An oak on a rock

[Sno]

This is a Quercus robur , in Australia we call them English Oak . It’s coming to the end of winter here so I just ‘defoliated’ the winter leaves . I’ll wire it this week and in the spring I want to check on the roots . I’m working on the nebari it was quite gappy so I packed the hollows with clay and spagmum moss . I’ve been rewarded with new roots which in time hopefully will fix the problem .
Cheers Sno

 

[just.wing.it]

Nice oak!
Call me a traditionalist, but I think I'd like to see it in a Pot of sorts....

 

[rockm]

Very nice oak. I also think a pot would do it better justice. The granite chunk it is on doesn't do it justice and is probably not helping with flattening out the nebari.

 

[penumbra]

Very nice oak. I also think a pot would do it better justice. The granite chunk it is on doesn't do it justice and is probably not helping with flattening out the nebari.

I love bonsai on flat rocks but this one not so much. Love the bonsai but not the rock.

 

[Igor. T. Ljubek]

Nice oak. Just wondering how this species can survive in Australia? This typical European species likes a bit colder winters, with dormant period. I'm not sure if there is a part in Australia where winters are cold enough or do you have a period with dormancy? Where temperatures don't rise much above 5C/41F ...

 

[Sno]

The rock does look a bit heavy in photos .its a bit hard to see but it has an undercut which in real life makes it less chunky . Plus here in the mountains they are lying around all over the place . If I ever find a pot that suits it will find a new home .


Here is an earlier photo maybe 5 years ago showing the ‘gap’ .

Hi Igor . Australia has mountains with snow , winters where I am get down to -10 c . My problem is I live at altitude (about 1200m ) and I get summer frosts one day after a 30 c the day before . This was last week . More snow predicted tomorrow .

 

[penumbra]

Please understand that I mean this constructively and it is only my opinion. The rock looks too sharp and angular for my taste. When I see a bonsai rock planting I like a weathered rock that reflects a weathered tree. Also, while the rock color goes well with the tree color, it does not go well with the moss. Moss looks great on an old weathered rock slab but does not look natural on a stone that looks quarried, whether it is or not.
On the other hand, I think you have done a brilliant job that surpasses any of my endeavors.

 

[Sno]

No worries penumbra , each to there own . I hadn’t really thought about it but this rock was created by fire and ice .we had a major bushfire here 10 or so years ago and this was blasted off a much larger rock during the fire storm that came through . Thanks

 

[rockm]

The rock does look a bit heavy in photos .its a bit hard to see but it has an undercut which in real life makes it less chunky . Plus here in the mountains they are lying around all over the place . If I ever find a pot that suits it will find a new home .
View attachment 259558

Here is an earlier photo maybe 5 years ago showing the ‘gap’ .View attachment 259560

Hi Igor . Australia has mountains with snow , winters where I am get down to -10 c . My problem is I live at altitude (about 1200m ) and I get summer frosts one day after a 30 c the day before . This was last week . More snow predicted tomorrow .View attachment 259561

I think the rock's "message" conflicts with the tree's. The rock says "alpine" and spreading oaks are not really found on mountainsides--at least not in the mountains around here. Hardwood forests on mountainsides here tend to grow tall vertical oaks that get smashed and broken by wind and snow. Spreading oaks are typically found in lowland meadows, that aren't exposed to such harsh conditions. The profile of the rock if you're set on using on, would be more effective if it were a lot flatter and thinner to suggest a lowland field. I've modeled this boxwood after oaks I've seen in the Blue Ridge mountains above 4,000', where the elements break them pretty regularly

 

[Potawatomi13]

I Like this tree. As general rule not much of a fan on "potless" planting but not going to gripe as some are. Is YOUR tree .

 

[Sno]

Hi rockm . Nice oak , I really like that base .
Oaks aren’t native to Australia but the oldish oaks that I have seen here ( over 150 years ) have the outreaching branches . Where I live Eucalyptus is the predominant tree , they vary on the growth habits depending on variety .
This tree originally and maybe still one day maybe was going to be part of a forest . I was given some left over trees from a mate that was starting a ‘ truffery ‘ near me . My idea at the time was to have several rocks with trees that could kind of ‘slot ‘ together or be individual in the own right . This tree was to be the matriarch on the hill above the others . (Yeah I know it sounds a bit bullshitery but when you have a lot of trees you can experiment a bit .)
This tree has developed better (besides that base ) than the other trees some of which have gone into the ground to girth up more . Here is a couple of photos of one of the other rocks .

As you can see needs time . There was going to be to be three lower rocks at the time each with seven oaks (yeah I know more bullshitery .)
I’m going to leave it on this rock for the time being partly because its easy to hold down those branches , every time I remove the hold down wires they want to spring back up .
I really appreciate your insights .
Cheers

 

[Shibui]

Nice oak. Just wondering how this species can survive in Australia? This typical European species likes a bit colder winters, with dormant period. I'm not sure if there is a part in Australia where winters are cold enough or do you have a period with dormancy? Where temperatures don't rise much above 5C/41F ...

Oaks, and many other cooler climate trees, are quite happy in slightly warmer environments. My town has English oaks as street trees. Most over 100 years old and quite large now. We get frost but snow down this low is rare. Winter nights a few deg below freezing but daytime temps usually above 10C with plenty of sunny winter days. The same oaks grow happily in even warmer areas than here. I'm not sure if they are tuned in to temperature or day length for their cues for dormancy

 

[jonathanvperth]

It’s a nice tree

 

[rockm]

Hi rockm . Nice oak , I really like that base .
Oaks aren’t native to Australia but the oldish oaks that I have seen here ( over 150 years ) have the outreaching branches . Where I live Eucalyptus is the predominant tree , they vary on the growth habits depending on variety .
This tree originally and maybe still one day maybe was going to be part of a forest . I was given some left over trees from a mate that was starting a ‘ truffery ‘ near me . My idea at the time was to have several rocks with trees that could kind of ‘slot ‘ together or be individual in the own right . This tree was to be the matriarch on the hill above the others . (Yeah I know it sounds a bit bullshitery but when you have a lot of trees you can experiment a bit .)
This tree has developed better (besides that base ) than the other trees some of which have gone into the ground to girth up more . Here is a couple of photos of one of the other rocks . View attachment 259726View attachment 259728

As you can see needs time . There was going to be to be three lower rocks at the time each with seven oaks (yeah I know more bullshitery .)
I’m going to leave it on this rock for the time being partly because its easy to hold down those branches , every time I remove the hold down wires they want to spring back up .
I really appreciate your insights .
Cheers

These are nicely done and developing well. I think the other oak should be kept on its own. It is too nice to be competing for attention...;-)

FWIW, the photo I posted in of a Boxwood designed to look like an oak. Boxwood is great to get "oak" images. I do have two North American native oak bonsai, though. First photo below is of a Kingsville boxwood made into a "southern live oak" image. The following two photos are of a live oak (quercus fusiformis) and a grey oak (quercus grisea). The live oak was collected in Texas and the grey oak was dug in New Mexico. North America has the most oak species worldwide. We have over two dozen native species.