This is my favorite tree. It is obviously very tiny still and will require a mountain of time and patience before it's even proper material to work with. Time I have plenty of, still working on patience.
In the mean time I thought it would be real fun to make a journal of it's development. I really love looking through old posts and seeing updates of the same tree years later so i figured a start to "finish" would be really cool or in the very least amuse some of the pros with these first year images.
Willow Oak ( Q. phellos ) year 1, earliest images. 1/2
So, I have the tiniest little pine stand right behind my flat with literally dozens of little red and white oak saplings ( among other things ) and of all the things I had to pick from...I chose this guy. Despite it's size I do think it's at least a year and a half to two years old because it had a ridiculously long "tap root" that I never did find the end of, growing straight down into rock hard Mississippi clay.
Willow Oak ( Q. phellos ) year 1, earliest images. 2 /2
After I collected it ( about mid july ) I put it into a small pot which is filled with a sphagnum moss potting mix ( the only mix I had available at the time ) and then isolated it under plastic for a week. It's been in the green house ever since.
Willow Oak ( Q. phellos ) year 1, moring glory guy-wire. 1/1
I haven't done anything to it except pull that awful looking curve out of it's.....I'll say branch??? and straightened the um.....trunk??? really for no reason other than to play in the garden. It's so small I just guy-wired it with a dried morning glory vine and it totally worked, it set about two months later.
...
In the mean time I thought it would be real fun to make a journal of it's development. I really love looking through old posts and seeing updates of the same tree years later so i figured a start to "finish" would be really cool or in the very least amuse some of the pros with these first year images.
Willow Oak ( Q. phellos ) year 1, earliest images. 1/2
So, I have the tiniest little pine stand right behind my flat with literally dozens of little red and white oak saplings ( among other things ) and of all the things I had to pick from...I chose this guy. Despite it's size I do think it's at least a year and a half to two years old because it had a ridiculously long "tap root" that I never did find the end of, growing straight down into rock hard Mississippi clay.
Willow Oak ( Q. phellos ) year 1, earliest images. 2 /2
After I collected it ( about mid july ) I put it into a small pot which is filled with a sphagnum moss potting mix ( the only mix I had available at the time ) and then isolated it under plastic for a week. It's been in the green house ever since.
Willow Oak ( Q. phellos ) year 1, moring glory guy-wire. 1/1
I haven't done anything to it except pull that awful looking curve out of it's.....I'll say branch??? and straightened the um.....trunk??? really for no reason other than to play in the garden. It's so small I just guy-wired it with a dried morning glory vine and it totally worked, it set about two months later.
...