Water Oak

[VAFisher]

Getting ready to put the oak away for the winter and I did a little work on it today. The branches were getting too long, without much taper, and not much growth in close. So I did a pretty major prune and removed quite a bit. My early mistakes in the apex are much more evident in these leafless shots. I'm not sure there's much that can be done, other than a 2nd chop, but I'm just not ready for that yet.

 

[misfit11]

It's really come a long way since your first post. Good decision to cut back hard to improve branch taper. The tree will be better for it later on.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Fabulous progress in just 4 years.

 

[VAFisher]

So, i skipped repotting this tree last year, which may have been a mistake in retrosepect. The pot was full of circling roots and the interior was staying pretty dry. There were a bunch of rotten roots in there and I had to get pretty aggressive with the repot this year. I think that combined with the hard cutback last fall has made my oak a little sluggish so far this year. It's starting to get going pretty well now though. Looks like I'm going to have to address the roots yearly on this tree.


Also, I've not been loving the pot combo recently and think it would like nicer in something slightly shallower and 3 or 4 inches wider. I may search for something for next year, but that's going to be expensive...

 

[VAFisher]

It's getting to the time of year that this tree loves and its really started to get dense again. The more hot and humid the better for this oak.



I'm glad I did the hard cutback last winter.

 

[Tieball]

So, i skipped repotting this tree last year, which may have been a mistake in retrosepect. The pot was full of circling roots and the interior was staying pretty dry. There were a bunch of rotten roots in there and I had to get pretty aggressive with the repot this year. I think that combined with the hard cutback last fall has made my oak a little sluggish so far this year. It's starting to get going pretty well now though. Looks like I'm going to have to address the roots yearly on this tree.
View attachment 375765

Also, I've not been loving the pot combo recently and think it would like nicer in something slightly shallower and 3 or 4 inches wider. I may search for something for next year, but that's going to be expensive...

Did you cut back the roots considerably? How would you describe your root pruning?
I have an Oak tree candidate for root pruning. Not sure when to do the work…..or how much to prune away. Any comment would be helpful.

 

[VAFisher]

Did you cut back the roots considerably? How would you describe your root pruning?
I have an Oak tree candidate for root pruning. Not sure when to do the work…..or how much to prune away. Any comment would be helpful.

Hosed out all of the old soil, untangled and cut circling roots, removed dead roots and big downward growing roots.

 

[Hartinez]

Great tree with an atypical species. Amazing growth in such a short period. How big is it? Trunk and height?

I dug that smaller one up that I mentioned from my moms house. She’s planning on driving out next summer where she’ll tag that one along. We’ll see how it fairs in the high desert.

 

[VAFisher]

Great tree with an atypical species. Amazing growth in such a short period. How big is it? Trunk and height?

I dug that smaller one up that I mentioned from my moms house. She’s planning on driving out next summer where she’ll tag that one along. We’ll see how it fairs in the high desert.

Thanks man. You know. I've never measured it. That pot is 17" so eyeballing the pic puts the tree somewhere around 30" with about a 3" trunk.

I bet it will do fine for you. Not much seems to be able to hurt mine.

 

[Hartinez]

Thanks man. You know. I've never measured it. That pot is 17" so eyeballing the pic puts the tree somewhere around 30" with about a 3" trunk.

I bet it will do fine for you. Not much seems to be able to hurt mine.

deceivingly large! That thing is a beast.

 

[VAFisher]

deceivingly large! That thing is a beast.

Definitely not a one hander. It was my biggest tree until I picked up that big crape myrtle. Most of my stuff is medium to small.

 

[hinmo24t]

really nice

 

[VAFisher]

This probably gives a better idea of the size. The bench it's sitting on is a 4' bench.

 

[Zach Smith]

This probably gives a better idea of the size. The bench it's sitting on is a 4' bench.

I like that tool on the left-hand side of the bench. No nonsense from those trees!

 

[Hartinez]

I like that tool on the left-hand side of the bench. No nonsense from those trees!

Thats Dans "branch bender"

 

[VAFisher]

I like that tool on the left-hand side of the bench. No nonsense from those trees!

Haha, the dog came running out of the woods with it in his mouth the other day. I thought it was a stick at first. Who knows how long that thing has been out there before he found it. I grabbed it out of his mouth and laid it up on the bench.
The dumbass will chew on anything, including but not limited to shoes, hats, socks, pillows, sticks, tv remotes, phone charging cables, deer antlers, human hands, arms and legs - and occassionally dog toys.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

Its a very apical dominant species right? I think you need to pinch more the top and let the lower branches gain strenght and thickness

 

[VAFisher]

Its a very apical dominant species right? I think you need to pinch more the top and let the lower branches gain strenght and thickness

Keeping the top in check is a constant battle. I pinch off new shoots almost daily.

 

[Dav4]

Haha, the dog came running out of the woods with it in his mouth the other day. I thought it was a stick at first. Who knows how long that thing has been out there before he found it. I grabbed it out of his mouth and laid it up on the bench.
The dumbass will chew on anything, including but not limited to shoes, hats, socks, pillows, sticks, tv remotes, phone charging cables, deer antlers, human hands, arms and legs - and occassionally dog toys.


View attachment 384043

In my biz, we call this job security .

 

[VAFisher]

In my biz, we call this job security .

That's Forrest Gump. I adopted him about 3 months ago and chose the breed because they make awesome running companions. He's been on trail runs with me up to 13 miles. Problem is, he gets overheated easily, even at 6am, when it's 70 degrees with a 70 dew point. So I've been leaving him home when it's bad. And when he doesn't run, he gets bored. And when he gets bored, he figures out how to entertain himself. And I lose tv remotes and hats. I'm ready for October...