Making a Bonsai from an Old Apple Tree

I have had this Apple tree for the past one year now but This apple tree actually has a long History and has a lot of sentimental Value to me this tree has actually been Grown from a seed my granny planted this Tree way back when my dad was born my Dad’s now 53 so this tree is Approximately 53 years old and that is How tall it is so each year it was Growing in this Giant pot that was in my granny’s garden For so many years and my granny kept it In this pot for so many years and each Year she would cut the tree back because It would get too tall for the garden and Last year i took this tree from this big Pot reduced the roots down to a pot this Size and today we’re going to give this Tree another re-pot just to get into Some good soil because the soil is at Night is very moist and i’m afraid it Will rot the roots of the tree i was out Of bonsai soil at the time and all i had Was some compost and i put this tree Into compost just to help it survive Because it was extremely popular in that Last pot the buds were just about to Open now is the right time to repot Apple trees let’s get this thing out of

The pot i’m going to do this very Delicately it’s like this we’re going to Grab the bottom of the tree and just Pull Okay Just going to loosen up the soil There’s some moss growing up the trunk Here too if there’s ever moss growing up The trunk of your bond site you want to Get it off as soon as you can because Moss can actually provide too much Moisture around this area and it will Rot the actual wood of the tree you can Get the moss off by taking a toothbrush And just brushing away any of the moss Around the red base here So i’m going to set the tree at an angle Now I’m gonna go at it with a chop stick Here now because i feel like the Chopstick is a little bit more precise It doesn’t tear the roots as much as a Rake I feel like i’ll be boring just you guys Watching me cut out and dig away all the Soil if you want to see that then you Want to see me leave it in the videos Let me know in the comments but for now I feel like it’s really boring so i’m Going to cut forward all right so i feel Like it’s now about time to give these Roots a good wash get all the old soil Off of them So i’m just raking them over the water

Here to loosen up any of the soil Because the water loosens up the soil a Little bit for you and then every time You dip it on a little bit more falls Off and just in a second i’m going to Sort of pressure wash these with the Hose not a pressure washer because i can Damage the wrist too much and we’ve got A long taproot going on under here I might need to remove that soon All right everybody so now that the Roots have been washed i can see a lot More of what’s going on it can be risky Sometimes bear it in a tree but i like To see exactly what’s going on with the Roots so that i can develop them in the Way that i want them to be developed i Can already see there’s some thick roots Growing in places i don’t want them to Be growing there’s a huge stump tap Right in the bottom of here so i’m just Going to get these concave cutters Chomping off some pieces of this so like This big thick one it’s never going to Be used so see on the end of this these Are called feeder roots a little thin Roots there would feed the tree and give The tree water the thick roots don’t Really do much for the tree except for Provides stability whenever it’s in the Ground but in bonsai we don’t really Need stability so i’m just going to Continue to cut off some thick roots That i think the tree doesn’t need

The bottom of this is Really You can really tell it underneath this Hear that i’m going to just keep Chomping away at this to see how far we Can get up The underside There’s just so much going on look at This back to thick right here See that This root here is a rotten root that i Find inside here which means the soil it Was in was not good for the tree at all There’s another rotten root here That’s just dead look at that It’s just the thickness of the trunk Goes the whole way down to there and i Kind of want it to be like here with the Roots flopping over it that way i can Get it in a shallower pot okay i’m going For a huge cut here here goes Whoa what was that a gigantic root mass Okay i’m gonna do it i’m gonna take a Saw to the bottom piece And after i take this piece off of the Saw I’m going to leave it at that because You want to do too much work in one go i Want to try and make this tree maybe A five-year or 10-year project before it Sort of starts to look like a bonsai So making sure whenever i saw through This i’m holding all the upper wrists Out of the way so that i ensure that i

Don’t saw through Any of the roots i want to keep Ah we’re getting somewhere now i can Feel it Ah yeah look at that Okay i just want to come away from this Portion of the video right now just to Sort of explain that the saw i was using At that time was the only saw that i had I wouldn’t recommend a cheap saw like This to do cotton on your trees although It got the job done if you can get a Japanese bonsai saw like this one and it Will do a much better job of cutting Cleaner this is a new saw i got recently That i’ll be using in the future anyways Back to the video everything is nice and Clean and the roots are here and you can Actually see the underside now what’s Going on that’s going to be nice and Flat against the bottom of the pot so I’m going to just fan these roots out as If they’re in the pot wreck them out With my root rake so there’s no tangles I know it seems like a lot but all the Roots that i’m going to cut off now are Going to be thick this one that’s not Needed you can obviously see here that One side of this tree is heavier than The other there’s less roots on the side Of it so whenever i plant this i want to Make sure that i give this side a good Trim and sort of balance it out it’s a Big thick root here and it’s got quite a

Lot of fibrous roots on it so i’m going To leave Some of it i don’t really want to remove Any more because there’s quite a lot of Trunk for this to feed i’m going to Leave it at that for today and pot it up So i want this tree to develop quick Fast root growth and to do that i’m Going to be planting it into the small Pond basket that way the roots will get Lots of oxygen in the sides pond baskets Are actually really cheap and great for Developing bonsai and giving them fast Root development The soil type that i want to use is a Mix of academia pumice lava rock and Sphagnum moss and the sphagnum moss also Promotes fibrous roots that feed the Tree and grows them really quickly Going to feed this off through the sides Of the pot If it was a younger tree and it was a Lot thinner i would use a lot smaller And thinner gauge of wire but for this I’m using about three millimeter to wire It in Okay so i’m happy with the pot scoop on Some of the soil mix Here i’ve got some sphagnum moss which I’ll sprinkle all around the inside of The pot that’s going to go in here Nice and flat you also want to plant the Tree nice and straight so when it’s in The pot

Always consider the angle here i’ve Twisted the wire around this part of the Tree and now the wire here is just Barely reaching but it will work I’m just going to take this knife and Twist it with the gin pliers And that will hold And then just around the roots sprinkle More sphagnum moss Now we’re just going to go in with some Soil I don’t want to have this 100 stones i’m Just going to give it a little bit of Compost if you have to sort of take into Consideration the trees care as well What does the tree like and fruit trees Especially apples love loamy soil types Just gonna work that in And there we have it that is the apple Tree repotted in the pot my plan now is To keep this tree in this pot for the Next one to two years before it will Need another repot just to let it get Healthy again that’s the main goal right Now and in the future i plan to air Layer a portion of this tree but i’m not Sure yet with bonsai you sort of want a Nice taper but I don’t know yet all really worried About now is a successful repot let’s Give it a water The one thing you’re looking for Whenever you water a newly repotted tree Is good drainage so whenever you left

The pot you just wanted to run out Freely like that That’s perfect so it’s been a few weeks Now and the apple tree has just come Into leaf it’s starting to grow lots of Newer branches on the trunk of the tree And it’s also got some serious back Button at the base of the tree which is Quite common with apples so sometimes It’s good to try and stay on top of that And don’t let them grow out of control i Can confidently say that this was the Successful repot of the apple tree i’m Going to continue to develop this Specific tree on this channel and i’ll Probably put together a series where you Can watch them sequentially as they come Out so if you want to keep up to date With that and all the other videos on my Channel consider subscribing down below And hitting the bell right beside it to Get updates from whenever i upload a Video and that’s the end of this video Thank you so very much for watching and I’ll see you in the next one [Music] You