Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Don’t know if I can get the OK to collect. Will be tough to collect being so big but it is a killer multi trunk with 4 fused trunk 28” base. It is about 27 ft tall.
Killer find in the dried out swamp
- Thread starter Cajunrider
- Start date
jradics
Mame
didn't you say you were moving next year?
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Yeah but imagine showing this some day at a bonsai convention around the PA area.
namnhi
Masterpiece
Hi Uncle,
Backache just looking at it. It looks very nice the way it is. An instant bonsai if one can find the pot, willing to dig and have a truck big enough to haul it home.
Backache just looking at it. It looks very nice the way it is. An instant bonsai if one can find the pot, willing to dig and have a truck big enough to haul it home.
BobbyLane
Imperial Masterpiece
Yeh it's a beast! 
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Pot I can find or make, I am willing to dig, and I have a big enough truck
. Now I might have to rig up something to move it around!!If I can't do this then the crawfish and the gators will get to enjoy this beautiful tree.
Believe it or not my friend has named a road in this reserve after me and this tree is in the swamp alongside my road.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Wait. I typed that from my cell phone. It is 17 ft not 27 ft. If you look at the trunk at 28" base the tree is 17 ft. That's why it looks like an instant bonsai with good taper on the trunks. Thanks for pointing that out.Definitely not 27ft tall
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Last edited:
Get yourself a mate or two to help dig it out and wrap the root ball into some wrapping film for the trip home. I wouldn't even consider handling it on my own. And definitely try transporting it upright if you have a truck bed large enough. If you're willing to dig and make a pot for it you should be fine rigging some DIY scaffold to keep it stable.
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
Agrees. Because to kill that would be a crying shame. It so deserves respect.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Yes yes yes! I never want any tree to die much much less that. If I cannot assure survival, I would leave it be and visit it once in a while to admire it.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Of course, even if I get the OK, I will not attempt to dig the tree until at least January or February 2024. I will wait until the tree is ready to bud out.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Sometimes your eyes are bigger than your stomach. It's pretty good but worth the effort and future expense? It is a very B-I-G tree.
As noted it will require a huge container and if you're going to show it down the road, a concrete homemade pot prolly ain't gonna get the job done. Overwintering it in PA? That's going to be interesting. Hope you have a big garage and some strong sons/cousins/relatives to help move it around twice a year or more if you're doing the bonsai two step to get it out of late March/April freezes and frosts. God forbid we get late freezes in April as the thing is budding out. Winters are getting trickier to handle up this way. Not as straightforward as they used to be. I've already lost some very nice BC to unpredictable weather in the last few years. Didn't have a problem before that for two decades. just sayin. Think hard...
FWIW, I don't think getting it out alive is a real issue. Same as relatively smaller trees.
pandacular
Masterpiece
easy just take the Mirai approach and build a structure around it!
Winter is not a problem. I have two in the ground they have had -20 / -25C. They bud out very late here, this year bud swell was May 1st bud break May 15, last frost snow warning has always been and still is May 24th. A tent like tarp will keep the frost off. I'd say go for it!
Paradox
Marine Bonsologist
We have BC growing in the ground up here for decades so I dont think winter is a problem.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
In the ground is VERY different than in a container. I've had BC killed in containers by late freezes when they were budding (buds had not even elongated) in April. They were protected under mulch as I've protected BC for 25 years. One was under a tarp. The late freeze killed the tree to the ground. The roots were OK though, the tops were toast.
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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So... I collected a wonderful baldie with a 14" base at the soil line... was probably close to 70 " tall after being developed into a nice flat top. It was eventually potted in a 26" wide stoneware Chinese pot, probably weighing 30 pounds empty, that set me back close to $300. My 6' 6" son and I could move it together with some difficulty as the soil filled pot/tree combo probably weighed close to 100 # and was very awkward to lift (I'm 6' 2" when I stand up straight and still physically able to lift/move some serious weight for an old guy, but I digress 
) . Anyway, when I found out that I was moving up north, I didn't hesitate to part ways with the tree. I loved it as much as any of my trees but saw the writing on the wall... too heavy, too big... a heart attack and a hernia waiting to happen. Your tree is beautiful, stunning, massively impressive... but will likely weigh over 300# when potted up. The pot alone may be too heavy to move empty and will require trash cans of soil to fill adequately, and I couldn't imagine the headaches sourcing and paying for such a pot big enough to fit it. Anyway, I'll be rooting for if you go for it but hope you really understand the obstacles you'll face. Good luck!
Fwiw, I've seen baldies planted along the Chicago lakeshore... usda zone 5 and windy!!! Their winter hardiness is exceptional in the ground and the Philly area is much more mild being on the coast in southern PA. Still, a particularly vigorous arctic front could easily send temps into the single digits there and I'd want the roots to be adequately protected from that kind of cold.
) . Anyway, when I found out that I was moving up north, I didn't hesitate to part ways with the tree. I loved it as much as any of my trees but saw the writing on the wall... too heavy, too big... a heart attack and a hernia waiting to happen. Your tree is beautiful, stunning, massively impressive... but will likely weigh over 300# when potted up. The pot alone may be too heavy to move empty and will require trash cans of soil to fill adequately, and I couldn't imagine the headaches sourcing and paying for such a pot big enough to fit it. Anyway, I'll be rooting for if you go for it but hope you really understand the obstacles you'll face. Good luck!Fwiw, I've seen baldies planted along the Chicago lakeshore... usda zone 5 and windy!!! Their winter hardiness is exceptional in the ground and the Philly area is much more mild being on the coast in southern PA. Still, a particularly vigorous arctic front could easily send temps into the single digits there and I'd want the roots to be adequately protected from that kind of cold.
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