Collected Waxleaf Privet?

[cloakza]

Hi All,

I'm new here, but have lurked unregistered for a long time. In January 2017 I collected this stump (waxleaf privet, i think?) from a driveway which was going to be paved over. It had been part of a hedge group along the side of the drive. When collecting it, I felt that getting rid of the old chop scar would not be too much of a hassle (albeit would take a lot of time)

I was hoping the branch marked with red would push the scar out, but alas, it has not. Recently, the new shoot marked in yellow appeared, and I was looking for advice on whether this new shoot would push the scar out if allowed to fatten up long enough?



Some other angles of the trunk can be seen below, and the scar can be easily hidden on the back of the tree, but because its so short, I'd like to get the above mentioned new shoot to hopefully develop into part of the trunk



PS: Apologies for the bad image quality

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

That old wood likely rots down in pretty far.
Probly gonna need to put a hardener on it..
Maybe dig it out some.

Nice friggin Grab!

Sorce

 

[cloakza]

A few more just for an idea on size and for my own record keeping

 

[cloakza]

Welcome to Crazy!

That old wood likely rots down in pretty far.
Probly gonna need to put a hardener on it..
Maybe dig it out some.

Nice friggin Grab!

Sorce

Thanks for the welcome and input Sorce. I did apply hardener when I dug it up, but I've been toying with the idea of either carving it out or drilling into it and then put the trunk and leave it to nature for a season and see what happens.

I do suspect however that the deadwood goes all the way into this big root

 

[sorce]

I'd try to find the end of the rot...
Or don't get Too attached.

Sorce

 

[cloakza]

I'd try to find the end of the rot...
Or don't get Too attached.

Sorce

Judging by the hardness of the wood, and the fact that it doesn't crumble, I'm actually not sure it's rotting despite the dark colour.

I'll try get the tools in there this weekend and make extra sure and if it is I'll clean it all out.

Thanks again Sorce

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

As long as the wood is hard, firm, it will last quite a while.

Some have mixed a little mortar up, and filled the hollow trunk with mortar or concrete. For trees that heal rapidly, such as ficus or trident maple, the tree then can callus over and heal over the filled in mortar. But this looks like it does not heal well, so maintaining it as a hollow might be the best bet and the cavity certainly can be used to create the illusion of an ancient tree.

150 cm tall x 12 cm diameter trunk, not bad. (roughly 60 inches tall by 5 inches in diameter for my fellow 'mericans who can't relate to metric).

I'm not familiar with the species, what genus is it in? Ligustrum? Ligustrum is the genus for the common European privet, and Chinese privet. I'm not familiar with the wax leaf privet.

 

[Melospiza]

As long as the wood is hard, firm, it will last quite a while.

Some have mixed a little mortar up, and filled the hollow trunk with mortar or concrete. For trees that heal rapidly, such as ficus or trident maple, the tree then can callus over and heal over the filled in mortar. But this looks like it does not heal well, so maintaining it as a hollow might be the best bet and the cavity certainly can be used to create the illusion of an ancient tree.

150 cm tall x 12 cm diameter trunk, not bad. (roughly 60 inches tall by 5 inches in diameter for my fellow 'mericans who can't relate to metric).

I'm not familiar with the species, what genus is it in? Ligustrum? Ligustrum is the genus for the common European privet, and Chinese privet. I'm not familiar with the wax leaf privet.

Yeah, it is Ligustrum japonicum, and a good species, since its leaves reduce readily.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Yeah, it is Ligustrum japonicum, and a good species, since its leaves reduce readily.

I was hoping the OP @cloakza would verify the identity. I have encountered many times where a "common name" in South Africa referred to a very different unrelated species in North America. Unless cloakza can tell us if it is a SA native or a garden center plant that could be propagated from the Japanese species, I don't want to assume I know which species is being talked about.

Good example, common name pawpaw. In North America, pawpaw referes to the genus Asimina in the custard apple family. In South Africa pawpaw refers to the genus Carica, the fruit North Americans call papaya.

So hopefully @cloakza will let us know if Ligustrum is the species they has in front of them.

 

[cloakza]

As long as the wood is hard, firm, it will last quite a while.

Some have mixed a little mortar up, and filled the hollow trunk with mortar or concrete. For trees that heal rapidly, such as ficus or trident maple, the tree then can callus over and heal over the filled in mortar. But this looks like it does not heal well, so maintaining it as a hollow might be the best bet and the cavity certainly can be used to create the illusion of an ancient tree.

150 cm tall x 12 cm diameter trunk, not bad. (roughly 60 inches tall by 5 inches in diameter for my fellow 'mericans who can't relate to metric).

I'm not familiar with the species, what genus is it in? Ligustrum? Ligustrum is the genus for the common European privet, and Chinese privet. I'm not familiar with the wax leaf privet.

Thanks for the suggestion here Leo. I took a carving tool to the scar over the weekend, and about 5mm in it went from the pictured black wood back to brown. I have put some hardener over the scar for now, but will be taking your advice with the mortar to fill it and try get it to callus over as best I can, or at the very least, ensure the rot does not kill the tree.

 

[cloakza]

I was hoping the OP @cloakza would verify the identity. I have encountered many times where a "common name" in South Africa referred to a very different unrelated species in North America. Unless cloakza can tell us if it is a SA native or a garden center plant that could be propagated from the Japanese species, I don't want to assume I know which species is being talked about.

Good example, common name pawpaw. In North America, pawpaw referes to the genus Asimina in the custard apple family. In South Africa pawpaw refers to the genus Carica, the fruit North Americans call papaya.

So hopefully @cloakza will let us know if Ligustrum is the species they has in front of them.

I believe it is a Ligustrum japonicum as @Melospiza has stated, but then again, identification was done with google images based on leaf characteristics, flowers and fruits, so my identification could be completely incorrect. I will post additional pictures of the leaves closer up, as well as flowers and fruits when the tree starts putting them out (small bundles of white flowers, followed by bundles of black berry-like fruit. It could also however be a Ligustrum lucidum (Glossy Privet). My identification skills are weak at best

 

[JJ6465]

Any updates?