Valley Oak Progression

[BrianBay9]

Progression thread for this Quercus lobata, valley oak. Bought as nursery stock in Feb 2023. Good low branching, nice bark.

 

[BrianBay9]

I see this one as a tradition valley oak style - so cutting back to a short trunk and then a modified "broom" that kinda goes wild. Root work and cut back in Feb. Here's the response by the end of May.







Another cutback to the proper trunk height.



And what came off

 

[BrianBay9]

The top I'm working with



A little carving



and cut paste

 

[BrianBay9]

Where it stands now. Planning on wiring and letting the branching thicken before cutting back. Valley oak back bud really well so I don't have to worry about the eventual cut backs.

 

[NateDyk47]

Nice tree & beautiful bark!

 

[Fonk]

The bark is very nice indeed!

I have a question... Does it take long for the leaves to reduce size?

 

[BrianBay9]

The bark is very nice indeed!

I have a question... Does it take long for the leaves to reduce size?

Tomorrow I'll try to get a pic of full size vs in a bonsai pot for a couple of years.

 

[Fonk]

Tomorrow I'll try to get a pic of full size vs in a bonsai pot for a couple of years.

Appreciate it, thanks!

 

[BrianBay9]

OK, @Fonk , here's the leaf comparison I promised. The top one is standard size, growing out. The bottom one is after two years in a pot, working on ramification. They've gone from about 6.5 inch length to 1.25 inch length. I'm really learning to like valley oak.

 

[Fonk]

Wow, that's a huge reduction in just two years!

Oaks are pretty typical where a live (but the Quercus Robur variety) and I've tried to pot a couple of them that had to be removed from the garden but no luck so far...

Next time I'll try with the sweat bag method and see if they manage to root

Thanks for the picture! It is really enlightening

 

[ForrestW]

Great start to the tree-- I can not wait to see how it develops. I am slowly working on a young English Oak, but mine will be 10 years just building a trunk...

 

[bonsaiwood]

Any update on your oak? Have been curious to see the back budding after the chop.

 

[BrianBay9]

Any update on your oak? Have been curious to see the back budding after the chop.

It popped all over - new buds on all limbs and on the trunk. Just a big ball of leaves now, hard to take a revealing pic. After summer heat abates, I'll cut back again and see if I can get a fall flush. I'll take more pics then.

 

[BrianBay9]

Update after leaf fall.




And after a trim

 

[BrianBay9]

Update on this one. Last spring I made another cut on the fused roots then potted up into a box. I plan to leave the roots alone for at least a couple of years hoping the mass of fused roots throw out plenty of feeders. Other than that it's letting branches thicken and keep the squirrels off it.

Defoliated, before starting work today.




The main chop is healing pretty quickly. This is after two growing seasons.




Roots will need a lot of work when I get to them. Today I just cleaned up some of the surface stuff.




Cut back, a little clean up




I've been letting the top grow wild to help heal the chop but it's thickening so fast I might lose control of it. I might have to cut back and deal with another significant scar to keep from getting too much reverse taper. Since I'm heading for a live oak (native valley oak) style I can tolerate a bit of reverse taper at the split, but not too much.

 

[Ruddigger]

You should add a little more soil, bury it deeper to help the nebari.

 

[BrianBay9]

You should add a little more soil, bury it deeper to help the nebari.

Point taken, but I think most of the real nebari is buried. Very little of the visible root will remain in the end (I hope). What you can't see is a flare of fused root that expands to about 8 inches wide and deep. I hope it throws lateral roots high enough that I can cut another four inches off the bottom in another year.