Coast Live Oak

[justBonsai]

I've been trying to shift my collection of trees to native or more heat tolerant species of recent in my bonsai ventures. Oaks have always been among my favorite trees and today I was able to pick up a nice coast live oak from Barry (Legacy Cork Oaks). The tree has a lot of deadwood as you can see from the pictures, but that aside I have a few questions regarding development and wood preservation. I know some people like to use wood hardners, but for a "dense" hardwood like oak would I be okay just using lime sulphur? The tree has some fantastic nebari and characteristic deadwood, but I want to make sure I don't lose any of it over the years.

This is the tree as purchased:

After cleaning up deadwood and some rotted bark/wood: (I used a blend of lime sulphur and tea to get a light brown color but may experiment with acrylic paint to create a slightly darker tone)

I thought I was done with all the deadwood, going all the way to the edge of the live vain but it turned out that some of the bark was still a little rotted. While the aged bark looks great, I feel that for the long run its better that I remove anything that could cause future rot/fungal issues. After removing the bark I discovered 2 holes in 2 different locations about 3/4 inch deep--likely made by insects. Fortunately most of the wood was still very hard and no grubs were present. I put undilluted lime sulphur straight into the holes in several applications. I'm not sure if you can see them in the pictures, but would it be advisable that I fill up these holes with epoxy, wood filler, super glue, or something of that sort?

After fully cleaning up bark and meeting the live vain:

My plans for this tree is to develop the live vain more to contrast against the currently dominant deadwood and to build a canopy mostly towards the right to fill up the negative space. Any opinions or advice with what to do with the tree, especially regarding preserving the natural deadwood would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Julian

 

[sorce]

Nice clean up Job!

There are a few articles on stuff to use here. I don't know I wood use it.

I do know you should probably let it grow a lot to plump that live edge.

Nice Score! Yeah Barry!

Sorce

 

[M. Frary]

There are no vains on oaks. Not even veins.
Live veins feed certain sections of a tree like junipers. The vein only supports a certain section of the tree.
On decidious it's just bark and cambium all of the way around feeding everything. In your case the bark on the back is feeding the whole tree.

 

[justBonsai]

There are no vains on oaks. Not even veins.
Live veins feed certain sections of a tree like junipers. The vein only supports a certain section of the tree.
On decidious it's just bark and cambium all of the way around feeding everything. In your case the bark on the back is feeding the whole tree.

Well the live edge is what I mean.

 

[Bunjeh]

When I lived in Georgia I used to confuse those with Holly (Ilex) because of the leaves.

 

[markyscott]

I wouldn't fill the deadwood with anything. It wouldn't look natural. Just think ot the holes as part of the character.

S

 

[ColinFraser]

Quercus agrifolia - great plant! I have a very silly looking one that I enjoy nonetheless. Have fun with this, and keep us updated.

 

[Eric Schrader]

That's a nice piece of deadwood and the texture is quite good. I have a Q. agrifolia that has a lot of deadwood on it. I take care not to get the wood wet every day. With such long summers of dry weather here in California I think you can expect if to last a long time. Do take note however that the hardness of the wood is not a prediction of the rot resistance. In fact, some of the softest woods are the most rot resistant.

I believe that keeping the wood clean and sporadic treatment with lime sulfur will stave off rot. Take care though to try to keep the deadwood out of contact with the soil if possible. Wood hardener can look okay on these, particularly if applied lightly. It tends to lend a plastic look to the wood initially, as if you had added a finish coat, but then does get somewhat less obvious with time.

 

[justBonsai]

Thanks for the replies all. I have attached photos of the holes I talked about. Also I blew them through with compressed air and 2 small insects came out. They were dead but still seemed in decent condition--probably died after injecting lime sulphur into the trunk. I believe they are termites but I am not sure. Can anyone ID these bugs and give me any preventive measures? The wood is wet and discolored from an application of black acrylic paint and tea to darken the color.

 

[Cypress187]

Eeeeuw.

 

[Eric Schrader]

Yep, those are termites! Kinda cool actually, but better to not have them in your tree alive.

 

[justBonsai]

Can I expect there to be others? The wood feels solid. Would putting lime sulphur in the hole be enough?

 

[justBonsai]

I want an opinion regarding the development of this tree. The branching itself has a long way to go and can only be fixed with time. The other concerning issue I have is the deadwood. Here is a better picture. Unfortunately the small "root" to the left and a part of the the "root" on the front has since been removed due to discovered rot(though dry it was soft and crumbly). I'll be able to post pictures in a week or so. My main concern is that the large deadwood feature overpowers the entire trunk and in proportion to the entire tree, isn't necessarily natural--I haven't seen any oak trees with this much deadwood in nature. What I am considering doing is purposely letting part of the large deadwood rot out over the next few years or so, then reduce back to the hard wood. This way I can "hollow" the deadwood feature a little and still keep a natural appearance.

What do you guys think? Or do you think the deadwood looks fine as is?

 

[sorce]

I think if you had termites in there, it might be more hollow than you know already!

I wonder if you can pour water, or candy sprinkles, or something in the hole, to get an idea of internal volume.

I think the deadwood looks ok.
But it's not helping the tree look like a tree.

Are you gonna wire that first left branch down soon? I thought these got hard to wire fast?

Sorce

 

[justBonsai]

I think if you had termites in there, it might be more hollow than you know already!

I wonder if you can pour water, or candy sprinkles, or something in the hole, to get an idea of internal volume.

I think the deadwood looks ok.
But it's not helping the tree look like a tree.

Are you gonna wire that first left branch down soon? I thought these got hard to wire fast?

Sorce

I lot of the branching will need to be done from scratch. Not too many existing branches are placed well. The branches do lignify fast but I will be cutting back a lot when I repot late winter so no point wiring now. The wood feels and sounds very solid so I don't think the termites spread much. Initially when I purchased the tree I didn't expect the dead wood line to go so far back. I agree in that it doesn't look very "tree like." I think if I let it rot and hollow over time I can build a more natural image.

 

[sorce]

What's the other side look like?

Got any around the horners?

Sorce

 

[justBonsai]

What's the other side look like?

Got any around the horners?

Sorce

I can't get a photo right now but its just grey bark and maybe 1 or 2 branches. Most of the current branching is on the top and right side. Assuming my repotting works out I should hopefully get good back budding to get better branch placement.

 

[sorce]

Would you consider this the best front?

I think a slight turn counter clockwise might look good.

I'd like to see it pulled forward some too....
But then I fear that front deadwood pushed into the soil would rot too fast.

Sorce

 

[Potawatomi13]

Good you grabbed this tree. Great possibilities. Not a bad idea to let the wood age naturally but to keep from ground contact as well. As with most trees the dead wood is a main focal point and virtue and should not be hidden.

 

[YukiShiro]

Good you grabbed this tree. Great possibilities. Not a bad idea to let the wood age naturally but to keep from ground contact as well. As with most trees the dead wood is a main focal point and virtue and should not be hidden.

I agree with potawatomi,

I'd flaunt the deadwood as best i can, and I disagree that the deadwood looks unnatural.

Best regards
Herman