Redwood Ryan
Masterpiece
Gorgeous tree, very well done Chris.
Some trees I'm working on...
- Thread starter coh
- Start date
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
Victorim
Omono
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
Got one for you @coh. If you don't want to stray from the current
Perfect! Now if he doesn't like it, he'll have to come up with one of his own
MACH5
Imperial Masterpiece
Good work Chris! I like what you're doing with it. And BTW thanks for taking the time to take clear, quality pics to show off your work!
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
Thanks Chris...for sharing. That cold spell a few years back...took a few of my landscape trees as well. And an entire towns mature trees that lined their street. Which was very sad to see. Glad you have a heat source and should counter what old man winter throws at you.
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
I don't remember the section in the user agreement that requires members to upload an avatar by the 10 year point! I actually didn't mind the one that you forced upon me, but once I saw that someone else was using it I had to delete it. I'll come up with something, in the meantime the default question mark will have to remain sufficientPerfect! Now if he doesn't like it, he'll have to come up with one of his own
BTW...10 years, wow. Do I win some kind of prize for putting up with this place for that long? (and vice-versa)
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
Foiled!
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
Here is a tree that is giving me some grief. Ever have a tree that you really like that is slowly declining and you can't seem to do anything about it? That is what is happening with this willow oak that I acquired from former bonsainut member Jay Wilson. It's got a really nice base and came to me with a well developed branching structure. But over the past couple of years, I've been steadily losing the finer branching, especially low down on the tree. At this rate, everything in the lower part of the tree will be gone in another year or two. I've repotted a couple of times and the roots and soil seem fine. Maybe it just hasn't handled the climate transition (from Florida to NY) well (and who could blame it).
I know @johng has one also from Jay, John if you see this...how is yours doing? Having any problems with the refined/lower branches? For now I'm just letting everything except the apex grow, in a last ditch attempt to reinvigorate the lower branching...so the tree has become much wider than I'd like. I may try repotting into a larger growing container next spring. Any other suggestions would be welcomed.
I know @johng has one also from Jay, John if you see this...how is yours doing? Having any problems with the refined/lower branches? For now I'm just letting everything except the apex grow, in a last ditch attempt to reinvigorate the lower branching...so the tree has become much wider than I'd like. I may try repotting into a larger growing container next spring. Any other suggestions would be welcomed.
PiñonJ
Omono
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
The photo is deceptive, the foliage isn't as dense as it appears. There is plenty of space for light to penetrate and I have been selectively removing leaves from the upper canopy. So I doubt that is the issue. I may have to just cut the top back really hard to see if that (1) improves the light penetration (obviously it would), and (2) forces more energy into the lower branches. It's getting late in the season to be doing that up here, though, may have to wait until next spring.
As for the fertilizing...no idea! The branching on this is kind of coarse to begin with, I don't think it's the kind of tree that will ever produce the kind of ramification you'd see on other species.
Anyway...thanks for your thoughts!
VAFisher
Masterpiece
It's a really nice oak. I don't have any suggestions but @Zach Smith works with that species too. Maybe he has some suggestions.
Zach Smith
Omono
Chris, it's probably best to not repot yet again this coming spring. Sounds like the roots may have gotten more than enough attention for now. I'd say leave it alone through next spring, just water fert and sun. Let it grow for strength. If the growth looks strong enough, hard prune in late spring doing less in the lower part of the tree.
Zach
Zach
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, @Zach Smith . Will post updates as we go along.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
I think your decline is winter-related. Willow oak is hardy to Zone 6. I usually subtract a zone because of containerization. The tree you have is also from Fla., which means, I think anyway, that it could be a bit less hardy than willow oak native to colder zones.
How do you overwinter it?
How do you overwinter it?
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
It could be. I knew there was a risk in moving the tree from Florida to upstate NY, both from the shorter/less intense summer and the longer/colder winter. My wintering solution for this and some others that can't handle the cold (ficus, coast redwood, a few others) is an unheated mudroom that generally maintains temps within a few degrees of 40 most of the winter. There are a couple of windows but not much light (mainly because it's basically cloudy all winter). I let the tree get exposed to a frost or two in the fall, then move it to a more sheltered location. It holds most of its leaves through the winter.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
If it's holding leaves in the winter, it's still active and not dormant. It's not unusual for the willow oaks I've seen in Texas to keep some leaves during the winter.
I have similar issues with my live oak. One of the problems I had when I first got it was it retained some leaves through the winter. It needed light, more light than I could give it inside the house. After two years of keeping it under mulch in the backyard under shade, the tree showed signs similar to the leaf and twig decline yours has. I decided to overwinter it in a cold greenhouse at a bonsai nursery where it's kept at 33-44 or so from December to March.
Before putting it into storage at Thanksgiving, I let it get hit by hard freezes at least three times. I guard against two or three days of hard freezes in the late fall before storing it though. Successive days of freezing temps with no thaw period can freeze soil in the pot all the way through and give the roots problems. A night in the mid-20s won't freeze the soil in a ten gallon pot all the way through...but two nights in a row of that might.
I have similar issues with my live oak. One of the problems I had when I first got it was it retained some leaves through the winter. It needed light, more light than I could give it inside the house. After two years of keeping it under mulch in the backyard under shade, the tree showed signs similar to the leaf and twig decline yours has. I decided to overwinter it in a cold greenhouse at a bonsai nursery where it's kept at 33-44 or so from December to March.
Before putting it into storage at Thanksgiving, I let it get hit by hard freezes at least three times. I guard against two or three days of hard freezes in the late fall before storing it though. Successive days of freezing temps with no thaw period can freeze soil in the pot all the way through and give the roots problems. A night in the mid-20s won't freeze the soil in a ten gallon pot all the way through...but two nights in a row of that might.
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
Interesting. So does your live oak now shed its foliage before winter with that treatment? Maybe I should try something like that...the only other option would be keeping it inside in the coolest room I have, in front of a window or with some supplemental lighting, and that doesn't sound like a good option.
