Early in December, I noticed a small Chinese elm growing in my front yard. I thought I’ll let it grow and harvest it next year. With all the rain we have had the ground was soft. The root hairs and all just came up. I was very pleased. Elated even.
What to do with this gift? I already have Chinese growing in pots from various seeds that I collected. This one decided to be part of my family. Ok, maybe it's not all that. However, I do need a plan for this little tree.
I have a few root over rock tropicals. Making those is like growing moss on a wet rock. It is pretty easy. Why not try something slightly more challenging and make a root over rock deciduous tree?
So here goes this story. I had this rock with a very nice shape. I went to look for my stand by rubber bands. I could not find any. I did have some parafilm I bought for grafting, though. I read that parafilm eventually deteriorates and that it breathes. I thought back to my elementary days in an inner city study hall where they taught me something that seemed contradictory in my ignorant youth. “To be successful you must be a risk taker.”
I placed the roots the way I thought would make for good composition in the future. Then I wrapped the roots as little as possible just enough to hold the roots in place.
This is what the whole thing looked like after:
I decided to pot the rock underneath the soil line. I am using some compost. It is still breaking down. The soil line will slowly drop on its own and expose the the top part of the rock. After I’ll help it a little more.
These are extra pics because I think the tree is very beautiful.
We will see how everything fares out. Cheers.
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