Field Grown Tree

Smoke

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Coming soon......
 

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Umeboshi

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What a tease. Is the full photo going to be a Christmas present?
 

Jason

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To a theater near you....It looks like a fat Trident.
 

Smoke

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OK....back now..

Thursday Dec. first, Fresno county has a record wind storm. Wind from the sierra's swoops in at over 150 miles an hour and finally reaches the valley with gusts up to 60 miles an hour. While this is nothing for some places in the USA, this is something for the central valley who sees maybe 5 miles an hour at most. with me being in the emergency business, lets just say that I been busy. I was on call the week following the storm and worked overtime every day since. I was in need of a break. I caught a break last weekend after the storm long enough to sell at the swapmeet and buy the maple tree. A guy there selling had a large trident and said he had more in the field. He would be having a grape dig at his house and that I should come out and see what he had.

I did. (for a while at least)

He took me to the area he had the tridents, A small modest area about 20x20 feet in area. In here he had twisted poms, elms, ume, pines and tridents. Mnay of you know treekutter as he posts here once and a while. This is the story of one of his trees he grew out.

I started by sizing up the one I chose. Pretty beefy and the largest of the group. He has a really nice one that he is developing for shohin, but it wasn't for sale. (I'll work on that, hehehe). The tree has a pretty large trunk, about 4 inches across at the base. The root spread I could see after uncovering it was about 6 inches across. The tree stood about 30 inches tall. I started by cutting it down to 20 inches.
 

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Smoke

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Lots of branches to remove.
 

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Smoke

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There are many scars already on this tree, and many of them are close to being closed. I will take a few seasons to close what I have done today. The tree has a lot of potential and I feel I can really do something great to bring out the best this tree has to offer.

It is about 4 inches across at the base and has a spread of roots at the soil line at 6 inches. The tree was about 30 inches before topping and after topping is 20 inches tall.

I started digging and found that the roots were very good. Steve had shovel cut the tree yearly and the tree had many fine roots close in. It also had some large roots that needed sawing or lopping with the pruner. Once I had the tree excavated, a quick saw cut across the tap root and it was free.
 

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Smoke

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The root pad was fairly thin, fitting easily in a pot only about 3 inches tall. Next season I will be able to cut it back even further and really thin it out. I left a lot of small branches on the tree to help it get ready for spring and the big push. I planted it into a cut down 10 gallon nursery can. It has a bag and a half of calidama and pumice and sand. The tree has some really nice views and it will be easy to pick a very good view from which to train the tree. Other side show great promise also. I will let it grow this season and try and figure out a front next year when I can really get after the roots better. This year its all about growth and rest.

I picked this up for $200.00, just so you all don't have to ask.


Oh and maybe I can also show you something else pretty cool.....anybody want to guess what that last picture is?
 

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Smoke

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Ok....so the end of the story...

Right in the middle of lunch, my phone rings and I get a call for an emergency cover up. It seems that a mans shingles had blown off his house the week before in the wind storm and rain is expected Mon. I tell everyone goodbye and go to work.


For the next several hours while I am working and everyone else is digging, I can think about what I might do with my new tree!

Have a good one, Al
 

Randy

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I picked this up for $200.00, just so you all don't have to ask.
Oh and maybe I can also show you something else pretty cool.....anybody want to guess what that last picture is?

Wow. Good stuff. Nice to know price. And the contraption...Ca. Hardpan crusher. I also wonder about the field growing process. You mentioned tap root, and root-cutting, which somewhat makes sense. Tap for strength with lateral roots for training? Maybe I read too far in there.
 

Smoke

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Yes, the infamous hard pan crusher. Steve has it at his house now and Glenn makes soil there.

Did you have a question about roots cause I did not understand what you wrote to well?
 

Randy

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I started digging and found that the roots were very good. Steve had shovel cut the tree yearly and the tree had many fine roots close in. It also had some large roots that needed sawing or lopping with the pruner. Once I had the tree excavated, a quick saw cut across the tap root and it was free.

My apologies. Was there an actual tap root or was there just roots which had grown downward that he had not been able to cut yearly. I find the whole process of field growing stock worth while and since I have time, patience, space and a lack of experience I am trying to find out as much as possible before I bury things.

The character displayed in this tree from the pictures in post 11 and 12 are really neat. Muscular and a bit grotesque. Its awesome.
 

Smoke

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Yes it had a very large tap root growing almost exactly in the center of the ball and it was about two inches across. I plan on showing all this stuff later in the week when we start playing with two tridents and how to develop each in the field. I will be asking Steve if I might come over and prune the tridents he has in the field for shape. I think now is the time to get them going in a more bonsai shape for selling later.

Steve had said he had shovel pruned these every year, but the tap root in the middle would have never seen the blade of a shovel with where it was. The lateral rootage was about the size it should be for a tree this size, but cutting them back is a no brainer, this tree does not need any of the large lateral roots it had to keep growing. these large roots sre for anchorage and are not feeding the tree like all the feeder roots are.

Stay tuned for more on growing in the field as I explain about two types of trees and how to develop them best for bonsai.


I find that the older I get, the grotesque really starts to look beautiful!
 
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Dav4

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For the next several hours while I am working and everyone else is digging, I can think about what I might do with my new tree!

Have a good one, Al
Just don't cut any of you fingers off or nail yourself to his house...being that distracted while using power tools can be dangerous:p. This tree will be a good one, Al.
 
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tmmason10

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This tree has some great character Al. Impressive size, looking forward o your working posts on this.
 

treekutter

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Nice thread A!l I lok foward to what you do with the tree. Thanks again. I will have you come out to help prune.
 
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