What would you do if this was your tree...?

I really am in 2 minds about layering this Camelia...Knight rider. I love this tree. Had it since it were but a adolescent. Its about 16 years old now.
It always had this weird root base....but I kinda got to like it over time. It has a different kind of beauty....I think. It stands powerful in the ground, because of those roots.
I know the tree can be bettered (or will it really) with a ground layer, and maybe that's what it needs...to take it forward.
Thing is...I like natural looking trees...and this certainly is a natural phenomena that adds...or takes away depending on how one looks at it.

Hence my question....What would you do..?


 Front


Back...roots alone

Side. It has this overhang...can't decide if I like it or not....and that is exactly what I like about this ugly duckling.
Red line is where I see the ground layer.

Front of root base

For interest...the flower.

Another angle. If I layer at the line...this will be the new front.

Its a very nice tree as it is, and there are a lot of ways you could go if you are not fond of it right now. One is ground layer it as you say, another would be to place an ornamental stone in that cavity. You could also repot it at an angle so the bulge faces upwards and redesign the whole tree.

Camellia grow so slowly that I’d be hesitant to layer it. I would try to find the best planting depth and front and just enjoy it. Over the years it will continue to improve in a pot. The current front could be rotated a little counter-clockwise and then planted just a little deeper. The tree doesn’t look super strong, but maybe it just hast started growing yet. I think they are acid-loving trees that benefit from some shade and cool roots.

I have a camellia japonica that's been in a galventized livestock trough the last few years. It has not put off growth that would encourage me to restart the base of yours. I expected a bit faster growth than I've gotten. In other words, I agree with what Brian has said above about them being slow. Finding a kind of stone or object to fill the void might also add a storytelling element, like akillas mentioned.

Funny enough, mine has a very similar kind of root system at the surface level.

Personally, I'd try to find a way to work with it. Whether that be an angle change, adding an object, etc. It seems like there's enough to work with (grain of salt as I'm pretty inexperienced) that you'd be going backwards more than forwards with a full reset of the roots and trunk base.

Just getting started with camellias, which I love, and can add to previous comments that in a year when all my other air layers were vigorous my only "no go" was a camellia. That being said, I have several camellias, including the air layer failure, that had vigorous growth in their original nursery pots, while the only one I did root work and pot reduction on hovered at death's door for months before it began to grow again. Just my experience...

I find the base quirky, not objectionable. I'd work with it.