Hello everyone. I have a Japanese maple with great root structure for a root over rock, I have not had any luck on finding a good rock, not even quite sure what type of rock I should use. If anyone knows were i can get the right kind of rock pleas let me know. Thanks

Mountains. Riversides, Stone merchants...
As to type of rock - nearly any type will do, the more wrinkles, holes, and odd shapes on it the better.
It takes time to find really interesting ones, but it is worth the effort.
It disappoints me to see a nice bonsai that is planted on uninteresting boring stone.
So good luck with the search

Typically you want a rock with a lot of structure on it. In Japan they find some special rocks, but these are VERY expensive. I have found some nice rocks on lava outcrops.

Just wondering whether you are going about this the right way. To create root over rock, you need VERY young plants, with roots that are still young enough to be shaped to the rock, rather than forcing heavier roots around the rock.

My tree is young, it's a couple of years old but it's got a twin trunk and good areal roots. Here is a picture

Travi51 wrote: My tree is young, it's a couple of years old but it's got a twin trunk and good areal roots. Here is a picture

Arial roots and a root flare are not the same things.
Arial roots do not look good on maples, in my opinion. The roots you have there are not so suitable for good nebari either.

Travi51 wrote: My tree is young, it's a couple of years old but it's got a twin trunk and good areal roots. Here is a picture

Arial roots and a root flare are not the same things.
Arial roots do not look good on maples, in my opinion. The roots you have there are not so suitable for good nebari either.

Aerial roots do look good on ficus:


For a good root flare, you will want the roots to be at the same height:


Root over rock could work though.

Thank you auk, I understand but I am wanting to do a root over rock. The biggest reason for this is because of the roots and not having a good nibari

leatherback wrote: Typically you want a rock with a lot of structure on it. In Japan they find some special rocks, but these are VERY expensive. I have found some nice rocks on lava outcrops.

Dear leatherback,

as I am currently searching for rocks of rather high quality from Japan, would you mind pointing me towards some sources of these aforementioned special rocks, please?

Best wishes

No specific sources I am afraid. I bought a few some years bag from someone who imported them for aquascaping. So that would be my recommendation: Search for aquascaping rocks.