Making a Root on Rock Style Ficus

Making a bonsai grow its roots over a rock is sometimes a good way to introduce style and creativity to a tree. It can take anywhere from a year to two to do this technique and can be done with young or old trees. Any rock or material can be used to grow the tree on, as long as it is porous or complex enough for the roots to wrap around and get a good hold.

Here is a ficus microcarpa my Grandma gave to me after she found it in her church yard. It had very little roots and took ages to become established again. This is in early 2015 when I didn’t know too much about soil and thus was keeping this one in poorly drained high organic material.

January 2016. Here it is after a re pot sometime in 2015 and some better care. It’s even growing its own sacrifice branch which will really help in the future shaping of the tree. You can see here there are also some nice areal roots growing, though the tree trunk itself is still very small. About the size of a pencil.

This is the rock I have decided to use and have tied the tree firmly in place. Over time because the tree base and rock will be completely covered, it will grow roots down all over the rock and will eventually hold itself on. These aerial roots will help to bring overall stability to the tree.

The ficus was then placed into a deep well drained container with well draining soil and is now being left alone for a good 6 months to grow its roots over the rock. In spring I will be lifting it out and seeing if it has grown fast enough or needs more time to grow around the rock. But so far it is looking really good with a long growth branch and new leaves every week. This is in late autumn now and there have been no signs of slowing growth. I have also placed it ontop of the garden so the roots can grow through the pot it is in and it can supergrow for a few months.