Technique Guide
Root Over Rock — Clip & Grow
A step-by-step photo progression showing how roots are trained over rock and structure is built through pruning.
Follow this studio progression from initial root placement through clip-and-grow development to the finished root-over-rock planting. Each photo documents a stage of the same project.
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Getting Started
Roots are positioned over the rock and held in place with copper training wire while the tree establishes in a deep training pot.
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Clip and Grow � Early Stage
Branches are pruned to direct structure; fresh shoots emerge at the cut points as roots continue to conform to the rock surface.
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Root Development
Structural roots spread across the rock and into the soil mound as the clip-and-grow canopy develops above.
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Building Branch Structure
Continued pruning shapes the branch pads while feeder roots extend from the rock into the growing medium.
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Removing Training Wire
Once roots have gripped the rock, the securing wire is carefully cut away.
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Choosing the Pot
A shallow ceramic pot is selected for the final planting once roots and structure are established.
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Final Reveal
The finished root-over-rock planting � roots fused to the rock and the tree in its final shallow pot.