2026 Spring Repotting 🔧

Refinement Phase

Chinese Elm—develop nebari, possibly a tile

  • ⭐️ Root work, if needed, repot soil

  • Move to a grow-box (girth)

Boxwood—downsize from a grow box to unglazed pot

Training Pot, Slower Growth

☑️ Korean Hornbeam ground layer—nebari & cut-back primary branches for taper

  • Clean up wounds. Callus rings were tall and thick. Restarted them and carved concavity around the border. Some cambium was not seen, so not sure how well some will heal.

☑️ JBP (Cedar Rose)

☑️ Itoigawa Juniper

  • ⭐️ Root-work, flatten on tile. Cascade pot. Aggregate soil.

  • Needs to grow healthier and bulk up

☑️ Redbud Airlayer—separate and start nebari, tile, angle

  • If the air-layer failed, thread graft to the trunk or move to the shoot at the base

Trident—twisted base, tile nebari

  • Next year… let it grow out.

  • I may have doomed the beautiful trunk as I air-layered all of the foliage. Hope it pops buds or is resilient. My lesson in being too greedy.

Scrub Oak

  • Root-work, tile, fill gap with a rock (ask Adam)

  • Select one primary trunk and primary branches

☑️ Wisteria

  • Change soil, nicer pot

Root-work, Nebari, Tile

☑️ Trident Shohin or Mame

  • Rotate base so the curve is not horizontal, then build the next section after a chop.

Example

☑️ Ribes Redcurrant

  • Recenter, root-work, smaller box or colander, cut-back

Santa Rosa Plum

  • Chop & grow, develop fine roots, flatter base, tile. Colander.

☑️ Colander

☑️ Plum Shohin

Chopped unwanted length of trunk below the soil for shallower pot development.

Japanese Black Pine

  • Growth, but refine nebari, possible tile, angle.

☑️ Red Alder

  • Root-work (ask Adam)

Grow Box or Colander

JBP (14 yrs) to colander

  • Increase trunk diameter and select apex for taper—be patient

  • (I don’t know what to do with this 😞). Should this repot into a colander and then grow in the ground? Will not be Shohin, as it is too straight. Allow a sacrifice branch to fatten up the trunk and continue to decandle to back bud leggy branches. Select a new apex and build taper.

Red Pine Seedlings (2)

  • Wire movement, possibly set one up for a cylinder of stones for exposed roots.

Kishu twisted juniper (3)

  • Colander —all in colanders and grow out.

Tridents (all, twisted) if not in colanders or pond baskets

  • Put in colanders to fatten up.

Maples from air-layering—

  • Root-work, place on tiles, pond basket or colander with aggregate soil.

  • Leave all branches to help fatten now—but cutback later or some major cuts to build from.

  • Sacrifice branches or growth above wounds will help heal over.

New collected Redwoods (plan)

  • Build boxes, pumice and reused soil

Cork Oak Seedling 1-2 yr

  • ⭐️ Remove tap, on small tile, aggregate soil, small colander or 6” pond baskets.

  • Try one in tall, tubular mesh—for exposed root development—perlite

Yew

  • Let it grow out

Black Spruce

  • Root-work, on tile or rocks cut back for taper, sacrifice branch.

  • Grow out & feed.

Cork Bark Elm

  • ⭐️ Root-work, on tile, colander or pond basket, fast grow aggregate soil.

  • Try one in tall, tubular mesh—for exposed root development

  • Make one or two Shohin with lower trunk movement

☑️ Redwood Yamadori

  • Flatter base, grow-box, higher draining soil

Zelkova

  • Drop into the grow-bed in summer.

  • Put more movement into the trunk.

Trident cuttings

  • Future stock (or leave as is. Inspect roots when dormant, aggregate soil, remove tap, place on tile, in 6” pond basket.

  • Forrest plantings, clump or copse

Ground

Exposed Root Development

Japanese Black Pine (long)

  • Remove cylinder, ask Val

Trident

  • Start into cylinder

Mugo 2

  • Start into cylinder

Individually Pot from Flat

Seedlings, Stone Pine ☑️

  • Cut Tap, hex tile.

Misc Maples ☑️

Redwood No Repot

  • Just grow out & primary branches & pinching

Learn more
Michael WeiComment