Live oak skeleton

rockm

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Just an update on how the tree responded to the drastic pruning this spring. The pics are a little hard to see with the bad background, but it has produced some decent backbudding so far. I expect next spring there will be more. The overall silhouette is a lot tighter that it used to be and the interior branching is more detailed, which are both good things.
 

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Attila Soos

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Magnificent tree.
My only question is: does the development of fine branching take a long time on this tree? It seems like the branches are in a very early stage of development, compared to the mature trunk. A great crown would create the powerful image that this tree can bring to the viewer.
 
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rockm

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Hard question to answer. It's a relative thing. The bark on the tree is over 150 years old and it shows. All the branching has been grown from scratch over the last 15 years or so, so it has some catching up to do. The central apex leader has also been developed in that time. The bark on that is developing quite quickly as it sees the most vigorous growth during the season.

Fine branch development probably shouldn't have taken as long as it did on this tree, but I've been a bit timid in hacking it back to induce more interior budding over the years, in favor of allowing freer growth to thicken them up. It's happening, but it's not a trident maple and isn't as fast-growing.
 

Phillip C

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Rockm, think I will move our discussion of live oaks and native trees over here. 175 pounds or that tree - amazing, I am 51 and am sure I would have to have some help with that. I haven't read up on the trees native to the South, but from what it sounds like there might not be written about them. Don't know how you'd Bonsai one, but one of my favorite trees is a White oak, Q. alba pagodafolia, a magnificent tree. The live oak I thought you were talking about and that I was referring to is the White Oak common on the coastal plain on down to the gulf, the Q. Virginiana. It's just one of the trees I love to look at in the wild.

I saw in one guys collection that he'd posted on here a Virginia pine and he had done a pretty good job of it , too. I raised pine (mostly) on my plantation back over in Alabama and can get any amount of bare root loblolly and containerized long leaf. Love the long leaf species, but they stay in the grass stage for 2-5 years, then on to the candle stage and are pretty tall and fat (and soft) by then. Interesting to think about and I appreciate your time, interest and thoughts on this.

I have no pine species for bonsai, but raise 5000 acres of them to grow tall, straight and fast. Going to look into Loblolly pine as bonsai. If Virginia pine can do it, then Lob. should too. Let you know what I find out. Thanks, Phillip C
 

rockm

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There are Loblolly bonsai around:
http://www.schleysbonsai.com/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=5
They're not common and apparently aren't all that easy to make into a decent bonsai. The best eastern native pine for bonsai is pitch pine (pinus rigida). They have a unique ability among pines to regenerate branching from bare trunks and limbs. If all the needles are removed from most pines, they die. Not so with pitch pine. It grows mainly in the Northeast, but it does grow in higher elevations down to North Ga.
I've tried to collect Va. pine here in Va. The trees I have access to have extremely diffuse root systems that are not easily collected. They tend to grow in poor, red clay-based soils that automatically fall off the roots upon digging them up (which is mostly a death sentence for collected pines)Feeder roots on some of them can be 30 feet from the main trunk....Other people in areas where the trees produce more compact roots systems have worked them into good bonsai though.

My tree is a quercus Virginiana live oak. It is a subspecies that lives in upland environments in Texas and into Oklahoma. The "regular" Gulf Coast quercus Virginiana has also been turned into very nice bonsai.

Eastern white oak species, however, can't be easily hammered into bonsai shape. They don't like heavy top pruning and can produce huge leaves in response to leaf reduction techniques used on other trees.

The best species eastern oak species for bonsai is probably the Willow Oak (quercus Phellos) as it has smaller leaves already and usually has a pretty shallow root mass that's a lot easier to deal with than the huge, deep tap roots that white oaks (quercus alba) produce.
 

rockm

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Update on 6/25/12

Looks better, still not compact enough though.
 

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JudyB

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I love this tree. Did I say that before? Probably, cause I really like it.
 

Jay Wilson

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Wow, what wonderful bark. Definitely live oak bark in small scale. That's a great tree Rockm. Thanks for the update!
 

Brian Van Fleet

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Great trunk. Think I see a black widow peeking out from under that pot...:p
 

edprocoat

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Rockm, wow! that is one beautiful tree. It reminds me of many of the Fl. oaks you see that have been beaten for years by the weather extremes, especially in the middle of the state. Thats a very natural looking tree, I can see it setting as a sole survivor in the middle of a Florida pasture about 40 foot tall. I notice you have had it over 12 years now, thats a long time to burden yourself with the care of a tree, maybe you should pass it on to some guy in Ohio who would take good care of it and not think its "still not compact enough though." and would treasure it for the spectatcular beauty it is.

Then again perhaps you are not senile enough to be so easily talked out of such a beauty.:p

ed
 

rockm

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This is from last spring.
 

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Leo in N E Illinois

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Rock, great tree! To start with such an old trunk is great.

All the oak photos in the last few years inspired me to play with a locally native species. Quercus macrocarpa - Bur oak. It scoffs at winter cold, they are hardy to zone 3. Two winters with zero protection, just on the ground and they are growing fine. I have 3 seedlings about 5 years old, been in my care 2 growing seasons, 2015 will be the third. Right now they are in pots, with roots escaping out into the ground. I plan to let the trunks bulk up to something over 2 inches before making any cuts or chops. My plan is to cut the escaped roots every second year. The escape roots prevented me from moving them to winter storage, so I left them and they did fine.

So far the large leaves seem to indicate that these won't make passable bonsai, but time will tell. I have seen small leaves on a stressed bur oak on an undercut dune in a local state park (collection not allowed, not even acorns). The very rough fissured bark of bur oak is much rougher than any of the other locally native species, so that is the reason I chose bur oak over our local red, or black or white oaks. But I do think oaks in general can be used for bonsai, though they might take much longer than typical bonsai species to develop ramification and smaller leaves. This summer I'll photo mine and start a new thread for them.

But thanks for showing us your tree. Would love to see a "full photo spread" for your 2015 update. Your tree is one that has inspired me to try my locally native species.
 

milehigh_7

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One of my favorites! Always good to get an update. Mine is pouting right now, I think I took too many roots off... Hope I get some new leaves soon.
 
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