# Larch raft ground layer **URL:** \ **Category:** Horticulture\ **Created:** [May 29, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/larch-raft-ground-layer/8359 "2021-05-29T20:08:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paulkendo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@Paulkendo1](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/Paulkendo1)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/larch-raft-ground-layer/8359/1 "2021-05-29T20:08:15Z")
Hey friends, ground layering a larch is doable right? ---
**Author:** ![Rivka](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.bonsaimirai.com/rivka/32/13600_2.png) [@Rivka](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/Rivka)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 12:30am UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/larch-raft-ground-layer/8359/2 "2021-11-22T00:30:31Z")
How did this go if you pursued this? I would love to hear about it, as I am considering laying down a stylistically challenged tree in a larch forest I am working on. ---
**Author:** ![Paulkendo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@Paulkendo1](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/Paulkendo1)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 12:43am UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/larch-raft-ground-layer/8359/3 "2021-11-22T00:43:04Z")
So far so good, good callus but no roots yet. Hopefully by the summer! ---
**Author:** ![Rivka](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.bonsaimirai.com/rivka/32/13600_2.png) [@Rivka](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/Rivka)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2021, 3:37am UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/larch-raft-ground-layer/8359/4 "2021-11-22T03:37:33Z")
Would love to see pictures. What size/age was the tree you laid down? What do you have it in? What if anything did you to the lower surface to expose and trigger the cambium layer? ---
**Author:** ![Paulkendo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@Paulkendo1](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/Paulkendo1)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 11:58am UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/larch-raft-ground-layer/8359/5 "2021-11-24T11:58:46Z")
Talk to seek is packed away in a greenhouse. But it’s about a 10-year-old larch. I did it to make a forest. I scraped the bottom in about 10 locations. I’m getting buds swell so it should be good for the spring ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/bonsaimirai/original/3X/d/0/d015582a2652044bc619e2f93c47bf62a69bab30.jpeg) ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/bonsaimirai/original/3X/6/e/6ee63d3ef08178050a158c09a8ae7cd084446067.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![KurtP](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.bonsaimirai.com/kurtp/32/16188_2.png) [@KurtP](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/KurtP)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/larch-raft-ground-layer/8359/6 "2021-11-24T17:53:13Z")
@Paulkendo1 What species of larch? Japonese? ---
**Author:** ![Paulkendo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@Paulkendo1](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/Paulkendo1)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/larch-raft-ground-layer/8359/7 "2021-11-24T18:16:20Z")
It was a weeping European ---
**Author:** ![JulesKadul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/839c29/32.png) [@JulesKadul](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/JulesKadul)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/larch-raft-ground-layer/8359/8 "2022-02-07T20:44:24Z")
What I have often heard is that larches don’t like their roots manipulated during the growing season. The often recommended window for repotting is when the buds are swelling. That usually means a 7-10 day window for me. I wonder if that means (in your case) that separating the ground layer from its old roots is best done during (or slightly before?) the buds start to swell in spring of 2023 or 2022? (as you can see I have zero experience with ground layering, just trying to understand the process 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![caffeinated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@caffeinated](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/caffeinated)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 5:28am UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/larch-raft-ground-layer/8359/9 "2022-02-13T05:28:37Z")
I just opened the ground layer pot that I was using on a Japanese larch I started layering last spring. I found an abundance of roots coming from exactly on spot on the trunk. It was a lot but so weird that it was from only one point in the whole radius of the tree. I lengthened the girdle and scraped away any possible bridging and potted it back up again. Fingers crossed for a more radial spread. This was on an about 1 1/2" thick trunk. ![IMG_3598](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/bonsaimirai/original/3X/6/6/6663469a61db48a046debdd930bd333f51eaf045.jpeg)