New Cork Oak

[Erndogy]

I recently visited House of Bonsai out in Lakewood Ca. and picked up this cork oak.

Here are a few pics of it.



I really like the thick trunk. I'm not sure yet how much of the two thick branches I'm going to keep.

Ernie

 

[Erndogy]

And a couple more pics..



Thanks for looking..

Ernie

 

[JudyB]

Hi Ernie,
Nice thick trunk for that guy. If there are branches you don't like, I would say to get rid of them. I'm not an expert, but got one this spring, and it's the fastest growing thing I've seen. And in your climate, I imagine that it will do even better. I put a thread up on mine, and just updated it recently. They are a lot of fun!

 

[bonsai barry]

If you choose to remove the larger branches, it will only make the trunk look thicker in comparison to the relative thickness of the branches. I think it will also have a more natural appearance.

 

[AboveBeyond]

Good pickup! I like the trunk a lot.

I've been to House of Bonsai just one time and dying to go back there and the other nurseries within area!

 

[Erndogy]

Hi Ernie,
Nice thick trunk for that guy. If there are branches you don't like, I would say to get rid of them. I'm not an expert, but got one this spring, and it's the fastest growing thing I've seen. And in your climate, I imagine that it will do even better. I put a thread up on mine, and just updated it recently. They are a lot of fun!

Yup, I did check yours out. I had missed the latest update. That is a nice tree and I did have it in mind when I was searching for mine. I wanted something with a lot of movement in the trunk or with a thick trunk. Last time I was out there they had several Q. Suber in the ground and thought maybe some day I could get one. But right now they have about 10 of them in pots ranging in trunk thickness from about an inch to over 3 inches thick. So this one doesn't have a lot of movement in it but I really liked the trunk and I think was the nicest looking of the lot.

You are right about them growing fast. I actually have several of them already. I have one I got at a bonsai show auction and it is nice with about a 2" thick trunk and growing pretty straight up. I have another with about a 3/4" thick base that was wrapped around a bamboo stake and so it has some movement in the trunk but I want it to thicken up a bit more before I do anything to it. And this one just started getting the corky bark with orangy fissures.

And I also have 3 seedlings. Two of which I wired up to start them off with some interesting movement. The first one I wired had the wire on for two weeks and I had to remove it because it started to bite into it.

I also have a couple valley oaks and a couple live oaks. I really like oaks but Q Suber is my favorite. I have already scoped out some seed source trees for collecting when ever they drop seeds.

They grow fast but they can't thicken up fast enough and wanted start playing with one with a thick trunk.

Thanks

Ernie

 

[Erndogy]

If you choose to remove the larger branches, it will only make the trunk look thicker in comparison to the relative thickness of the branches. I think it will also have a more natural appearance.

Do you mean remove the big branches and re-grow new ones? I don't think about removing them completely. when I first saw it I thought I could try to grow some small branches with small leaves, sort of like pads, at the ends of the two branches and another area somewhere between the two.

I could also keep the two create a broom style that incorporates the two, which IMO would look more like its full sized cousins.

I could also just remove the shorter one and create a broom style from that but I think either branch might be too skewed outward for that. I think I would have to come up with a taller tree by growing a new leader, if I remove both branches and that defeats the purpose of me buying the tree. Mainly it will take a LOT more time than I anticipated. Even with how fast these guys grow, because I think the tree will look too stocky otherwise.

But I do have some time to think about all the options over the winter because besides maybe removing some non-essential branches, I am not doing anything to it until spring.

Ernie

 

[Erndogy]

Good pickup! I like the trunk a lot.

I've been to House of Bonsai just one time and dying to go back there and the other nurseries within area!

Yeah I took a tour of a few nurseries in the area a few months ago. I posted a thread about it.

Here is the link

http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthr...y-SoCal-Bonsai-Nursury-Tour&highlight=nursery

I actually had to skip house of bonsai because of time constraints.

There is always something different every time I go. This time they had the oaks and a lot of JBP. I got one of those also. Will post it later.

Ernie