Czech Yamadori

A burl from birch,   a number of different tools, persistence.  And more than 20 hours of carving.  In early stages of my learning curve.  I hope the next one will be better.  Not sure about the time spent, though . With more elaborate curves... 49  x  24  x  4 cm 19,3  x  9,5  x  1,6''

Water. Nutrients, Oxygen.  Warm. That is the basics to make and keep  roots of our plant happy. Substrate?  This is "just" a king of anchoring medium and we can use different materials,  providing we deliver the items in the first line. I believe that the same should be applied  trying to make a good airlayer. A good airlayer.   What do I mean by that?    A process in which we will force the plant to produce a new set of roots at desired position. That is: Numerous roots that grow all around the circumference of the trunk. A great start to produce a flare in the lower part of the trunk with nicely spread radial surface roots.  That was I believe the main/initial  purpose of the air layering technique. When it comes to airlayering a good start is importat.  Bearing this in mind I start the preparation usually in the course of previous year.  Main target -  to get as much new growth as possible. If the target is me...

This pear  found a way to my garden a few years ago.   And only after another good number of years I was passing by it.  This was definitely NOT a love on a first sight.  And at the time I have decided to collect it there was a nasty surprise below the surface.   At a first sight plenty of small feeder roots.  But we know this could be deceptive.  You must be sure that they are part of your targeted plant.   So I have started to dig deeper and deeper to find the place where the first  feeder roots are connected to the primary root.   Bad luck the place was more than 50 cm deep below the soil level.  Gosh. Right.  At home, I have squeezed the long primary roots with collected feeders somehow into the large plastic pot and left it for a few years there. Spring 2019 - time to start with the airlayer Late summer 2019  - first check to see the result.  Yes, I have learned to be very patient.  ( not ...