We perform Root Pruning on a Japanese White Pine that Koji Hiramatsu's father raised in a field over fifty years. By cutting the thick roots, we encourage Fine Roots / Feeder Roots to emerge — preparing the tree for potting one year from now. Where to cut each root, how to make a clean cut surface — every movement of the hands today holds within it the shape of the tree next year.
Koji Hiramatsu's father raised a Japanese White Pine in a field over roughly fifty years. The thick roots that spread freely through the soil are the very shape of the tree's history. And now, scissors and saw are put to those roots.
Why cut them? Couldn't you simply dig the tree up and place it in a pot? — the answer to that question lives in the movement of the hands. A tree thrives not on ten thick roots, but on a thousand Fine Roots / Feeder Roots. Today's Root Pruning is not a signal to reduce, but a signal to encourage new growth.
Where to cut the roots, how large to leave the Root Ball — each decision carries many layers of time within it. Will the Root Ball be able to be lifted whole during next year's transplant? Once it is in the pot, will the roots that remain be enough to absorb sufficient nutrients? One year from now, and the bonsai it will become even further beyond that, are already folded into the movement of today's hands.
If the cut surface is crushed, new roots will not emerge. So the blade used must be well-sharpened. If there are gaps when the soil is replaced, new roots will not emerge either. So when returning the soil, it is pressed in carefully, patiently. It is not that there is no reason to hurry — it is that there is nothing waiting at the end of hurrying.
From the day the roots are cut, the care of this tree shifts to the same approach as a potted plant. Water must never be neglected, and on strong summer days, Shade Cloth is used. A tree that had spread its roots through the earth and sought water on its own now, from today, entrusts itself to human hands.
Ring Barking is another method available. Knowing it, and choosing not to reach for it — 'not needed this time.' The decision not to do something sits at the very center of this work, just as much as the decision to act.
Water is poured on generously, allowed to soak in slowly. The work is done, and the tree begins to move quietly once more beneath the soil.
A tree raised over fifty years readies itself for the time ahead. Today's Root Pruning is that starting point. Not a completion, not a milestone — but the beginning of the next chapter in a work that spans across time.
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