they cost me $2.50 from the 'Warehouse' - don't know if you have any Warehouse stores in WA. A knife. Another heavier pocket knife. a $2.00 pair of 'garden scissors' also from the Warehouse, and last is a diamond sharpener.

The two angle grinders in the photo above, one with an Arbortech cutter on it, the other with a mini-arbortech attached. Both of these are used for taking off a lot of wood quickly and for carving dead wood etc. Next is my bent screwdriver 'root raker'. I've had it so long now, I don't even remember where I got it from. All I did was clamp it in a vice and bend it over.

My small branch cutters (No. 10 in the first photo and above) are the first pair of cutters I bought 20 years ago. They are Japanese and at that time cost me somewhere round about $48.00. That is the branch cutter I use more than any of the others. I've used them so much and sharpened them so many times that I've had to grind into the handle (blue arrow) to allow the stop (red arrow) to slot into it so that the edges of the blades come together. Eventually, I'll have to cut the bottoms of the handles off otherwise they will end up touching as well.
Below is an explanation of all the tools on that first photo:

1. Heavy scissors for pruning and trimming roots - they come in a few different sizes.

2. Light scissors for trimming foliage and removing individual leaves - they come is a few different sizes.

3. Small scissors for light trimming of roots.

4. Straight tweezers for pulling out roots or removing caterpillars etc.

5. Bent tweezers. Both of these have a 'spatula' on the end of the handle for levelling soil etc.

6. My custom made root raker. Two and three tine rakers are available from stockists.

7. Chop-stick for working soil in and around the roots - can be wood or plastic.

8. Large branch cutters. They are ok but I'd prefer to use a pair of secateurs to cut a branch off then clean it up with the medium cutters and 'knob cutters'.

9. Medium branch cutters. This is the size most people have.

10. Small branch cutters. The pair I personally use the most. All branch cutters make a concave cut.

11. Medium Knob cutters, used after a branch has been cut off. It creates a 'ball shaped' concave wound and allows the tree to callous over level with the surrounding bark. If you just cut a branch off flush with the trunk, when the tree callouses over it, it will leave a bump on the tree.

12. Small Knob cutters.

13. Branch splitter. Specialized tool for splitting a thick branch to make it easier to bend without the branch snapping - seldom used.

14. Wire cutters. These are designed to go right up to the branch to cut through wire without marking the bark on the branch. You can use ordinary wire cutters but they tend to come to a bit more of a point and if you go right up to the bark to cut wire, there is a good possibility you may damage the bark. Not too much of a problem on rough barked trees, but on a smooth bark tree, the mark will remain evident for quite a while.
That isn't a comprehensive list, there are many more specialized tools like Jinning pliers, designed to crush and remove bark where driftwood is wanted, carving and shaping chisels etc, but it might give you an idea of what you can look forward to.

For two or three years, I just had my small branch cutters, those white handled Secateurs, cheap pair of scissors, penknife, bent screwdriver and a chopstick - and I did everything I needed to with those.
Oh, one other thing; I don't think you can make a concave cut with secateurs.

If you have any question don't hestitate to ask on the forum