Bonsaify | Refreshing a Juniper Bonsai Slab Planting With a Surprise!

Eric decides it's time to refresh the soil on his Juniper raft because growth on the tree slowed down last season. The planting has been on this slab stone for 15 years.
00:00:32 The first thing Eric needs to do is clear out some space by removing the dense soil and replacing it with fresh soil. The difference between a standard repotting and this is that instead of a ceramic hard wall, the "container" here is a mix of muck (sphagnum moss, clay, and akadama) with moss over it. As the tree grows, it populates all the space available. To refresh the soil, Eric needs to do more aggressive root work around the root ball to get deep enough. He doesn't want to remove the tree from the stone.
00:02:24 A view into the layers of muck and soil.
00:03:15 There's not a lot of free space for the roots to continue growing. Eric realizes he needs to be more aggressive during this session in replacing soil.
00:04:12 More moss and muck removal around the perimeter.
00:04:57 Eric removes some big crossing roots, and SURPRISE! realizes the tie wires broke off!
00:05:53 This is an opportunity for him to re-do and either re-attach to the original stone or use a new one.
00:06:40 One consequence of the tree getting weak is a portion of the raft isn't doing well, so Eric removes it.
00:07:28 The core of the root ball is still intact and since the planting is removed from the stone anyway, Eric decides to proceed as he would with a traditional repot and remove the bottom matte of roots.
00:08:09 Look at that root ball! Now Eric needs to think about how to keep the plant secure and what he'll use to build a wall.
00:08:38 Rock prep! Includes a drill :-)
00:09:34 Eric used a masonry bit to drill 3 holes into the rock, and placed #10 stainless steel 1" long screws.
00:10:44 Next he wraps a few pieces of aluminum wire around each screw to use as anchor points, and then he starts to prepare the slab to receive the tree.
00:11:04 Eric describes some characteristics of the rock shape. He uses the muck mixture to create a low wall to keep soil from rolling off the edge of the slab. He'll then apply a think layer of soil on the slab before placing the planting black on top.
00:12:07 Eric places the planting back on the slab and explains why he added a little extra soil in places to change the angle of the planting.
00:13:13 Eric ties the planting down and adds some extra soil to fill in spaces before building the wall. He explains his plan for the wall sizing in relation to the slab and root ball.
00:14:23 BUILDING THE WALL!
00:16:38 MOSS! He uses a combo of wet shredded sphagnum moss and shredded moss to populate the areas where Eric applies it.
00:18:18 How do you think it looks after all the work?
00:19:26 Eric credits Ryan Neil for popularizing this technique in the U.S. and gives a shout-out to Mirai Live for great content.
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