The "What The Heck Should I Do With It" Thread

Johnathan

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How long is it been planted in this pond basket?
I wouldnt go for a twin trunk design the split is to high (IMO)
I see two posibility's as informal upright now i could draw the trunk lines in the pic what i see but thats no fun lets see if you can find them :p

The dead branch is left on to be jinned id guess!

@defra Defrand @Vance Wood vanI actually considered informal upright and wired a few branches according to the traditional sense last year. I'm just not sure the foliage would allow me to do such a thing. I was thinking twin trunk due to the ability to cut down to more tapered trunks. You do that with junipers too right?

Here are the pictures requested, and a quick virt

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Myconcern, is would I be able to push the foliage closer to the trunk.

Edit: would you recommend trimming back the foliage just to get a clearer picture of what is there before deciding on a path?
 

TN_Jim

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@defra Defrand @Vance Wood vanI actually considered informal upright and wired a few branches according to the traditional sense last year. I'm just not sure the foliage would allow me to do such a thing. I was thinking twin trunk due to the ability to cut down to more tapered trunks. You do that with junipers too right?

Here are the pictures requested, and a quick virt

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Myconcern, is would I be able to push the foliage closer to the trunk.

Edit: would you recommend trimming back the foliage just to get a clearer picture of what is there before deciding on a path?

Johnathan, I just got one of these owls an hour ago (very much like the form of the one you've pictured) -and from looking at it in the driveway just now, I already see myself asking your same questions...

And..i'm getting it out of its nursery pot (ala @Vance Wood -mugo protocol)...now, in these dog days....is this too rolling bad dice????
 

Vance Wood

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Johnathan, I just got one of these owls an hour ago (very much like the form of the one you've pictured) -and from looking at it in the driveway just now, I already see myself asking your same questions...

And..i'm getting it out of its nursery pot (ala @Vance Wood -mugo protocol)...now, in these dog days....is this too rolling bad dice????
I don't think so but you will find quite a few people on this site that will scream bloody murder for doing it. There are many that believe that repotting a Juniper in the summer is a bad idea, I do not. Yuji Yoshimura didn't either and I have followed his method on this subject for years.
 

Dan92119

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Here is an Air Layered Chinese elm that I removed about 3 weeks ago. Its growing really fast. I am not going to do anything else with it this year, just let it grow.
I seem to be able to grow stuff easily, but really don't have the eye to look at a tree to see what I should do with it. What I air layered it off of it a bit bigger than the diameter of the Pepsi can. The base is much wider but buried. Any advice is appreciated.

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just.wing.it

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Here is an Air Layered Chinese elm that I removed about 3 weeks ago. Its growing really fast. I am not going to do anything else with it this year, just let it grow.
I seem to be able to grow stuff easily, but really don't have the eye to look at a tree to see what I should do with it. What I air layered it off of it a bit bigger than the diameter of the Pepsi can. The base is much wider but buried. Any advice is appreciated.

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That's one air layered trunk in there???
 

Johnathan

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Johnathan, I just got one of these owls an hour ago (very much like the form of the one you've pictured) -and from looking at it in the driveway just now, I already see myself asking your same questions...

And..i'm getting it out of its nursery pot (ala @Vance Wood -mugo protocol)...now, in these dog days....is this too rolling bad dice????
I don't think you will have a problem either. I actually like summer repotting. Its usually chilly and rainy in spring lol I'm finding summer a great time to take my time with a 12 pack and really think about what I'm doing (as long as the wife doesn't need me which she of course absolutely always seems to as soon as I get some roots exposed - but thats a different story :rolleyes:) I also find it interesting that some people are soooooo stuck on spring repotting, even when people as qualified as Vance and Walter both seem to advocate it.

For my, my owl was one of the nicer trees in my collection so I'm taking my time with it. I believe it still has nursery soil in it. I will do a repot on it next summer. Not 100% sure it will be a bare root, but it will at least be half bare root.
 

Dan92119

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That's one air layered trunk in there???

Yes its just one trunk. I air layered it just below where the branches started. I am using the trunk to try a broom.

This is what I air layered it off of.

IMG_2522.JPGIMG_2522.JPG

Its all cleaned up now. Middle drilled out, etc.
 

Johnathan

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Yes its just one trunk. I air layered it just below where the branches started. I am using the trunk to try a broom.

This is what I air layered it off of.

View attachment 207985View attachment 207985

Its all cleaned up now. Middle drilled out, etc.
Why do you drill out the middle? I don't think I've ever seen that.
 

TN_Jim

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@Johnathan & @Vance Wood, thank you gentlemen much for your insights and experience.

I didn’t go for it this evening cause I was holding out for your thoughts...

With any luck tomorrow evening, naysayers look away, -some summer jams, maybe a cold beer, and get to work
 

Cajunrider

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In a few months I'll have to bring this bougainvillea in. I don't want to bring in this huge pot. What do I do?BougainVillea1.jpg
 

defra

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In a few months I'll have to bring this bougainvillea in. I don't want to bring in this huge pot. What do I do?View attachment 208072

If it didnt fill up the complete pot yet gently get it out and see how much rootball there actualy is and put it in a fitting smaller pot but be gentle dont prune the roots and try to leave the rootball as intact as possible
I would only do this if absolutely nesecary tough
 

Cajunrider

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37604590_10156178133959733_1836786504081342464_o (2).jpgMy 9 month old rainbow eucalyptus. Right now it still have the big leaves but they will progressively get smaller as the tree grow. There is no rainbow color in the trunk for another 4 years or so. What do I do from now til then? I was stupid and got a spiral going earlier. Now it's fixed that way after removing the wire. How should I style it?
 

Dan92119

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Did you use a spade bit to drill it out?
Yes, it was somewhat a pain. I didn't realize that elm was so hard. I had to use regular drill bits to reduce the amount of wood the spade bit had to cut through. This is the first time I am attempting a broom style. The tree wasn't growing from where I wanted it to grow so I took about a 1/4 inch off the top. I used wood glue to seal the cut.

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Vance Wood

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Yes, it was somewhat a pain. I didn't realize that elm was so hard. I had to use regular drill bits to reduce the amount of wood the spade bit had to cut through. This is the first time I am attempting a broom style. The tree wasn't growing from where I wanted it to grow so I took about a 1/4 inch off the top. I used wood glue to seal the cut.

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You have discovered the reason our pioneer forefathers did not use Elm for their furniture, it was just to hard and damaged their tools.
 

Josh86

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I have seen a bowl shape carved in before but that seems easier
 

Dan92119

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So I thought I would ask for ideas again with my tree from Post #206. I have some new pictures of the tree mostly Naked! As a reminder it is an air layer from August 2018. The base of the tree is buried to encourage root growth. I could separate the trunks....would add a lot of root work. I could do thread grafting for roots with seedlings. Here are the pictures. All ideas are welcome. Thanks!

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