Big Ol' Strobus

[mc4mc44]

It came from open clay, so we just put it back in the ground. Decent root ball, it didn't have a taproot. Sorry about all the eyesores, the stakes keep it still no matter how windy it gets, and the fencing keeps me from getting the entire tree in frame. The fence is needed because this tree got it's own separate grow area, so it keeps the deer and me from messing with it. So, it's a terrible picture. Sorry. I found it 3 years ago. Got the rocks out from around it only to find open gravely clay around the trunk last year, It finally came out last friday. 2 1/2 feet tall, 6 in trunk.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Nice! The bark is more mature than most landscape strobus I see. Maybe it would pay to work in some gypsum in order to start busting up the clay. Hard to tell from the limited angles, but are you going to remove the hook of the candy cane In favor if the more dramatic angle for the top? If so, so remove it in very small sections to preserve as much of that live bark as possible.

 

[mc4mc44]

Nice! The bark is more mature than most landscape strobus I see. Maybe it would pay to work in some gypsum in order to start busting up the clay. Hard to tell from the limited angles, but are you going to remove the hook of the candy cane In favor if the more dramatic angle for the top? If so, so remove it in very small sections to preserve as much of that live bark as possible.

The rootball was loosened well before we put it in the ground, not to much clay was left. I'll attempt to take better pictures tomorrow, but the hook is actually three huge branches. One has bark the whole way out. When i get the whole thing in a picture tomorrow you'll see whats there. Eastern white pines like this just don't exist, i want to keep every inch of that bark. It really all depends on if it lives though. That lack of a tap-root gives me hope, usually when you cut a taproot that's about 50% of the roots right there, but without one i'm confident in it's survival. I thought planting in the ground was the best thing i could have done for this specific tree, but i hope that isn't this trees downfall.

Heres another picture i took of it today, the fence is in the way, but it's a slightly different angle.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Picking out the new trunk line/ branch selection can be the trickiest part. Some trees just tell you which way they want to go, but most have some tricky decisions involved. It can be easy to pick one slightly preferable redundant branch over another, but if it is not working toward the final design then it is still worse than counter productive. But, if there are a couple choises that are neck and neck for the final design, sometimes removing a couple completely unworkable branches can help make the best descision more apparent.

 

[mc4mc44]

Picking out the new trunk line/ branch selection can be the trickiest part. Some trees just tell you which way they want to go, but most have some tricky decisions involved. It can be easy to pick one slightly preferable redundant branch over another, but if it is not working toward the final design then it is still worse than counter productive. But, if there are a couple choises that are neck and neck for the final design, sometimes removing a couple completely unworkable branches can help make the best descision more apparent.

When it comes to design this tree is options on top of options. I'm not removing anything for a little while though. I cut off only dead branches before it came out of the ground. Everything else is staying there until it's safe to be messed with.

For those with real collection experience, on a tree like this, is it best to leave every branch, or cut some off to even the stress on the root system?

 

[mc4mc44]

Some better pictures