Quercus agrifolia clean up

BrianBay9 · Apr 27, 2019

I bought this coast live oak from another club member last spring. The top had died back and it ruined his vision for the tree so he sold it to me. My first goal was to make sure it was happy and healthy given the die back issue. I repotted it and fertilized the heck out of it. Mission accomplished on that. That's all growth this spring.

BrianBay9 · Apr 27, 2019

It needed significant clean up to even see the trunk. The discoloration at the base is from removal of moss. This is my chosen front, overall look so far, and the pile heading to the compost pile.

BrianBay9 · Apr 27, 2019

With a little wire here and there....Hopefully it's done with the die back and on its way.

Bonsai Nut · Apr 27, 2019

They'll die back like that if you prune them too hard in the late summer / fall. Same thing with cork oaks. Good news is they'll spring right back as long as you only do your pruning while they are actively growing.

And nuke them with acid fertilizer. They require acidic soil as much if not more than azaleas.

If you like oaks, you should see if you can get your hands on a Valley Oak. I've got three of them right now and it is the only deciduous oak I can keep in SoCal. They are the largest oaks in north America... and I believe them to be the strongest growing things in my bonsai garden. I have already defoliated them twice this spring.

n8 · Apr 27, 2019

Looking good, @BrianBay9.

Bonsai Nut said:
Valley Oak

I dig up saplings out of my backyard every spring, grown from acorns left behind by squirrels and woodpeckers. They're abundant where I live and we have magnificent full-size trees throughout the valley, as well as Blue Oak. Easily my favorite local trees. The site of the Hooker Oak is a five-minute bike ride from my place: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooker_Oak

I have my eye on a couple excellent specimens on a friend's property, but I've had problems establishing them in nursery pots. They don't like to be dug up so I'm wary of trying to transplant older trees without some more practice. They like that tap root. One of these days...

Thanks for the acid tip! I have a nice cork bark I received as payment for helping one of the local club guys with some yard work. Trying to figure out a plan before starting a progression thread.

BrianBay9 · Apr 27, 2019

I've got a couple of very young valley oaks (Q lobata). One died on me after root pruning. The others dropped all their leaves, but budded back out. I'm trying ground layering on a couple of the young ones to see if they respond better to that than reducing the tap root. Anyone else tried ground layering a valley oak?

Bonsai Nut · Apr 27, 2019

BrianBay9 said:
I've got a couple of very young valley oaks (Q lobata). One died on me after root pruning. The others dropped all their leaves, but budded back out. I'm trying ground layering on a couple of the young ones to see if they respond better to that than reducing the tap root. Anyone else tried ground layering a valley oak?

I have not. To be honest, when I bought them two years ago I was a little skeptical about whether they were going to survive down here. I got them from a seller at Bonsaiathon 2017 who was from central California in the foothills. She swore they would live in SoCal... and she was right! The leaves reduce extremely well and they have made it through two winters now without batting an eye at our lack of hard freezing temps.

BrianBay9 · Apr 27, 2019

Bonsai Nut said:
I have not. To be honest, when I bought them two years ago I was a little skeptical about whether they were going to survive down here. I got them from a seller at Bonsaiathon 2017 who was from central California in the foothills. She swore they would live in SoCal... and she was right! The leaves reduce extremely well and they have made it through two winters now without batting an eye at our lack of hard freezing temps.

Well I'll let you know about the ground layering by the end of the summer.

Potawatomi13 · Apr 28, 2019

BrianBay9 said:
I bought this coast live oak from another club member last spring. The top had died back and it ruined his vision for the tree so he sold it to me. My first goal was to make sure it was happy and healthy given the die back issue. I repotted it and fertilized the heck out of it. Mission accomplished on that. That's all growth this spring.

EXCELLENT trunk/dead wood. Great deal you got

!

Colorado · Apr 28, 2019

@bonsainut do the Valley Oaks also love acid? Just got one in the mail from Evergreen Gardenworks

John P. · Apr 28, 2019

BrianBay9 said:
Well I'll let you know about the ground layering by the end of the summer.

These are 2-3 year-old coast oaks with bonsai wire tourniquets ...

BrianBay9 · Apr 28, 2019

John P. said:
These are 2-3 year-old coast oaks with bonsai wire tourniquets ...

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Looking good! You give me hope.

John P. · Apr 28, 2019

BrianBay9 said:
Looking good! You give me hope.

Thanks. I’m going to be pretty nervous when it comes time to trim the vertical roots.

Colorado · Apr 28, 2019

John P. said:
Thanks. I’m going to be pretty nervous when it comes time to trim the vertical roots.

So all you used was just a wire around the trunk? I was contemplating doing some through holes in a tile or board but your method sounds much easier and the results look great...

John P. · Apr 28, 2019

Colorado said:
So all you used was just a wire around the trunk? I was contemplating doing some through holes in a tile or board but your method sounds much easier and the results look great...

Yep, just use some large bonsai wire and twist it tight around the stem/trunk. As the tree grows and the trunk thickens, it’ll swell above the wire and start throwing roots laterally. I don’t recall if I used rooting gel on these.

You can see the black aluminum wire here:

Colorado · Apr 28, 2019

Thanks!

Quercus agrifolia clean up

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