Raft Style Juniper

This was a pleasure to do as it was inspired by a newcomer to Bonsai .I mounted the Juniper onto the Raft slab i made previously.










With the Juniper still in its container i wired the branches in preparation for the new style . Then i proceeded to the slab and using a muck mix i built a perimeter wall around both base and slab . This will add depth to the slabs a per a Bonsai tray or shallow pot . Potting the tree in the normal fashion in the base, then sliding the raft slab into position over the trunk of the Juniper . I then prepared the raft for planting ,with a small amount of soil spread over the bottom , placing a small amount of Sphagnum Moss over the soil would assist root development on the trunk .





With a sharp knife i removed numerous small squares of bark from the underside along the trunk and painted them with Hormone jel to aid root development . I immediately bent the trunk down onto the moss and wired into position using a rubber pad to prevent damage to the tree .With the Juniper secured to the slab i placed more moss in and around the trunk to ensure contact and to retain moisture for the new roots .

I topped up the slab with soil and placed moss around the trunk to improve the landscape and increase the impression of age . I then gently maneuvered the branches into the upright position as per trees in nature . The Juniper will be allowed to settle then some fine tuning of the foliage will take place to represent small trees in a grove . This entire exercise took only 5 1/2 hours to complete , 30minutes to make the Cantilever Slab/Base , 1 hour to wire and 4 hours to complete the landscape . All in all i am very happy with the end result . Cheers