How to deal with trunk rot at base

[chicago1980]

Smith CPES or any CPES on the rotting wood will help alot. It does wear thin over time. I am applying to this tree at the bottom near the soil line

 

[HENDO]

This really is a bitching trunk.

I wouldn't worry too much about the live and dead except for fall cleaning to keep borers away. It looks good now.

The high roots equalling live veins is sort of a blessing and a curse. A blessing because they can elevate the DW from rot. A curse because, they are elevating the DW from the soil. Eventually, if not cared for, it may go empty and look odd.

I am thinking if you can isolate the stump from under, and perhaps use something like an aluminum window screen to, make sort of ...well...a dick head on the underside, to keep wet soil away. An air pocket. You can moss over the top to hide it. Water elsewhere.

But while pondering penile safety devices...

There are a couple lovely arching branches that mimic the trunk curves well. These wonderful branches bring attention to the dead straight ones, unwanted attention that can become wanted with a little bending.

The live vein will work itself out, that'll get easier if left alone.
That branch ain't getting no easier to bend.

Prioritize!

Beginning......

Cheers!

Sorce

well that is a very clear way to put it and it makes a lot of sense! It would be great to protect it using something other than just coarse soil. I'm actually thinking something like these downspout screens with some finer mesh inside - certainly starting to look very d*** head-ish now.

I'm just a bit choked that I hadn't had the chance to do all this during the repotting in Febraury - all that was done was a bareroot on the back, so I suppose I'll need to wait another year or two to condomize?

There was actually a couple borer holes before starting so I'll be sure to clean as you suggest. Nice to know that I don't have to worry about live/dead too much now.

Thank you for the video, that is bad@$$, and now I have something to watch/follow to get more educated on the subject.

Thanks @sorce !!

 

[HENDO]

Maybe a future removal of this bit altogether is better?
View attachment 295612

Can't really tell what is what behind it, but it seems the straight part may be short enough then to not catch the eye.

Just the fact that there is no shadow to break up the Straight line is making it worse.

Perhaps there is a better fix than a bend, it looks thick.

Sorce

Heck ya now that I look at it closer from the front that is very straight and distracting.

After closer inspection I believe that with some additional wire I can bend this particular one upwards/downwards at the secondary fork - it isn't past that unbendable stage yet it seems.

One of the words of advice the previous owner and the fellow who wired it had, was to let the entire thing bud back enough to where it could all be cut back about 4-5" to decrease the profile. I just don't know that there would be enough backbudding to do so...

 

[HENDO]

Looks like the dead area extends a lot from the picture. You can see the separation of the rolling live vein.

I can't tell exactly but I think you could make some solid design choices with this trees Deadwood.

View attachment 295621

I quite like this, I think this looks awesome! If the tree is healthy enough I would like to go this route or very similar.

I've seen a couple of these with shari twisting up the trunk, some very thin ones to start off with. It would seem that since the deadwood already extends up as you mentioned, that it could be done in one big wider section like this.



Is this kind of the separation of the live vein rolling that you mentioned?



Thanks!

 

[HENDO]

Smith CPES or any CPES on the rotting wood will help alot. It does wear thin over time. I am applying to this tree at the bottom near the soil line

View attachment 295667View attachment 295668View attachment 295669

That is a bad@$$ tree right there. It looks like the Smith CPES is doing a good job so I'm going to try it out. Perhaps the sooner the better since I have no roots around the trunk so can still dig it out and apply.

Thanks @chicago1980 !!

 

[chicago1980]

I quite like this, I think this looks awesome! If the tree is healthy enough I would like to go this route or very similar.

I've seen a couple of these with shari twisting up the trunk, some very thin ones to start off with. It would seem that since the deadwood already extends up as you mentioned, that it could be done in one big wider section like this.

View attachment 295704

Is this kind of the separation of the live vein rolling that you mentioned?

View attachment 295711

Thanks!

That is exactly what I am speaking about.

 

[sorce]

I think you can bend that branch left and up, and then down and right.

Effectively ending the straightness and successfully foreshortening it some.

Dig it.

Sorce

 

[leatherback]

Ok now this I didn't know - very interesting. Now I don't feel as concerned with some of the deeper carving/shari started on this trunk.

BE carefull. It is not exactly true.
The only place that grows in the trunk is the cambiu layer. THat does not mean the rest is dead. The tree has an outer layer of wood which is sap-carrying and alive. But.. If the bark is dead, the wood directly below is dead too.

You can see the difference clearly between dead and living. Living wood is much softer and white in most species.

 

[Susan 71]

Kaizen Bonsai has some good info on preserving deadwood and treating rot. Researching this at the moment too and have loved the info shared here!!!

 

[HENDO]

Last month I went ahead and isolated the trunk base from the soil by cutting off any dead stuff that was sticking in about 1/2" below soil level, except for a couple larger sections which seemed solid. I did this because literally every month there would be gross green/brown rot stains moving up the trunk from below that needed to be treated with LS repeatedly. In this process the trunk just got worse.

At the same time I scraped off any further rot/mush from the trunk base until it was all solid - lost some girth here but at least it will help keep the trunk in the future.

The tree is a bit more unstable from below but luckily a visiting artist put some nice guy wires on as a temporary solution. I will rely on the root ball long term once it develops.

 

[HENDO]

I soaked the bottom ~6-8" of trunk in 100% LS and let dry for 2 days in preparation for epoxy, keeping wet rags below the cut/dug out soil area to keep roots from drying out. Very important for CPES to be applied to dry wood.

Then it was time for 3 coats of CPES which has worked great for other deadwood projects.

Then another day for CPES curing and backfill with coarse APL.

I'm super happy to finally be done with this rotting issue. The wood will look great once weathered. CPES leaves a yellow/glossy tinge especially after multiple coats - it disappears after a couple of months.

I should also note that I experimented with PC Petrifier and found that it trapped a lot of moisture in the areas it didn't penetrate. I highly recommend CPES over PC Petrifier for projects like this.

 

[HENDO]

Also here is the tree as-purchased February 2020 and then as-shown in the 2020 Houston Bonsai Society Virtual Fall Show, October 15th.

It took home 2nd Place Novice and People's Choice Award. Not bad for 8 months but huge thanks to everybody who supported!

It will likely now spend a year or two in development with a focus on health, bringing the profile in, ramification, and pad layering.

 

[HamburgerTrain]

Just found this thread last night, great story, quite the finale! Thanks for sharing and kudos to your work, that’s a really cool looking tree.