Five Year Native Tree Challenge: Esolin's Coast Live Oak #2

[Esolin]

The 3-legged donkey enters the race! Haha, this oak has been in this pot for years. The trunk was damaged by a bout of white flux about three years ago and has since recovered. If I'd been thinking 'bonsai' I wouldn't have let it develop that awful inverse taper, but at the time I figured I'd let it grow however it wanted in case the top died from the infection.



I have no idea what I'm going to do with this ugly thing, but since I don't want it as a 'yard tree' and I'm starting to question why I even keep it around, it's best hope of long term survival in my garden is if it becomes a bonsai. I'll give it a shot, and if I kill it trying something drastic like air layering at the ground, then oh well.

First question is, which branch do I keep, and which do I cut flush? Hmmm...

 

[Esolin]

Ooooh. Yeah, that happened. Sorry tree. But you know, I now have an idea of where to take this.

 

[Esolin]

If I can pull it off, maybe, just maybe I can get silk out of this sow's ear. The plan:

 

[Esolin]

It's alive!!!

Well, I mean, I knew it was, but I wasn't sure if it would sulk for a season or put out a good selection of buds. Now, to get them to turn 90 degrees and curve around the trunk. Hrrmmmm....

 

[Stella]

I love your plan. this will become such an impressive tree if you can pull it off. will be following your tread

 

[Esolin]

I love your plan. this will become such an impressive tree if you can pull it off. will be following your tread

Thank you! I'll post another update soon. It's pushing some strong Spring growth that I'm currently trying to direct. I think the toughest aspect of this tree will be root work. I dug down a little to see, and there are a few that'll need removing if I'm going to tip the tree at that 45 degree angle and have it look good.

 

[olympics]

This is really good inspiration! I’ve been meaning to grab a nursery oak

 

[Esolin]

It's been a crazy couple of months for me and I haven't had much time for Spring wiring, but I found enough to get this tree started in the right direction. I think.

Today I tipped it sideways for better visuals while adjusting the wires. Because it was pushing such strong growth on the main trunk, I went ahead and chopped the last original side branch down a couple weeks ago. (I didn't want the new growth there to lag behind the rest in building girth.) Right now the main trouble is apical dominance. I want the lower branches to be the thickest, so I'm frequently pruning the strong leaders at the top to rebalance energy.

Before today's work:


And after:


The wire work is terrible, but it'll only be on for a few weeks before readjustment is needed again. There are also still too many branches, but I'm waiting to decide if I want to keep the front or back growth. Better too many options than too few.

 

[Esolin]

This one is still going strong, and I've been trying to decide which branches to remove, since it should probably be done sooner than later to avoid too much trunk swelling and redirect energy to the branches I want.



I played with a photoshop mockup this morning and think I've decided:

 

[Esolin]

I made a snap decision and repotted this beast yesterday. I hadn't intended to be quite so aggressive with the root reduction on this pass, but I wasn't able to reuse the 5 gal pot it was in, and there were a lot of small feeder roots, so I just went for it. Yes, that's a wash tub. It was all I had that fit in a pinch. The rock is holding down a root that wanted to pop up. Fingers crossed that the tree recovers. Keeping it warm and shaded for the rest of the month. I'll get better pictures next time.

 

[19Mateo83]

I like the rock in there with it

 

[Esolin]

I like the rock in there with it

It does help balance the current composition, lol.

 

[Esolin]

The drastic root reduction did shock this tree. It dropped all it's leaves and had some die-back, but all in all, very minor. It has recovered well and finished pushing Spring growth, so time for a haircut to encourage more ramification.

Before:


After: (I erased some shadows to better show the shape.)


I'm still need to reduce the number of branches, but I'm not in a rush. I want the tree to keep it's strength up for now.

 

[Esolin]

Update time. This tree was already pushing spring buds, so I repotted it yesterday. I reduced the large roots to better center it in the pot and cleaned the dead field soil out of the shin. Fingers crossed that I did a good job and the tree grows new healthy roots there. Since this tree's had two consecutive years of root work, I intend to let the top run this year as much as I can so it regains vigor. I'm very hopeful for this tree. If any of mine look good by the end of the contest, it'll probably be this one.

 

[Zelrod]

Impressive work for such a challenging tri-trunk starter material!

 

[Esolin]

Quick update. The tree is fine but hasn't grown much since the second, harsher repot. It's been sulking. I've also realized that a lot of my ramification needs to be restarted, as the primary branches were left too long for the sumo-ish look I'm going for. That will set it's development back some, but I'm leaving it alone for now. I don't have time to mess with it right now anyway. I've just moved and have zero time for gardening, so all my trees are in 'survival only' mode. I'll reassess in the Spring.

 

[Esolin]

This tree was looking pretty ratty through the winter. Lots of fungal leaf browning and dropping, and I was worried I'd pushed it too hard. But Spring is here, and the tree has popped with lots of healthy new growth. I'm going to let it run and build up an energy positive for most of the year, so it has strength for one more repot next Spring.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Patience! Oaks not Maples . Waiting at least 2 years for repots much better idea than killing tree with so much hurry hurry.

 

[Gabler]

Patience! Oaks not Maples . Waiting at least 2 years for repots much better idea than killing tree with so much hurry hurry.

This is the Five Year Native Tree Challenge. It's partly about testing the limits of trees to see just how much they can handle.

 

[Esolin]

Buds finally started to pop on this guy, so Repot Time!


I've heard oaks like DEEP pots, but it seems like most US pot makers don't make deep pots except for cascades. I ran out of time to commission a deep rectangle pot, so square cascade pot it was. When this came, I was afraid it was too big, but it actually barely fit the tree's old root ball.


I had to trim another inch off the old root ball to fit it in the pot, exposing some healthy tissue in the process. Hopefully this compartmentalizes well and is not detrimental to its health this year.


New digs! Aesthetically, it's not the best pot of this piece, but it's far better than a rotting plastic wash basin!