Home Depot live oak

[Dwight]

Our local Home Depot has a bunch of 15 gal eastern live oaks they are selling for under $20. They look just like the live oaks I have in my back yard so I imagine they would do OK here ( not always true of the stuff our local box stores sell ). The problem is their trunks are bare for about 4". You can see the scars where they have been pruned. My questuin is how can I shorten this trunk to a more resonable 12" or so. I know a lot of D-trees can be trunk chopped and regrown but I have no bonsai experience doing this. I also thought about getting a tall , noarrow trash can or a few 15 gal nursery pots and doing a ground layer. Any suggestions other than dig a 4' hole and bury the sucker up to the existing foilage.

 

[bonsaitodd]

It will backbud pretty well, but it will take some yearss to really develop good branches.

 

[John Ruger]

I can tell you from experience that with European Oak they can take a pounding during the growing season and live just fine. I purchased a pencil thin E.O. this spring and planted it in a ginormous pot and it has more than doubled in girth. If you are worried about filling in the empty space and chopping back, don't because the thing I got throws off more shoots than I emagined...and still is, the more I cut off, the more it grows new ones. Just be aware of how much more growing time you'll have for this season. If it's anything like an E.O., just keep it watered well and feed it.

 

[irene_b]

Dwight just buy it and water it this year.....Come early spring whack it hard!!!
Irene

 

[Dwight]

Thanks guys. Irene , sounds like a plan if Harry doesn't kill me for looking at a d-tree. BTW , these things are evergreen here. Don't know if that makes any difference or not.

 

[irene_b]

Thanks guys. Irene , sounds like a plan if Harry doesn't kill me for looking at a d-tree. BTW , these things are evergreen here. Don't know if that makes any difference or not.

Same here Dwight.. Now take it slow with regards to the roots....They can get pissed and die...

 

[rockm]

Live oak in Texas are usually not the typical live oak that's found in the Gulf Coast region. They're generally the Excarpment live oak (quercus fusiformis) --which is a hardier subspecies of Quercus virginiana. Don't know if that's what you've got, but I bet it is...

I have had a couple for ten years now. One is a very old tree collected near Salado. They are extremely tough trees and will back bud very well when pruned hard--even back to no foliage.

I would wait to do a chop on yours until next spring.

Protect the entire tree from freezes, though. They can stand temps down into the mid 20's, but lower than that you get branch die back...

 

[bonhe]

Sorry Dwight to jump into your post.
I have a question regarding to coak oak. Does is back bud well when it is pruned hard? Thank you. Bonhe