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 I think almost everyone knows that mulching gardens is recommended these days. In my garden I use groundcovers as a living mulch. I find that it works well and also gives me a lot more choice of things to grow in my garden! The usual reasons for mulching are:
A living mulch has the added benefits of:
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Propagation of deciduous fruit trees and vines by seed,layering and hardwood cuttings
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   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. |
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  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. |
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  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. |
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