TP Grande Crape Myrtle

[thumblessprimate1]

Thumbless,

just to let you know, the shrub, needs no winter or cold. They grow down here like weeds and even the one's brought
in from the US [1980 ] are thriving.

How's that for adaptability.

They have been local for well over a 100 years.
Good Day
Anthony

Nice to hear from you, Anthony! Good to know if I ever want to move it to a hot greenhouse in the winter. Never heard of it called a shrub, they're monster sized shrubs!

The before picture. The cut significantly reduced the weight. It must have been about 60 to 70 lbs.

 

[Anthony]

Thumbless,

there are also tree types from India, big trees.
Stay tuned they should be leafless and in bloom by the next month.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[thumblessprimate1]

The cut with a 12 inch electric chainsaw was very satisfying. Almost completely flat bottom. I only had to use a concave cutter to cut a little off an edge. I love cutting, especially when it involves a chainsaw.

 

[vaibatron]

Good God. That is a big ole chunk a wood!

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Good God. That is a big ole chunk a wood!

@M. Frary

That's what she said!

 

[M. Frary]

@M. Frary

How did I miss that?

 

[thumblessprimate1]

How did I miss that?

You're getting sl0w.

 

[Rusty Davis]

Very nice! Anybody play with fusing trucks on these guys? Up north I can't find chunks like this so I thought about making one. I've picked up a few and have seeds from last year. Should be planting them tomorrow

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Go for it! I'd recommend placing a wide tile underneath.

 

[Rusty Davis]

I was thinking grow out a year then wire structure and tie them off but I could toss in a tile for fun too

 

[thumblessprimate1]

The tile guides the roots sideways which makes digging up easier too.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

What I like about Crape Myrtle is the texture of the bark, the muscle in the trunk and branches, and the surface roots.
Like these---https://www.dirtdoctor.com/garden/Crape-Myrtle-Murder-Newsletter_vq3952.htm

Lots of other things, but mainly what I've mentioned.
After leaving the stump on the stool for days. I decided to finally continue my work on it today. Just kiddin'. Not April yet! Work was done a while back just didn't post the images right away, because of work, life, and just repotting a bunch of things.



This is one tree that I think will look good with scars, hallows, and Crape Myrtle muscle. Probably too early to have a design decided, but my imagination keeps running wild on this. I've seen some Ebihara root work on the forum, and generally you use the roots at the bottom of the base. I thought I'd use some a little higher up too. I hypothesize that the roots will eventually fuse and form some more wildness. If that doesn't work out, I'll remove them. The secure brackets might be ready for removal next year at repotting. The ones onto the board, perhaps after a couple of years. This is growing in a large pot now. I think at one time it was a large Korean kimchi mixing tub.
http://www.ekitchenary.com/products/korean-rubber-tub?variant=11098330886
Kind of expensive, but it was free for me. It was laying around and noone was making kimchi.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I'm pretty satisfied with my Crape, but this one is still eye candy everytime I pass it. I'd call it Back Breaker. Tempting to dig, but it'll sit there for a while. Definitely not easy to remove.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Thinned out some buds growing in clusters or just where I think they have no business being.

 

[Rusty Davis]

Here are some nice bases I ran cross them on the San Antonio river walk.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Here are some nice bases View attachment 138798 View attachment 138799 I ran cross them on the San Antonio river walk.

That's the flavor of nebari I like for Crape Myrtle bonsai, which is one reason I don't think I'd train a trunk bigger than what I have; the nebari is going to be pretty wide.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Little white roots visible at the soil surface.

 

[Velodog2]

Some nice wood there! I'm doing one from a largish landscape trunk similar to, but nowhere near as nice as this, and I'll just mention that it takes patience to get the shoots grown up to a diameter to blend in with the original wood. I'm about eight years into growing and cutting, growing and cutting, and I'm finally about at the point of thinking of ramification.

I love cm but I don't think there are very many high quality specimens around that really show off the tree's characteristics to their best advantage, certainly including mine. In particular the nebari you see on landscape trees seems to take literally forever to develop in a pot. Despite that they are a joy to repot with lots of beautiful fine roots that are easily combed out and arranged. They just don't thicken. Good luck!

 

[sorce]

I ran cross them on the San Antonio river walk.

Good thing you didn't fall in!

Sorce

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Minimal root work the other day in between work and things. Super busy so I just took the stump out, raked the roots to see what's there and removed some nails. They were biting in. There were no huge roots, surprisingly. A few some roots growing high, which should've been removed, but I was in a hurry and I'll prioritize it for next year. Did a couple thread grafts, one today and one that day. They're to prevent dieback in case I do go with a trunk direction and remove some trunk parts not in my design plan.



I'm a little stuck deciding between these
Two trunk lines. Perhaps I can't go wrong with either, and it's nice to have options.