I like the way this experimental chop grew back
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LittleDingus
Omono
That's pretty much exactly what I'd like to get one of my southern live oaks to do! I love the "medusa hair" look some of them can get
I chopped the nine "swamp white oaks that may be red oaks" a couple weeks ago. Most of them grew one or two arms from lower down.That's pretty much exactly what I'd like to get one of my southern live oaks to do! I love the "medusa hair" look some of them can get
This one wants to have fun.
LittleDingus
Omono
Medusa!
Throw some wire on! Here's your inspiration
Just look at the length of the branches on these things!
These are two different trees but they are right next to each other just outside the entrance to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans...not far from the "Tree of Life"
The Tree of Life
This knobby, drooping New Orleans oak is a favorite place both for climbing and for meeting giraffes.
I know...wrong kind of oak. But people are gonna tell you to chop a few of those branches or you're going to get reverse taper. But, that's the exact type of branching I'm TRYING to get!
penumbra
Imperial Masterpiece
What you have is the beginning of a broom style. Where you go with it is anyone's guess.
LittleDingus
Omono
No, no, no, no...it's an oak! The last thing you want is broom bristles on an oak! Think Medusa with her tangled snake hair flowing every which way
...but @penumbra is right "broom style" is the formal name...not "medusa's hair" as I like to think of it
Firstflush
Chumono
With all the new shoots coming from near the same location, unless you are just messing around, may want to remove some to prevent inverse taper. That young and healthy of a tree, the growth is going to explode in a month.
LittleDingus
Omono
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
There are a few good threads on traditional broom style trees here. @markyscott being one of the best.
I think since this is so young, it would be good to go ham on the stub removal and cinching up, since that path would be right bitchin, and any other path would be meh, and it sounds like your others are providing other style options.
Sorce
I think since this is so young, it would be good to go ham on the stub removal and cinching up, since that path would be right bitchin, and any other path would be meh, and it sounds like your others are providing other style options.
Sorce
Thanks Sorce. Help me to understand what you mean by this, however?
I have 8 other similarly aged and sized trees that I never got out of nursery pots this spring and have chopped maybe three weeks ago. Mostly I chopped them because the foilage got too big and they started blowing over in the wind. And I wanted to see what would happen.
Now I think I'm going to chop most of my trees this week. Originally I wanted to grow all the trunks out... It now I think I want to just experiment and spend money (and yamadori time) on new, thicker trunks next year.
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
Thanks for the Opportunity!
You should find most of it in that thread.
I think cutting it down to a concave, maybe even drilling into it a bit, then using a rubber coupling to cinch this "hole" closed, to mitigate inverse or reverse taper is best.
@bonhe recently made a thread about skin grafting which can also come into "advanced" play.
Sorce
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
Chuhin Broom Elm
With spring growth in full swing in Houston, I'm in the busiest time of the year. Trees in development are fertilized heavily - solid fertilizer on top and liquid fertilizer every weekend. Trees are pushing huge growth - it seems like they change every time I look away for a minute. That...
Sorce
That's a good thread, thank you for sharing. @markyscott is a treasure.
I'll drill the top about a quarter inch deep. I have some waxed string I'll wind up there to try and keep it tight. I'll trim the most vigorous arms to the first three leaves and I'll wire four arms out like dingus' photo just because I think it looks cool, and one arm will go up.
I'll probably kill the tree, but if I learn something it'll be worth it. I'll try not to though.
I'll drill the top about a quarter inch deep. I have some waxed string I'll wind up there to try and keep it tight. I'll trim the most vigorous arms to the first three leaves and I'll wire four arms out like dingus' photo just because I think it looks cool, and one arm will go up.
I'll probably kill the tree, but if I learn something it'll be worth it. I'll try not to though.
hinmo24t
Masterpiece
nice. as others pointed to, when all the main branches derive around the same area of the trunk, itll fatten up there and cause inverse taper. i ran into this with my dogwood, thinking itd be a perfect broom, just to find out id have to chop lower in the future and use a new leader, or branches that arent all around the same part of trunk.
Well, I broke one off and probably damaged the others in what ended up being my first attempt at wiring a tree. Wire was probably too thick, but it's what I had.
There are eight more experiment trees if this goes poorly.
There are eight more experiment trees if this goes poorly.
LittleDingus
Omono
Many oak species have weak/brittle branch joints when young. I lost a much thicker new growth branch off my chopped swamp oak during a wind storm a few weeks ago
For my oaks, I've learned to wire new growth by solidly wiring around the trunk as an anchor...then loosely wrapping the branches and gently guiding then the direction I want. I find the new growth itself to be very flexible...but that joint is very weak
I also find that slowly adding to the bend over time helps. When first wired, bend the shoulder minimally. When watering in a few days, tweak the bend a little more...etc...
Once lignified, they are much less likely to break off when bent.
