Colorado’s Ponderosa Pine “Big Pondo”

[Colorado]

Awesome bark! It's hard to tell from photo's, but to me it looks like many years of bark layering, and somehow it hasn't been knocked off! .. lol. Great work!
The few definite 'cork-bark' ponderosa's I've found show very obvious wings of bark on the smaller branches. Of course these are just labels we come up with to try and define something out of the ordinary. There will always be at least some amount of genetic variation in every seed grown tree, so who knows, yours may be faster at growing bark, or better at holding on to it, or the environment was just right, or all of the above.

I look forward to seeing it in a RMBS show one day too.

Well said, Dan! Thanks for the input. Great points!

 

[jindog]

That tree looks awesome! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Colorado]

That tree looks awesome! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for the feedback and positive vibes!

 

[Colorado]

Tucked away for winter. I don’t really do much to protect this tree in the winter. I put it on the ground next to a fence to get it out of the wind a bit. Here it is enjoying a gentle snow shower this morning

 

[Cosmos]

That is a seriously nice ponderosa, well handled, good job!

 

[Colorado]

Peeking out from 25”+ of snow last week. I have to be very disciplined to clean off the snow every few hours when it storms like this, otherwise the weight of the snow can break branches. My neighbors probably (definitely) think I am nuts out there in a blizzard at 3:00 a.m.!

 

[Colorado]

It’s got some cones forming. Some people remove these, but I like them.

And if the name of the game with ponderosa is needle reduction, then I figure it helps to send some energy to the cones, rather than the needles.

That’s my story, anyway, and I’m stickin’ to it

Last year’s cone


New cone

 

[Scorpius]

I've heard that the more needles you keep on Ponderosa can lead to smaller needles over time. The theory is the more needles you have the less long they have to be to produce the same amount of food if the tree had less needles.

 

[Colorado]

I've heard that the more needles you keep on Ponderosa can lead to smaller needles over time. The theory is the more needles you have the less long they have to be to produce the same amount of food if the tree had less needles.

Totally!

 

[clem]

As I mentioned above, the bark on this tree is truly exceptional. Lots of ponderosas have really good bark. But this one has GREAT bark.

very nice tree ! i love the "thousand-leaf bark" and the new "zig zag" inclination suggested by your friend Hartinez.
I have learned, in a japanese YT video, that it takes -approx- 5 to 6 years to form a new layer of scale, and on your tree, i counted a good twenty, so, if it is true, your tree is about 100 years old (more or less)

 

[Deleted member 47471]

Incredible Yamadori, wow! Offering my initial first glance design observations and 2 opinions:

Observation:

Regarding the “s” it is not a major thing and quite cool to find this in nature

Options:


Final results:

 

[Colorado]

Thriving

 

[Mike Westervelt]

Oh my god! its got brown needles! it must be dying! you must do an emergency slip pot into 100% turface, followed by a superthrive bath assuming the moon phase is correct......

Sorry, feeling a little sarcastic this evening. Looking good TJ!

 

[gooeytek]

That's a sweet tree. Love the snowy vs sunny pics with the same perspective.

 

[Colorado]

That's a sweet tree. Love the snowy vs sunny pics with the same perspective.

Thank ya! Will be snowy again before we know it

 

[Colorado]

Oh my god! its got brown needles! it must be dying! you must do an emergency slip pot into 100% turface, followed by a superthrive bath assuming the moon phase is correct......

Sorry, feeling a little sarcastic this evening. Looking good TJ!

Haha! I know that your post was in jest, Mike, but it brings up an interesting point, which is that I have never applied a chemical of any sort to this tree….and it’s healthier than ever!

I haven’t tried the emergency slip pot into turface though, maybe I’ll try that one out this afternoon