justBonsai
Omono
I purchased 2 cork oaks from Barry's sale today. I made sure to get there early and picked out the best 2 
. Sorry snoozers.
These trees with the native soil were immensely heavy and I spent all day working the roots, setting em in trainers, and getting tarps up. It was a lot of work so I couldn't be bothered to take progression pics. Once they come out of the incubators (and hopefully live) I'll upload high quality photos. Not pictured are the trees after structural pruning, major chops, and partial defoliation.
Typically it would be too late to repot oaks in Socal but I noticed the trees were only barely beginning to push buds and new growth. Likely those 3 weeks of unusually cold weather extended dormancy a bit longer.
I've been developing oaks for 3 years now and have had good success. If I do major root work I've always done partial or full defoliation. If it's just minor work and transfer of containers I don't defoliate. Half of the root mass was cut off and the remaining worked out with a chopstick and hose. I don't know if it makes a difference but I do a root drench in some seaweed fert and mycorrhizal inoculant. I pot em in equal parts pumice, lava, and DE but also add a little bark since my oaks have grown well in it. I tarp them after and let the trees sit in full sun to get humid and hot. If all goes well within 2 weeks I can start weening the trees off the tarps and remove it completely within a month.
This is exactly how I treated my coast live oak which went from a weakened borer infested state to a healthy vigorous tree. I'm crossing my fingers as these are nice older trees. I'm pretty confident in the larger first one as there we a lot of shallow feeder roots. The second tree had more roots in the lower section I cut off but I still left the tap root a little long as I'm hoping the stored sugars will pull it through. The subtrunk on that one was cut back and I completely defoliated the outer canopy. I am hoping enough foliage was removed to prevent transpiration stress that is known to kill oaks.
Oh yeah, I'll add a photo later but my coast live oak I've posted before made its way into a terra cotta trainer last month. It's only 1-2 seasons away from fitting in a bonsai pot if need be. 3+ year effort to bring it from a 15 gallon can down to a healthy compact root system. My large cork oak is now in the pot my coast live oak used to be in.
. Sorry snoozers.These trees with the native soil were immensely heavy and I spent all day working the roots, setting em in trainers, and getting tarps up. It was a lot of work so I couldn't be bothered to take progression pics. Once they come out of the incubators (and hopefully live) I'll upload high quality photos. Not pictured are the trees after structural pruning, major chops, and partial defoliation.
Typically it would be too late to repot oaks in Socal but I noticed the trees were only barely beginning to push buds and new growth. Likely those 3 weeks of unusually cold weather extended dormancy a bit longer.
I've been developing oaks for 3 years now and have had good success. If I do major root work I've always done partial or full defoliation. If it's just minor work and transfer of containers I don't defoliate. Half of the root mass was cut off and the remaining worked out with a chopstick and hose. I don't know if it makes a difference but I do a root drench in some seaweed fert and mycorrhizal inoculant. I pot em in equal parts pumice, lava, and DE but also add a little bark since my oaks have grown well in it. I tarp them after and let the trees sit in full sun to get humid and hot. If all goes well within 2 weeks I can start weening the trees off the tarps and remove it completely within a month.
This is exactly how I treated my coast live oak which went from a weakened borer infested state to a healthy vigorous tree. I'm crossing my fingers as these are nice older trees. I'm pretty confident in the larger first one as there we a lot of shallow feeder roots. The second tree had more roots in the lower section I cut off but I still left the tap root a little long as I'm hoping the stored sugars will pull it through. The subtrunk on that one was cut back and I completely defoliated the outer canopy. I am hoping enough foliage was removed to prevent transpiration stress that is known to kill oaks.
Oh yeah, I'll add a photo later but my coast live oak I've posted before made its way into a terra cotta trainer last month. It's only 1-2 seasons away from fitting in a bonsai pot if need be. 3+ year effort to bring it from a 15 gallon can down to a healthy compact root system. My large cork oak is now in the pot my coast live oak used to be in.
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Took me forever when I cut my english oak last year. Next root chop will be done with a reciprocated saw. That will make root work much more pleasant.
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