Collected Sugar Hackberry Celtis laevigata

[Chuah]

I collected this sugar hackberry (Celtis laevigata) at a friend's land two years ago. It has a very nice movement near the base. I made a 45 degrees angle chop to the main trunk about 20" from the base, you can see where the big chop is in the photo; planted it in the ground to develop a new apex with gradual taper, again through selective chopping. Dug out and potted it recently, and cut back unwanted branches. Hopefully new lower branches will emerge at the right places. New height: 26", trunk width about 5". Will start developing new branches. Should become a beautiful tree in may be 6-8 years.

 

[jeremy_norbury]

I'd put it in the ground to regain vigor.

 

[markyscott]

Chuah - has this tree been growing in the ground since you collected it, two years ago?

Scott

 

[Chuah]

Scott,
Yes, the collected trees which had been cut down to just a stump, was planted in the ground for two years. I selected one of the new shoots near the first big chop, let it grew for a year uninhibited; chopped it back and grew a new leader again to develop the main trunk structure with taper and movement. The first photo is the collected tree after two years in the ground, just before transferring to the pot. The second photo is after potting. The third photo is after removing the unwanted branches to establish the main trunk line, now the tree is ready for developing side branches over the next few years.

Hoe

Chuah - has this tree been growing in the ground since you collected it, two years ago?

Scott

es

 

[Chuah]

I'd put it in the ground to regain vigor.

Thanks. It was grown in the ground for two years, just dug it out and put in a training pot.
Visited your flcikr site, love your beautiful bonsai.

 

[markyscott]

Hoe -

Curious about your original chop. Can't see the cut in the pictures. Has it healed ?

Scott

 

[Chuah]

Hoe -

Curious about your original chop. Can't see the cut in the pictures. Has it healed ?

Scott

Scott,
Attached are photos of the first and second chops. The first chop wound was about 4"x3", you can see the oblique heal mark in the first photo. It healed quite well at the base of the new leader as all the energy went there, but not at the bottom part of the chop. I need to develop a branch there to help it heal better, The third photo is the second chop, somewhat out of focus. Overall, the top one third of the tree came from new growth growing the collected tree in the ground. The green smooth bark is quite distinct from the rest of the tree. Sugar hackberry grows very fast in Houston like a weed.

I did not prepare a square wooden box for training, had to use a regular rectangular pot, so the planting angle is somewhat off. I did slice off the bark in several areas near the base, dusted with rooting hormone to grow new roots, hopefully they come out close to the trunk base. They were covered with sphagnum moss with white screens on top, and pinned down. Should have done that while it was still in the ground. Hopefully with new closer new roots, I can repot next year into a more appropriate size pot.
Hoe

 

[markyscott]

Quite nice Hoe. I haven't tried one of these before, but it's on my list now.

Scott

 

[Tieball]

Nice work on the chop cut to get good healing. Did you carve in the edges? I'm not sure how to describe other than did you carve a channel all around the edge? ... So the healing rolls in and down slightly at first so the edges aren't so puffed up right away.

Did you carve in deeply to achieve the smoother finish? It sort of looks that way in one photo. However, in another photo the carve seems more rounded outside and not deeper inside.

Any success or experience thoughts to share?