Escarpment live oak #2 (Quercus fusiformis)

[Big Country Bonsai]

I’ve read that oaks tend to shoot it long tap roots with very few lateral roots near the base. Luckily for me the Buckley oaks, Blackjack oaks and the two live oaks I have collected have had quite a bit of feeder roots. This one has lots of potential. It’ll take years to get it into a bonsai style but I’m going to enjoy the process. Collected 3-24-20 near Abilene, Texas. Not sure I’m I’m going to keep both of the “trunks” I think the thicker leader has better movement and if I choose one to keep that one will probably win out. Thanks for looking

 

[Mikecheck123]

Nice work! I like your assortment of root weapons.

 

[Big Country Bonsai]

Nice work! I like your assortment of root weapons.

Thanks! It took everyone of them. I need a nice battery powered reciprocating saw.

 

[Yosemite]

nice..... I was checking out likely live oak and deer brush in my yard today... nice to see your collection techniques

 

[Big Country Bonsai]

Just wanted to give you guys an update. The tree is growing well and I’m thinking of throwing some wire on it during this fall season.

 

[Big Country Bonsai]

Just wanted to give you guys an update. The tree is growing well and I’m thinking of throwing some wire on it during this fall season.

 

[Big Country Bonsai]

I threw some wire and put the primary branching into place on my oak. I’m probably going to train this tree with a combo of wire and clip and grow. My intention with the wire is to get some movement early on the primary branches and then go clip and grow with some of the secondary and tertiary branching. The last photo shows where the current leader originates from. It comes out low on a larger branch that was cut back at the time of collection. The leader originates near the base of the branch and there are two points of growth superior to the “leader”. Should I cut back to only have the leader or will it be okay to leave the other branches? I’m new so let me know if there is a more ideal plan. Thanks guys.

 

[BrianBay9]

Nice tree. Generally I don't do anything to collected trees for the first year. The only thing I'm interested in is replacement of roots lost during collection, so I go strictly hands-off. Water and fertilize and let 'em regain some strength.

 

[Charlie]

Any update on this guy?

 

[rockm]

I didn't see this two years ago. Nice escarpment oak. Hope it's coming along. I have had one for years now. Once they adapt to containerization, they're tough resilient bonsai material.

 

[Big Country Bonsai]

Any update on this guy?

It’s was looking rough after a hard winter (for Texas) but it’s leaking out nicely now. I’ll take some new photos this weekend. It has its first repot this spring and seems to be doing okay.

 

[rockm]

It’s was looking rough after a hard winter (for Texas) but it’s leaking out nicely now. I’ll take some new photos this weekend. It has its first repot this spring and seems to be doing okay.

I love this species. Was able to get this kind of leaf reduction on mine this past summer.

 

[Big Country Bonsai]

Here’s the tree a couple years on. Looking forward to getting it into a bonsai container before too long. Still needs to thicken the branches so I may keep it in an oversized container for a while longer.

 

[rockm]

View attachment 567252
Here’s the tree a couple years on. Looking forward to getting it into a bonsai container before too long. Still needs to thicken the branches so I may keep it in an oversized container for a while longer.

Very fine looking oak Fusiformis! It's coming along. FWIW, I've found branch thickening to be a very long term project with this species. Apex branching thickens the quickest, while lower lateral branches can take decades. I typically don't use wire on branches with mine. I prefer hard pruning. That's personal preference though.