Ugly trees.

We all got them.
Don't lie.
I have a few.
Put pictures of them here.
I'll start.
An American elm.
It was collected 4 years ago.
Then I airlayered the bottom 4 inches off last year.
The voles even avoided this one. Before cut backs. The pics are even in reverse order.

Corkbark black pine, so ugly I can't stand close enough to pull the moss off it:


Chinese Quince in a decent pot, the epitome of lipstick on a pig:

O wow! This is where I really excel.

This pine....


A squirrel ravaged trident.


San Jose


Camperdown elm


The ugly elm


top heavy, overpotted pine

And now this... An experiment in changing a form from Pine tree style to oak tree style. How many years will that take???? Cork bark elm.

My eastern white pine.
A real beauty!

A little mugo.

Oh I got UGLY! So ugly I will take its clothes off so to speak with why I find it ugly with closer or better angles of the "UG"!
My one sided roots Virginia Creeper...sometimes I ask myself why I even keep it. If I ever had to thin my collection this would be one of the first to go.




I wanted a pyracantha...can't get them around me. Wanted something with character. The roots are a mess...but sort of pulls it off. But no beauty contest it would ever win.


The messed up base...that is rolling to the beat of its own drum. I would rather have this...than boring though. But not pretty.


Can't get any uglier than this right now...the Tamarix that died back from arctic cold in my landscape. Only has one live vein running up the trunk.


It's just...soooo...raw....undeveloped.


Forgot to touch on the Amur Maple...photos explain why it hits this list. It only has one live main branch.


The stub of the dead branch makes a great anchor. Potted in the only thing those roots would fit into. *Need more pots!

I myself am a collector of ugly trees, so you can send them to me!

Great thread. I'll have to go take pictures of my whole collection if the rain ever stops

M. Frary said:

A little mugo.View attachment 145616

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OK...you win!

There's a lot of "humble bragging" going on here
Those trees aren't ALL bad....well, except for Mike's pine:

It's all relative, I suppose, to the remainder of your collection and your standards.
CW

CWTurner said:

There's a lot of "humble bragging" going on here
Those trees aren't ALL bad....well, except for Mike's pine:
View attachment 145663
It's all relative, I suppose, to the remainder of your collection and your standards.
CW

Click to expand...

I suppose standards and collection gets better with the miles out on ones journey so that does play into it...but, I must say...sometimes I wonder what Jim may have thought on the base of that pyracantha. We had many hours on hot mess of root business. The maple...roots are all on the right side. So a slant to a degree to hide the lack of root issues. I may bring that slant up more less sharp. Sergio did me a vert that...maybe one day...even with its faults it may turn into something. But it's sat low on a bench almost on the ground on the back patio. Making it less in the face obvious one branch is where the foliage come from. But...the trunk doesn't show a thriving tree. So I keep telling myself at the end of the day...it will have told its story when all said and done. The creeper...come winter...I shake my head and wonder why I still have it. Then spring rolls around and it weeps...and, I sort of like it. But...it has issues. Again...it could easily be the first to go if I thin my collection at some point. That I do know.

What would be cool...is an update of these trees say...in a few years. To see if they grow out of their ugly duckling stage...or stay butt ugly. The Virginia creeper...doesn't stand a chance. I agree with you...they aren't a total loss...just need some refining.

Lol, great thread, but some of you aren't really trying! I'd buy some of these from you if you don't like them.

Others are excelling

Japanese blueberry.

M. Frary said:

View attachment 145615 My eastern white pine.
A real beauty!

Click to expand...

Wired up and everything! Curious why you didn't go with copper on that pine.

quietobserver said:

Wired up and everything! Curious why you didn't go with copper on that pine.

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Cause I'm a rebel.

Nothing but potential and character I see in these trees. Nothing ugly.

Smoke said:

OK...you win!

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Don't know if that's good or bad.

Oooo, I got this one!!!

I didn't think hemlock could be ugly. Well...