‘Chanticleer’ Pear

Cruiser · Sep 10, 2023

September 12, 2022
Top 2’ of canopy removed to take home from nursery.

February 20, 2023
Chopped, bare-rooted, planted into Anderson flat. Substrate is medium-grain fir bark and pumice.

Tree was frequently watered and fertilized. (Osmocote and fish emulsion). Kept in nearly full sun. By early June it was ready for a haircut.
June 6, 2023 post pruning

July 29, 2023

Flat chop was carved to blend into trunk cavity. Wood is very soft.

August 5, 2023
Tree is ready for another haircut.

August 25, 2023
Light wiring. Branches are starting to ramify a little more.

September 10, 2023

Observations:
-Growth is very fast. Changes can be observed on a literal day to day basis. The quick response time makes this tree fun to work with.

-Hardiness. Pear was knocked off its table and lost the top inch of substrate. Regular potting soil was added to fill the gap. It never skipped a beat.

-Backbudding on old wood. Frequent and annoying but useful.

-Water needs. This tree does not seem to have a limit for how much water it will take.

-Aphids were a minor problem in Spring but did little damage. Lady bugs seemed drawn to this tree in particular.

-New growth is fairly straight. It breaks off easily at branch junctions. It seems like wiring needs to happen early in branch development.

Future Plans:
I’d like to create the look of an old battered orchard tree. The straight, volcanoesque look to the trunk is neat but throwing my vision off a bit.
I’m open to styling suggestions, so if anyone has ideas or pictures of old cavity-filled orchard trees please share.

0soyoung · Sep 10, 2023

Cruiser said:
I’d like to create the look of an old battered orchard tree.

YES!
I agree

Bark ought to get gnarlier just by letting high branches grow and by creating a new trunk line.

Cruiser said:
he straight, volcanoesque look to the trunk is neat but throwing my vision off a bit.

You can carve what's there to make it look like the old tree broke/died off, but you need to create a new trunk line using one of the branches, one of the lower ones IMO. I'd wire it to be a bit more tortured now. I think you want to get it thick enough that you might/could create a low shari on it. Maybe the destiny for the other branches is to be kind resembling later health problems (thank you moose!).

Lastly, I notice many fruit trees produce a lot of suckers (and I think pears are infamous in this regard), that makes a twiggy mess near ground level = a future thing, but you might not want to clean off any suckers that appear meanwhile.

Okay, I'm sending you a PPal invoice for this service

.

Cruiser · Sep 10, 2023

0soyoung said:
YES!
I agree
Bark ought to get gnarlier just by letting high branches grow and by creating a new trunk line.

You can carve what's there to make it look like the old tree broke/died off, but you need to create a new trunk line using one of the branches, one of the lower ones IMO. I'd wire it to be a bit more tortured now. I think you want to get it thick enough that you might/could create a low shari on it. Maybe the destiny for the other branches is to be kind resembling later health problems (thank you moose!).

Lastly, I notice many fruit trees produce a lot of suckers (and I think pears are infamous in this regard), that makes a twiggy mess near ground level = a future thing, but you might not want to clean off any suckers that appear meanwhile.

Okay, I'm sending you a PPal invoice for this service .

Do you accept payment in the form of cute baby photos?! That’s all I can offer for now.

Which lower branch might you suggest for a new trunk line? There’s three that emerge roughly at the height of the Shari.
I’ve been rubbing off the suckers that appear. Daily it seems. Why keep them at this point?

0soyoung · Sep 10, 2023

Cruiser said:
Which lower branch might you suggest for a new trunk line? There’s three that emerge roughly at the height of the Shari.
I’ve been rubbing off the suckers that appear. Daily it seems. Why keep them at this point?

I dunno. Keep them all and see which develops the nicest/gnarliest new trunk line - then jin/prune the others. You just need to make them have a tortured trajectory like you might imagine would happen if the old straight trunk had fallen over on them - remember that the lines will smooth as they thicken over the next few years. Maybe one or two become lower branches, maybe they become broken jins, whatever, You'll decide that stuff later. For now, they just cannot be 'civilized'. You might even try breaking them AFTER you've wired (that would look real, now wouldn't it, I ask rehetorically). Anyway, wire soon, let them grow and choose later (when its clear to you which one brings the magic.

The point of the suckers is first that they make gnarly bumps, which I think might be a good feature. As you know, you create this by letting them grow to thicken for a while, then prune them back at various times (the node left behind becomes a knob). It may be that a few dead (sucker) sticks (jins) adds to your ultimate vision

Cruiser said:
to create the look of an old battered orchard tree.

Again, I dunno. But if you don't start now its not likely to be convincing when you've basically have the rest of the image created. On the other hand, if it isn't something that fits your desires, keep rubbing off those buds and cutting flush when one gets away. You've just got to decide which way you are going with it. The point is age = what fits with an aged fruit tree?

Cruiser · Jun 13, 2024

0soyoung said:
tortured trajectory

A good opportunity to play with a new carving bit.

Before:

After:

Branches shortened or removed.
Height reduced.
Rot hollow expanded down trunk to connect with cavity at base of tree.

Colorado · Jun 13, 2024

I like where this is headed

Cruiser · Jun 17, 2024

Expanded the hollow.

The large root on the left attaches to the main trunk well above soil line. There’s a small but noticeable gap.

It helps to create a stable looking base and over all balanced, triangular shape to the tree. It also obscures interior rot and draws my eye to the left.