Perhaps you remember this beautiful watermelon crepe myrtle I bought recently.

I was excited to explore the root system, and found many challenges along the way.

You see that little stump next to the trunk? I was curious as to what that was. I was hoping it was deadwood attached to the tree itself, because that can be a neat feature of a bonsai. After about 30 minutes of digging, turns out it was just a stick. Oh well.

I knew this angle would be the best front for the tree. There are those two roots on the left that gave me trouble. Nebari, or exposed roots on a bonsai, are a wonderful quality. The rest of the tree has a beautiful flair filled out. But these two roots are thin and stick out from the tree rather than going downwards. I didn’t want to chop them off, because this is prime material and I didn’t want the nebari to be unbalanced. So, I *very* carefully cut the underbelly of the root connected to the tree, going about halfway through. This allowed for the roots to be more flexible so that I can pull them downward and more flush with the trunk. Using raffia, I tied and tied and tied the roots downward, using the other roots and trunk as a stronghold. I did not want to tie the raffia directly on the roots, because as they grow, the raffia would restrict them, looking unnatural. I was eventually able to get them about where I wanted them, as seen in the right picture. Ideally, these roots will fatten up and look more like the roots on the right. I do worry a bit about the tension that the raffia created around the lower roots will inhibit growth, but those will never be visible, so it is okay.

This guy came in dense clay-like soil. It was drowning him. I repotted him in basic potting soil to allow for more oxygen to reach the roots. Speaking of roots, where did all on my raffia work go?? I intentionally buried those two roots under the surface, because roots thicken quicker in soil rather than being exposed. It is all a part of a long term plan!