The next part of the process involved cleaning and shortening the roots. Here I followed the advice given in the past by Reiner Goebel and John Biel: clean out all of the old dirt, rake the roots, remove roots that are too large and long, and trim the whole thing to a manageable mass.

Once that was completed, I prepared a mixture of "muck" as demonstrated earlier this past November by Norman Haddrick in his "landscape workshop": 50% sphagnum moss cut into short, inch-long strands, and 50% dirt. This mixture, with lots of water added, I used to build a wall around the perimeter of the trees' roots in order to help hold the soil which I next carefully worked among the roots.

When all was said and done, I headed back out into the warming February weather, and discovered a patch of moss that I could lift, roll up and take inside. The moss provided a perfect cover to help hold the soil in place while the root system recovered from my trimming. I stood back and admired my handywork. ... Not bad, I thought.

I placed my rock planting into a temporary, cool greenhouse shelter I had created to help the tree "wake up" from its dormancy, and made sure that the moss covering was watered every couple of days.

The Base

Earlier in the fall I had constructed a simple platform out of 3 pine boards glued edge to edge, in order to show what the fiberglass rock might look like on a foundation. Members who attended that TBS meeting had an opportunity to see it and ask questions about the whole process.

I retrieved that base a week ago, and decided that it would need some finishing in order to be a proper display dias for my rock planting. I had previously routed a groove in the board in the shape of my rock, so that it would sit in it and look a little more natural.

Now I decided to rout some decorative depressions around the perimeter to suggest rock layers such as might be seen under water around an island in a lake. My rock, of course, was to be that island! Freehand routing with various bits and at various levels was both interesting and effective, I thought. Then I sawed out the shape of my underwater domain and put a finishing edge on it. By not having sawed it to shape earlier, I was able to use the waste portion of the boards to support the base of the router.

Since the wood I had used for my base was really just poor quality scrap wood, I could not imagine it lasting a very long time while exposed to daily watering and the elements. Obviously, it needed a support system of sorts.

As a starting point, I found some walnut stain that I thought would make the base look a little better. To slow the inevitable onset of rot, I pickled the boards with with a clear, zinc preservative, which is normally used for ropes and fabrics. I gave this several days to cure, and then soaked both sides with penetrating teak oil, a resin mixture that would soak in and harden. Finally, the rock received several layers of exterior spar varnish which I then buffed with steel wool in order to reduce the shine.

I was pleased with the result. When I think back over the whole process of building the rock, and some of the shortcomings I encountered, I had really not expected the whole thing to look as fine as it now does.

One thing remained to be done, and that was the final trimming and wiring of the trees so that they would look quite natural in their artificial setting. I was fortunate to enlist Jeff Shortt's help in this, and I must say, he did a fine job, indeed!

Below are the four views of the completed project. ...I know I would do it again.