Example No.Two I just found the other day. Grizzlyone (Brett) was over helping me repot the behemouth Myrtle. I was looking for something else to repot to show how to prune back roots on a stump. Tridents can be taken back with out mercy for growout because they respond so favorably to root pruneing. It is like they become energised.
This one was lounging around and had escaped into the ground a little. The root outside the can was already about 1/2 across when Brett trimmed it up to remove from the can.
Beware, further reading not for the faint of heart....
What insued after removal from the grow container was short of murder. Brett said I would need to get the saw. Probably would have been the smart thing to do.
No...I had to get the trusty hatchet. This is not a typical hatchet, this is an old fashioned chicken killing hatchet that weighs 5 pounds and has a broad head cutting surface. Looks like something from medieval times or maybe ancient Persia for beheading criminals. I took the entire rootball off in four strokes. Cutting thru dirt and all. It was a surgical cut right thru the root ball.
Had I stopped there all would have been good, but oh...no I had to take it back about 1 more inch. Problem was that I hacked off all my ballest (dirt) and the thing took several more whacks because it kept springing back. Well I never hit the same place twice for several whacks. Needless to say I took it back pretty short, but OK I think. Still good roots after a little clean up with a concave cutter.
Hey its 2010, live a little. Hell I'm glad I even made it to 2010. So everything from now on is a gimmy!
After surgically removing the rootbase I took off two long limbs with a large pair of loppers. The top was about 9 feet tall. Brett loaded it up in his truck to carry out some kind of Dr. Mengeli experiments on what was left. It was then potted up.
Now this subject was put into the pot with no air space so at least I have controll subjects during this project.