Hello, new member here
i recently bought a cherry tree and I want to make it look like a bonsai.Its 5ft tall and it has a nice trunk
but it has no movement so I want to make a air layering instead of cutting it and wasting the half of the tree.
Its possible to air layer a cherry tree? ,when should I start the air layer? ,where to do it?

Its possible to air layer a cherry tree?

Yes.

when should I start the air layer?

In spring/early summer.

,where to do it?

Make it over the lowest branch. Then you can make a air layer below the lowest branch later and get two trees.

note that this is a grafted cherry. It might not do well on its own roots

Hansen wrote:

Then you can make a air layer below the lowest branch later and get two trees.

Yep... but you will have one cherry no longer grafted onto stronger rootstock and it may not do well. Probably, the airlayered tree therefore will not be very suitable for bonsai, as for bonsai, you need strong trees.

It's a myth that grafted trees don't do well on it's own roots because of 'strength'.

The main reason of grafting trees are simply to propogate as many trees as fast as possible. It have less to do with strength. Some people propogate by cuttings, some by air layer and some by grafts.

Hello and thank you for the answers!
I want to make a air layering of this tree and grow it as a garden tree and the remaining one as a bonsai.
I will make a garden tree and let it grow so I can air layering it again and make another bonsai from it.
Can I make the air layer in this point? (see picture)
If it succeed the lower part (future bonsai tree) it will grow leaves back and it will be ok or it will die back?

Hansen wrote:

It's a myth that grafted trees don't do well on it's own roots because of 'strength'..

Sure. Just look at japanese white pine and how well they do on they own roots. Or deshojo and seigen maple..
Of course there are several reasons for hrafting. But health of the desired cultivar is explicitly one of them, and absolutely no myth.

If you layer below the last bud you have a serious risk of the lower part dying off, which is why i itial suggestion was to do it right above the lowest branch

Sure. Just look at japanese white pine and how well they do on they own roots. Or deshojo and seigen maple..
Of course there are several reasons for hrafting. But health of the desired cultivar is explicitly one of them, and absolutely no myth.

Let's agree that we disagree. You got quiet in the baobab tree thread?

If you layer below the last bud you have a serious risk of the lower part dying off, which is why i itial suggestion was to do it right above the lowest branch

Wich were my first advice for OP.

So I have to leave more space for the lower part? should I make a airlayer in a upper point?
I am a little bit confused, is my tree weak? how can you say its grafted,how you can see that?
If I airlayer this tree it will die back? its better to just cut it and waste the half of the tree?

No, we are not saying your tree is weak. In fact, it looks like it had a healthy growing season. It is more that grafting plants onto rootstocks has a range of reasons, one of which is to ensue a robust rootsystem, which is capable of dealing with a wider range of soils, and is less prone to infections, in other words: To ensure strong healthy plants. There are however lots of reasons to graft. Have a look here if you want learn more:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting
www.nola.com/entertainment_life/home_gar...94-cb403dc237aa.html
www.hardyfruittrees.ca/tutorials/2014/01...-fruit-trees-grafted

In order for the roots to live, during the layering you will have to get some buds to sprout below the area that you are layering. Now if I look at the picture, I can identify a range of areas where buds COULD form (red lines). However, as they have not done so yet, I am uncertain whether it will. Which is why the suggestion made by Hansen originally to layer above the first branch. The blue line is where the plant was grafted. You see the chopmark? low chomarks with just one branch are a telltale sign. Then you look carefully and you see the bark above and below the chop are different: andother mark of grafting



Taking the upper part, the red lines are where you could consider layering. By making the upper cut at a slant, as shown, you can create a slanted rootbase, which will allow you to plant the layered tree at an angle, and your new trunkline could be the blue line.