terrestrial_man: lol IÂm a writer. I am rather familiar with Photoshop CS2 and write tutorials for it from time to time. Though, I find adding text to an image to be posted on this forum to be a bit cumbersome, at least in large volume. Textual highlights are at most times warranted. I also have years of experience in creating web pages; programming by hand. The USDA doesnÂt list regions for my state that seems to be why my tree species its not listed. Yes, I will be gradually exposing the roots over time. Though, I doubt I will need to for this one. The root system has already begun to harden up to where being exposed wonÂt cause harm. Not that I will risk exposure it for another year or two to be on the safe side. I am making it a point to take progressive photos of all my bonsai. IÂm now letting my root-over-rock bonsai thicken up at the base and two main trunks. In the end, I plan on this being a cascade or semi-cascade tree. I wonÂt be wiring it and will instead attempt this through pruning and pinching. Buy cheap paint and paint your plastic pool. White is best. It will extend its life by blocking UV radiation and oxygen. Both can degrade plastics rapidly, some faster than others. Root over rock is very easy to do especially if the plant is very young and the roots very thin. Picking the correct rock is the most difficult part, aside from patience. It should have a nice flat bottom, look good, and have lots of crags and crevices for the roots to flow around and through. The next time IÂm in the mountains I plan on looking for such stones. IÂve planned on cutting the bottom of stones flat if I need to. HereÂs an example of another bonsai I began last year. I found a rather tall, thin, and branchless maple sapling near my pond. The result of all that flimsiness is this, (Maple) 125KB. This is of course not an actual bonsai style and is instead uses mounds of artistic licensing. IÂm basically going to attempt to make it look like itÂs a dragon swimming in water. IÂm sure it wonÂt look too much like that, but it will be interesting to say the least. IÂve yet to repot this one this year and am waiting till at least next year to repot. My next traditional bonsai subject will be in the "exposed root" (not my tree), and I plan to go to extremes with it. IÂll be planting my subject tree in a very long narrow plastic pipe that is stood on end. Each year the pipe will be cut shorter from the top, exposing a little more root each time. The pipe itself will be planted in a large pot for when the roots finally reach the bottom. Though, I prefer the Sekijoju instead. I like stones. lol

In case Tony/Incognito doesn't answer right away about the herbicide impregnated root barrier, this product is used in urban street plantings where surface rooting is to be discouraged, and it actually does last for a very long time, but would probably need to extend at least 2 to 3 feet down vertically, or until you hit bedrock or a soil depth where there isn't enough oxygen in the soil to encourage tree root growth. The possibility always exists that tree roots can still grow under it and then into the new area, but typically it is the main principal roots that tend to serve as anchor roots for the tree's stability that do the most damage to pavement, and on older trees like pines these tend to stay near the surface, but that will vary greatly on your soil type and soil moisture conditions at different depths. Your arborist/consultant should be able to advise you more specifically if this herbicide impregnated root barrier makes sense to add against the new curb/wall to help protect it. I wouldn't rule out other sun loving bromeliads for this sunny situation, things like the more terrestrial growing Puya or Dyckia species might be good choices, and it also sounds like this thin soil, sunny area full of tree roots might be an excellent location for clumps of Agaves such as A. bracteosa, A. 'Sharkskin' or A. parryii cultivars, or in combination with things like Echeveria agavoides or Bulbine frutescens. Aloes such as A. saponaria or A. striata would also do well there. All of these plants would grow better if planted in a new layer of topsoil added over the tree roots, and given at least a monthly periodic good soak, or more often depending on how quickly/lushly you prefer them to look. California natives such as Mimulus aurantiacus, Salvia clevelandii or S. leucophylla 'Pt. Sal' could also look good here, or even more adventurous plantings like Metrosideros collina 'Springfire' or Metrosideros collina 'Tahiti'. A really cool looking green fuzzy flowered Aloe such as A. tomentosa would probably also do well there, or other Aloes such as A. castanea, A. camperi, A. rubroviolacea or A. vanbalenii.

Guys, thanks for the advice and encouragement. I'll definitely make a fish pond water feature with a waterfall feature and waterlilies. I still have a lot more research to do to figure out all the specifics. lisa11310: Its good to know that hardy water lilies can overwinter just fine in the pond! I really don't want to bring water plants or fish indoors if I can avoid it. pcan: Your pond is lovely, and you made it so quickly! It was inspirational. I'll likely go back and reread the thread several times. I'll definitely build my pond myself. I'm actually using this year to design and collect supplies and will commence building next year. pashta_2006: Anne, I'm mostly zone 6a with the harsh winters being zone 5b. However, it is wonderful to know that the fish and plants survived winters colder than mine! I'll take your advice and build a pond 3 to 4 feet deep. I'm not entirely sure how you would keep a hole open in the pond ice... more research I guess. chris_in_ct: Chris, you are making me want a trio of koi to populate my pond! It is good to know that pond life is so resilient. I'm not sure what an airstone is... so yay, more research! gardengimp: Dianne, I do dearly want a waterfall feature, cascading or otherwise. I'll be sure to incorporate it into my pond design. I do want a more formal looking water feature with crisp lines as opposed to the traditional pond with organic borders. Your pond is gorgeous!

Only the youngest wood on young specimens are the likely 'canditates' for success. Or the shoots of a stock plant (all juvenile kept/maintained for the very purpose of cloning) will success have it's possibilities. Keith Rushford 'Conifers' pps. 52-53, suggests this. He says: " Cuttings taken off seedlings of almost all species will root relatively easily, but with many species cuttings taken from older plants do not have the same capacity to root. This is called the juveniliy factor and if more than the occasional cutting is required, it is worth keeping the stock plant in a juvenile state. This can be done by clippping it regularlyu. Juveniliy is particularly important with members of the pine family, and much less significant in the cypress family. In spruces the capability to root readily is progrewssively lost after the young plant is over six years old..... " Cutings can be taken at several times of the year. The best periods are in the early summer, autumn and late winter. Early summer cuttings can be either softwood or smi-hardwood cuttings, depending upon how firm the base is. This can be a very useful time to take cuttings of old spruces (Picea), when partially grown shoots will root, albeit extremely slowly (hence mist is not appropriate). Autumn cuttings are suitable for readily rooted species and should not need any artificial heating. Cuttings after Christmas, preferably with bottom heat, are suitable for other species. The cuttings should be around 8cm long and for imtems which root readily can be two or three times longer. They can be taken either with or wirhout a heel but the use of a homone rooting treatment is beneficial..... Mist, warm bench and plastic, cold bench and plastic and cold frames with close fitting lids can all be used to root the cuttings. With mist, it is important to avoid getting the compost too wet, otherwise the cuttings will rot. Also mist is not suitable for plants which are slow to root (except where it has the extra effect of speeding rooting), as the repeated watering inherent with mist will learch nutrients from the leaves over a period of time. The difference between warm bench and cold bench is that the former has the compost heated by some means, usually electric soil warming cables. This gives the ideal of warm bottoms and cold tops and will hasten rooting; the thin plastic or poly thene film prevents desiccation, but the cuttings must not be exposed to full sun. Tooting is less of a problem with the plastic based metods, and teh cuttings will often look healthier than comparable ones under mist, although take slightly longer to root. Cold frames are most useful for autum cuttings and for the growing on of the rooted plants......... The cuttings should not be firmed in too hard, as this may destroy the aeration to the base of the cutting and hinder rooting....... Cuttings taken from young plants in early summer may root within four weeks or so, particulary under mist. Those taken in a cold frame in September should not be expected to be ready for potting on until May or June. Cuttings made with additional heating in Januaary to April can also be ready for potting on in June or July........ After the cuttings have rooted, they will need to be potted on. Before this, they will need to be weaned off the closed humid conditions by gradually increasing the ventilation......" --------------------------------------------------------- I'll just say that a tented structure (closed) with cuttings in individual pots (I use 5" tall Anderson Tree Band pots) stuck with a hormone (May here or fall as the cuttings are turning from medium-hardwood to hardwood or winter hardwood in a heated greenhouse) are the times to root conifers. .....Dax My greenhouse has a 60 percent shade cloth on the front (full southern exposure) If I had eastern exposure it would be better for conifer grafting and for rooting. So hence my shadecloth. It's very sunny here, sort of like Colorado which is why each person needs to find their own means of achieving success. Since I've lived in Oregon, Portland that is, I would know that it's never sunny there during winter so no shade cloth would be needed. So you get the idea of what it is I'm speaking, of. Use Dip n Grow, strength 1/10 parts water. Here's a photo of where my grafts are being grown as well as any cuttings I want to root. Bottom heat is not necessary when tented like this. My greenhouse is at 60 F, set at, and during the day on sunny days it goes up to 80 F. Just perfect. The 'cool mist humidifier' I have on a timer to run from 7 am to 9 am maintaining the high humidity needed all day. What you do not want is water droplets on your plants. And lastly I spray a fungicide/algaecide every two weeks. I happen to use, 'Consan 20' but anything labled for greenhouses and for fungus should work identically. If you have insects, use pyrethren. If you're going to go large scale, use 'Zerotol'. Dax Rushforth, Keith Conifers (1987); First published in the United States in 1987 by Facts On File, Inc., 460 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10016; ISBN: 0-8160-1735-2 Seal the structure completely for 2 weeks using furring strips (scrap wood); then remove the furring strips on the front panel and allow the clear (must be lightweight poly) poly to hang/drape. That's it. Humidity/junk wood furring strips: As per watering: conifers don't like wet feet when grafting especially. Allow the media to "nearly" dry up between waterings. It's been called "babysitting" to me. A Vicks brand cool mister humidifier. Model is 1.2 gallon and I purchased a 5 foot piece of 1.5 diameter pvc and a neck insert piece of pvc with dimensions of Nibco 1 1/2" PVC-1 USA; D 2466 SCH. 40 ; A x 4 UPC: 39923 14082 from Menards. The Vicks humidfier came from Target and is 50 dollars. This is the final photo of what you'll ever need to know: My greenhouse showing the shade cloth and how it is situated under a deck. The west side of the greenhouse I did not add shade cloth to. I kept it open for direct sunlight which Picea grafts desperately need! The humidity, "everything" you'll need to adjust to match your surroundings/"climate"/propagation materials.