Water Oak

Tieball said:
Did you cut back the roots considerably? How would you describe your root pruning?
I have an Oak tree candidate for root pruning. Not sure when to do the work…..or how much to prune away. Any comment would be helpful.
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Forgot to mention, that I did my root work in the normal time as buds were swelling in spring. Not sure what kind of oak you have but spring is probsbly safest. Based on what Zach did to this tree at collection, this species is pretty tolerant of root work, but I'm not sure thats the case with all oaks.
 
2022 update. Not much has changed. I've been thinking more and more of doing a 2nd chop on this tree to get rid of the reverse taper in the top and compacting all of the lower branches as well. I know it needs to be done to improve the tree but I haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet. Maybe next year...

20220606_161436.jpg
 
I've been putting off re-chopping this tree because I know it will look like crap for several years, but in the back of my mind, I'm sure that's what needs to be done to make it better. I let the apex get too thick and I don't think it's fixable, short of chopping it off and growing a new one. Curious what some of our oak experts think? @rockm @MACH5 @Zach Smith looking at the leafless shot, where would you chop it and when would you perform the operation. Or would you do something else? Carving out the inverse taper maybe? Thanks in advance for taking the time to weigh in.

20201129_142513.jpg
 
VAFisher said:
I've been putting off re-chopping this tree because I know it will look like crap for several years, but in the back of my mind, I'm sure that's what needs to be done to make it better. I let the apex get too thick and I don't think it's fixable, short of chopping it off and growing a new one. Curious what some of our oak experts think? @rockm @MACH5 @Zach Smith looking at the leafless shot, where would you chop it and when would you perform the operation. Or would you do something else? Carving out the inverse taper maybe? Thanks in advance for taking the time to weigh in.

View attachment 442719
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Might be going a bit too fast with the development of the top of this one. I don't think a trunk chop is in order, though. This tree (and a lot of oaks) is apically dominant. The lower branches don't develop as quickly if the top is growing fast.

Allowing the lower branches to extend A LOT and keeping the upper branches in check can help. Cutting the thicker top branches back by half will slow them a bit. This will take time, though.
 
rockm said:
Might be going a bit too fast with the development of the top of this one. I don't think a trunk chop is in order, though. This tree (and a lot of oaks) is apically dominant. The lower branches don't develop as quickly if the top is growing fast.

Allowing the lower branches to extend A LOT and keeping the upper branches in check can help. Cutting the thicker top branches back by half will slow them a bit. This will take time, though.
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Thanks @rockm. The 2 areas that bother me on this tree are circled in red. The long taperless section starting just above the old chop and the apex with it's overly thick branches. Do you think those areas are fixable by increasing the thickness of the lower 2 sets of branches and the trunk just above the chop? I worry that the taper would be ruined between the lower and upper trunk then. Although I'm happy to hear that a drastic solution may not be needed.

20201129_142513.png
 
VAFisher said:
Thanks @rockm. The 2 areas that bother me on this tree are circled in red. The long taperless section starting just above the old chop and the apex with it's overly thick branches. Do you think those areas are fixable by increasing the thickness of the lower 2 sets of branches and the trunk just above the chop? I worry that the taper would be ruined between the lower and upper trunk then. Although I'm happy to hear that a drastic solution may not be needed.

View attachment 443109
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It's fixable by increasing the resources and vigor of the parts below your areas of concern and decreasing the vigor (or at least controlling it) in the faster growing sections.

A more drastic solution would be to shorten the apex down to the lower section you've circled in red. That would mean recreating the apex, which would allow you more control in pinching or chopping back growth of the new apex branching, but you've still got to grow out those bottom branches to compensate for the thicker upper branching.
 
rockm said:
It's fixable by increasing the resources and vigor of the parts below your areas of concern and decreasing the vigor (or at least controlling it) in the faster growing sections.

A more drastic solution would be to shorten the apex down to the lower section you've circled in red. That would mean recreating the apex, which would allow you more control in pinching or chopping back growth of the new apex branching, but you've still got to grow out those bottom branches to compensate for the thicker upper branching.
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Appreciate the thoughts.
 
Amazing and inspiring progression of this tree. We are all very thankful for you taking the time and caring enough to share it with us.
 
Does water oak back bud readily on old wood? I have a rather lanky one that I'm contemplating a low chop for. Back to no leaves or branches in spring.
 
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