Raft style was the topic for our October General Meeting and our own John Boyce outlined some of the finer points of the style during his talk and demonstration. Raft style is one of the newer styles to be recognized and adopted by the bonsai community, it was only first attempted in the middle of the 20th Century in Japan but has gained in popularity since. The style evokes images of trees in nature that have been blown or knocked down by a storm, landslide or flood, only to persevere by growing their once branches into new trunks. The raft itself is the section that was formerly the trunk but that is now in contact with the ground. The former branches become the new trunks of the raft. Raft style trees can be seen in many places, California Bay Laurel commonly forms rafts and grows all around the hills of the bay area.

John went over some points about raft style that are useful to remember:

1.Rafts can be made from almost any species from Juniper and pine to maple, Zelcova and Poplar.

2.Regardless of species or style the raft should be visible, the top of the raft cannot be buried.

3.There should be no airspace or “holidays” visible beneath the raft; although I’m sure we could find an exception to this rule it is generally a good idea to make sure that the raft is in full contact with the ground.

4.The trunks should harmonize with each other either by all going in the same direction or by having curves that are complimentary or by sharing other common traits. Along the same lines, as is the case with forest plantings and multiple trunk trees, the branching should generally harmonize to form one canopy for the entire raft. Trunks on the interior of the group will be generally taller but have fewer low branches and trunks toward the exterior will be generally shorter and have more branching on them.

5. Because of the raft the relative position of the trunks is basically set. Although it may be possible to move them slightly once the raft is older, the position of the trunks should be considered carefully when creating the raft so that the distribution looks natural and elegant.

Raft style can take a long time to accomplish and material that is appropriate is generally scarce at nurseries; John mentioned that he checked at 5 different nurseries in the East Bay without luck.  Look for plants that have branching almost all on one side and eliminate the branching on the weaker side. Score the bark, or remove it entirely, on the side that will be the bottom of raft. You can wire the raft to add movement to it or you can leave it as you find it. Repot the raft from it’s former pot into a large deeper container that is sufficient for holding the new orientation including the rootball. Leave the tree to grow new roots along the trunk for at least one year, possibly two or longer depending on the species.  After verifying that there are new roots growing from the raft you should repot the tree again, removing the original rootball in its entirety.  Removing the original rootball will allow you to now pot it into a shallower container and it will force the tree to rely on the new roots that are coming from the raft. Select roots that come from the sides of the raft eliminating the ones that come from the top or that grow straight down; after some years this will increase the character of the tree by causing the raft to gain an irregular shape.

This discussion brings one to appreciate more the amount of time and effort that goes into a good raft style tree.   John encouraged members to attempt the style because it is a challenge, more so than forest plantings, but also because it gives the artist in all of us another option for using otherwise mediocre material.  Remember that bonsai is a journey and the fun is in the travel, not just at the destination.

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