Creating a Raft Syle Bonsai

Nearly any species of tree could be used for a raft style bonsai but you’ll have more luck if you stick with material that is as pliable as possible.

Simply because you will need to bend and push things around quite a bit when you’re creating your raft style bonsai you'll be working with the tender limbs and trying to position them and move them where you want them as much as possible creating less work in the long run.

Some good sound choices for this style of bonsai would be yew, pine, or perhaps even Japanese maple or you might want to try an elm. There are others that would work and have worked but these would be my first choices and especially for the beginner creating this type of bonsai for the first time.

You will want to hunt for a tree that is fairly tall as this will afford you a fair amount of limbs to choose from and understand that you will only be using one side of your trees limbs for the raft so look for the side that has the most suitable limbs in your opinion as this side will be your raft.

Now we will want to trim the entire tree and then after words remove the limbs from the opposite side of which we chose to be our raft. Now lay the tree down on to a bed of soil in a fairly over sized planting box. Be sure to leave your tree still in its original pot and soil.

At this point it should resemble a row of trees pointing upwards from your remaining branches.

Now you will want to make cuts into the cambium layer of your tree trunk at about 1 inch intervals and then try to insert a small pebble to hold this area open a bit and also dress these scars with a rooting hormone powder. This is perhaps the hardest part of creating your raft planting.

Now your ready to remove the pot from the base of your tree and then tie in the roots of the tree to your planting box then cover up the trees branch as though it were the trunk for all of your trees because really it is.

However above the soil it really will resemble a group or row of trees at this point and this is the effect your trying to create.

Cover about two inches of soil over the trunk and then you can begin to wire the limbs if you want at this point and try to keep your biggest and most heavy looking limbs towards the front and the smaller limbs at the back this will add perspective to the entire planting.

Once you have this all accomplished and hopefully nothing has gone wrong and your tree is planted then all you need to do is sit back and wait for roots to form along the cuts that you made in the cambium. This could take a long time perhaps even a couple of years.

During this time take especially good care of this tree as you want to have success with your new raft planting. Keep it shaded in the hot days of summer and mist it regular and also feed as with any other bonsai.

It takes a long time to develop any good bonsai and especially one that is good looking and attractive. So just work with it and treat it like any other of your bonsai and you should have success.

In the mean time you can be thinking of how you want the whole raft to look after it is has grown for a season or so and is well established. Once it has its new root system developed then you could remove the old root and begin thinking of a pot that will work for your new loved bonsai.

Now of course pot selection is always a matter of preference and choices can be varied but you’ll at least want a pot that is large enough to give your bonsai room for expansion and yet not be out of proportion to the tree.

I like to choose either a nice large round shallow pot or one that is oval if possible or even better yet if you can afford it a nice slab type container would even be better.

Once I have selected a nice container then I will wait till the right time of year preferably spring and then I will replant my entire raft of trees in its new pot and then begin my real magic of creating it into the look of a landscape.

I will cut out some of the branches now to enhance a look of distance between trees and I will add moss where I can and then perhaps a small rock or two to add to the effect.

I will then train each individual limb as it were a completely separate bonsai tree and in time work at developing trunk and canopy accordingly for each tree in the raft.

As you work with your bonsai don’t be in hurry as it will most likely take you another couple of years to really begin to see the look of a small forest of trees but it will happen with time and your creative ability.

Thanks for reading.
By: Harold Yearout ©Copyright 2005 Harold Yearout All Rights Reserved for more information feel free to contact me: