Chop chop!

[Rateeluck]

Hello,

This is my first attempt at chopping. I'm hopeful things will back bud. All of these trees were started from 1/8" thick seedlings and forgotten about in 1 gallon or smaller nursery pots. The roots grew well out of the pots in deep in the ground.

These are probably around 10 years old now. Mostly tridents, a few Japanese maples, two hornbeams (I think 1 Korean and one I dug up that grew wild locally) and a dogwood. One pot I must've set on a brick and then became part of the tree... I'm hoping I can revive these and turn them into something despite my neglect and laziness.

Pay no mind to the 8 inch trunk on the dawn redwood. I had to cut it down after it got 25 feet tall. The stump is still pushing out buds so I'm trying to figure out how to dig it up while keeping alive.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

All more or less look "Fixable". By forgetting about them for 10 years, you got what most starting out in the hobby never get - Trunks. You got trunks!

I would be fairly aggressive removing older & excess roots as your repot. I would repot before these start growing. Or you can wait, but if you wait, its up to you. These will have all the vigor from the roots that ran loose in the ground. So repotting right away might be best. Also I would cut some of them significantly shorter.

All in all a nice haul.

 

[Rateeluck]

All more or less look "Fixable". By forgetting about them for 10 years, you got what most starting out in the hobby never get - Trunks. You got trunks!

I would be fairly aggressive removing older & excess roots as your repot. I would repot before these start growing. Or you can wait, but if you wait, its up to you. These will have all the vigor from the roots that ran loose in the ground. So repotting right away might be best. Also I would cut some of them significantly shorter.

All in all a nice haul.

Thanks Leo for the reply

I did trim back the rooms quite a bit. Probably 75% or more of the roots were reduced in most cases. In the stump picture, they are all repotted in new soil and pots. I was a bit nervous cutting so much of the roots back. I cut the Japanese maple stumps long so there was at least 1 branch left to feed the tree and then plan to cut back shorter later. The trident stumps do seem a bit long - is there a rule to how tall the first chop should be? I've read 1/3 of the planned finished height. I would like these to be a bit on the larger side when finished; 2 feet tall at least

Also, this pile of stumps has had some additions over the past couple of weeks. I'll try and post some updated pictures.

Thanks again and any other critiques or suggestions are appreciated

 

[sorce]

this pile of stumps has had some additions over the past couple of weeks.

Hopefully not in the form of new growth!
Cuz I think you might oughta chop em further.

Or not.

read 1/3 of the planned finished height

That's a good start for design.

But it really depends on how many segments you'll put on top of it, amongst other things.

For horticulture, I'd pick the "best" new lead to cut back to.

+50 health points beats +3 design points every day. Because that 47 extra health points allow you to faster create more beauty.

Sorce

 

[Rateeluck]

Sounds like 2 votes for chopping back further.

Is there a danger of not leaving any buds or branches?

These are the larger tridents I just dug up and added to the pile. And @sorce , by additions I meant more stumps not new growth



Japanese maple with branch. Buds are swelling


And a massive dawn redwood stump for good measure

 

[Rateeluck]

As I was chopping back further, one of the tridents had a dark spot in the very center of the tree rings. Does that mean the center is dying or indication of another problem?

Thanks

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I found that if I leave a single branch, I don't get very good back budding lower on the trunk. The single branch will exert apical dominance and then the rest of the tree is poor at back budding. Cut to zero branches, and you tend to get buds on all sides of the trunk.

At least that is my experience.

I am a big advocate of chopping lower. For a tree finishing at 24 inches, I would chop to somewhere between 3 and 8 inches tall, with 8 inches being my "maximum" height.

But it is up to you. Others have other opinions. Zack Smith always goes a bit taller. I go lower. It is a design preference, not an absolute rule.

 

[Rateeluck]

As I was chopping back further, one of the tridents had a dark spot in the very center of the tree rings. Does that mean the center is dying or indication of another problem?

Thanks

Here is the trident with the black center. Has some cut paste on it.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Looks perfectly normal. That is minor, not what I would consider "Pathogenic".

 

[Rateeluck]

Well, out of 25 or so stumps there's only one trident left that hasn't pushed out any buds. Still hopeful it will

 

[Rateeluck]

Well, every one of the stumps survived and pushed out lots of new growth. I wired the new shoots to allow more light and air.

Since I dug up and chopped this past February, should I trim off some of the shoots and pick only the strong ones? My thought is to let everything grow to replenish the tree until next spring.

Thanks

 

[Crawforde]

Looking good!
Fine application of one of the finest horticultural techniques. Benign Neglect.
I think current conditions are contributing to drop in the use of that tool, at least for me.

 

[Rateeluck]

Three year update. Some I've rechopped. Some got a second stage chop. Learned a lot with calluses and trying to heal over better ones. Sorry for pic quality. Thanks

 

[The Warm Canuck]

Thanks for the update! I always appreciate when people update an older progress thread. It looks like your patience is paying off!

Two questions:

1 - Did you consider replanting the trees in the ground after the initial chop and root work?
2 - You had asked previously about cutting below any visible buds? Did you end up doing it and if so, what was the result?

Cheers

 

[Rateeluck]

Heya, thanks for the reply

@The Warm Canuck

1- I did consider it. I did not have a place to do it and have since moved. About to move again to a location with room for ground planting. Hope to put lots of stuff in the ground to thicken them up faster and experiment

2- I did end up cutting lower after some initial chops. Have not had any casualties. Tridents and acers seem to be very hardy and have not had issue with backbudding. I did try for the first time thread grafting some branches, will see what happens there

3- Just realized these 3 year update pics were all tridents. Will try and post some of the acers. Some are looking decent

Thanks again

 

[Rateeluck]

Here are the acers from 3 years ago:

 

[Rateeluck]

Here's one trident from the group that I kept in a huge pot and keep pretty tall

 

[Joe_B]

What a nice project you have going here. Looks like a lot of fun!

 

[Rateeluck]

Here's one of 2 Korean hornbeams from the group. Has some inverse taper issues I'm dealing with but it's healthy

 

[The Warm Canuck]

Here's one of 2 Korean hornbeams from the group. Has some inverse taper issues I'm dealing with but it's healthy
View attachment 479499View attachment 479500View attachment 479501

Maybe cut it down to the first branch?