Five Year Native Tree Challenge: Gabler's Pin Oak

Gabler

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As you can see, this tree has been growing vigorously this spring.

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Here's another photo from just over a week ago.

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Gabler

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I want to thicken the primary branches more and heal over the first major chop ...

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... but pin oaks are more apically dominant than any other deciduous species I'm aware of. The upper branches quickly shaded out the lower shoots, and they never leafed out this spring.

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Gabler

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I wanted to promote back-budding, so I let the tree grow this spring until the third flush of growth hardened off, and then I chopped it back. Hopefully, I'll see some buds open where those lower branches died. I know it will slow my progress in thickening the upper primary branches, but I hope that in the long run, this will prove to have been the best option in developing this material into the best possible tree. I don't know how "finished" this tree will be when the five year challenge is up, but we'll see what we get.

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Gabler

Masterpiece
Messages
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Location
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USDA Zone
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It was time to move the tree into a native pot. Percolation was poor last summer, so I suspected it was starting to get rootbound.

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Indeed it was.

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It has a nice, even spread of roots, but some had grown much thicker than others. I chopped back the thicker ones a bit harder than the thinner ones.

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When I potted it up, I covered the nebari with sphagnum moss to encourage the thinner roots to grow more.

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The pot I chose was made by a fellow Brandywine Bonsai Society member, Steve Ittel. To my knowledge, he's the only bonsai potter in Delaware.
 

KateM

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It was time to move the tree into a native pot. Percolation was poor last summer, so I suspected it was starting to get rootbound.

View attachment 532582

Indeed it was.

View attachment 532583

It has a nice, even spread of roots, but some had grown much thicker than others. I chopped back the thicker ones a bit harder than the thinner ones.

View attachment 532584

When I potted it up, I covered the nebari with sphagnum moss to encourage the thinner roots to grow more.

View attachment 532585

The pot I chose was made by a fellow Brandywine Bonsai Society member, Steve Ittel. To my knowledge, he's the only bonsai potter in Delaware.
Wow, and he's gorgeous his own Wiki page though not for pottery. 🙂
 
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