Collected Noble fir (Abies procera)

[Deleted member 47471]

This is where my brain goes when I see this trunk line potential:



Keeping in the spirit of branches angled down to indicate heavy snow load while using negative space to show off the curvature of trunk line.

Wherever you go design wise, nice tree and good structure to work with.

 

[Cruiser]

August 29, 2024
Days are getting shorter and cooler. Rain is more frequent. Root growth is strong this time of year. Time to repot.

The fir was left alone this season and is now very strong. It’s produced two flushes of growth and has had no issues.




The new box is cedar wood. Compared to the old container, it is equally as wide, 1” shorter, and 6.5” shallower (but only 1-2” shallower than the contained soil mass.


New substrate is 55/45 df bark/pumice. 1/8-1/4”


The old container (cottonwood crate) was beginning to rot in places. Except for the added sidewalls, it could be pulled apart.





Nebari was exposed. Roots were detangled and rinsed. Old native soil/rocks were finally removed.
Cut a few larger roots. (3 from the layer, 2 from bottom.) Removal is less than 10%.





A good fit. The fir went easily and snugly into its new home. Tie downs weren’t needed. Maybe they can be used as guy wires down the road or to secure some moss.

 

[Deleted member 47471]

August 29, 2024
Days are getting shorter and cooler. Rain is more frequent. Root growth is strong this time of year. Time to repot.

The fir was left alone this season and is now very strong. It’s produced two flushes of growth and has had no issues.
View attachment 565605
View attachment 565606
View attachment 565607

The new box is cedar wood. Compared to the old container, it is equally as wide, 1” shorter, and 6.5” shallower (but only 1-2” shallower than the contained soil mass.
View attachment 565608

New substrate is 55/45 df bark/pumice. 1/8-1/4”
View attachment 565609

The old container (cottonwood crate) was beginning to rot in places. Except for the added sidewalls, it could be pulled apart.
View attachment 565610
View attachment 565612
View attachment 565614
View attachment 565615

Nebari was exposed. Roots were detangled and rinsed. Old native soil/rocks were finally removed.
Cut a few larger roots. (3 from the layer, 2 from bottom.) Removal is less than 10%.
View attachment 565616
View attachment 565617
View attachment 565618
View attachment 565619

A good fit. The fir went easily and snugly into its new home. Tie downs weren’t needed. Maybe they can be used as guy wires down the road or to secure some

August 29, 2024
Days are getting shorter and cooler. Rain is more frequent. Root growth is strong this time of year. Time to repot.

The fir was left alone this season and is now very strong. It’s produced two flushes of growth and has had no issues.
View attachment 565605
View attachment 565606
View attachment 565607

The new box is cedar wood. Compared to the old container, it is equally as wide, 1” shorter, and 6.5” shallower (but only 1-2” shallower than the contained soil mass.
View attachment 565608

New substrate is 55/45 df bark/pumice. 1/8-1/4”
View attachment 565609

The old container (cottonwood crate) was beginning to rot in places. Except for the added sidewalls, it could be pulled apart.
View attachment 565610
View attachment 565612
View attachment 565614
View attachment 565615

Nebari was exposed. Roots were detangled and rinsed. Old native soil/rocks were finally removed.
Cut a few larger roots. (3 from the layer, 2 from bottom.) Removal is less than 10%.
View attachment 565616
View attachment 565617
View attachment 565618
View attachment 565619

A good fit. The fir went easily and snugly into its new home. Tie downs weren’t needed. Maybe they can be used as guy wires down the road or to secure some moss.
View attachment 565621

Very nice

 

[Cruiser]

9/1/24

Noble fir are resilient, this tree is strong, and only a few roots were cut when it was repotted.
The top 25% of its crown was also removed.



Instead of pruning, needles and buds were rubbed off the branches to make the top die back.
This method made it easier to judge how much foliage was removed relative to what remains on the tree, slowed things down so I didn’t over do it, seems to limit sap loss, and imparts a pleasant scent on the fingers.

Leaving the dead top intact provides more options later for creating deadwood features. Letting the branches dry before breaking creates more realistic looking deadwood.

The intended result is redistribution of energy to lower branches and a proliferation of buds. The goal is to create more options for ramification next pruning cycle.

 

[NaoTK]

Why did you decide to go with a fall repot? I have been debating doing my repots in fall as well, as this is when I collect with success. Fall to me usually means after the rains come in October. That said, I can report that I repotted a fir in spring and was very aggressive with the roots and it responded well. I feel firs are the 2nd-most resilient of our native conifers to root work. lodgeple>fir>spruce=hemlock

 

[Cruiser]

Most true firs continue to grow roots in the winter as long as temperatures stay above freezing. With our mild PNW winters that gives a tree repotted in August a good 7-9 months of root growth before it pushes new foliage.

Root growth is very strong right now. It’s still warm, there’s still a good amount of sunlight, and things are getting moist.

I’ve had a lot of success with late Summer and Fall collection/repotting.
Spring has been good too, but the trees are also devoting energy to foliage growth. By repotting now the tree has one less task to focus on.

The risk of repotting at this time is too much sun and/or heat. Basically, over-taxing a worked root system. To mitigate this I’ll put a recently potted tree in only part sun for a few weeks. Trees that had a lot of work done/were collected might be kept in mostly shade with only dappled light for the rest of the season.