Enchanted lands, our fifth in a series of plantings (here for the previous one) from Toshio Kawamoto’s Sakei classic (long out of print). The tree are 3 five year old ezo spruce, 16 five to eight year old cryptomeria (6-8 inches tall), 7 three to eight year old satsuki azaleas and 3 three year old tsutsuji azaleas. The pot is a round unglazed tray, 28 inches (71cm) in diameter (you can’t really tell from the photo just how large the pot is).
This diagram is designed to give you a little better idea of the layout and relationship of the elements. The trees are numbered, but your eyes are much better than mine if you can distinguish them.
This bird’s eye view shows the placements of the rocks and footprint of the hills. Yes, the tray is really completely round. Round tray-style pots this size are very unusual. You’ll see extra large ovals and rectangles for sure, but when was the last time you saw a monster round tray-style pot?
A tip from Toshio Kawamoto
Place the rocks so that the best looking surfaces are visible and their heights vary. Tilt the rocks slightly toward the center of the tray. Also note that the spruce trees 1, 2, and 3 (get out your magnifying glass) are planted so that their branches extend out beyond the rocks and toward the center of the tray.