Field Grown Alnus Serrulata No. 2

[Shogun610]

Dug this out today at a natives grower. It’s a old Smooth Alder , Alnus Serrulata. Doing to clean the dirt out a bit and trim back. Stay tuned for after shots and some feedback on future style.. I have a double or triple trunk in mind because alder dies back if you just cut all viable buds off as I’ve discovered.. but they bud back ferociously

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I'm growing black alder from seed. Gonna be fun to watch this one!

 

[Colorado]

Nice material! Good bones it looks like.

So in your experience, are you saying that alder needs to be cut back to a visible bud to avoid dieback? Or in other words, the branch has a tendency to perish if cut back further than to a viable bud?

 

[Shogun610]

Here’s the front I’m liking , let the tree recover then next year cut back down to make a twin or triple trunk , cut down to build taper and wire /position branches to rebuild taper on the lower branches as eventual new leaders. Last pic another option.

 

[Shogun610]

Nice material! Good bones it looks like.

So in your experience, are you saying that alder needs to be cut back to a visible bud to avoid dieback? Or in other words, the branch has a tendency to perish if cut back further than to a viable bud?

Yeah in my experience as long as there is a viable bud or dormant bud , on a branch you cut back to.. it will pop buds further behind down or else you risk it suckering growth.

 

[Shogun610]

@Colorado i might even expand those hollows and carve it out. They aren’t the best at healing over either the wood is soft and rots away too.. tricky tree but as long as the soil is highly water retentive or well watered , they are happy.. it’s a swamp bordering tree.

 

[Colorado]

@Colorado i might even expand those hollows and carve it out. They aren’t the best at healing over either the wood is soft and rots away too.. tricky tree but as long as the soil is highly water retentive or well watered , they are happy.. it’s a swamp bordering tree.

I have noticed the same thing on my Mountain Alder about the hollows. Guess alders just like to have Uro!

 

[PA_Penjing]

I like the first view as a double trunk. Soft crumbly dead wood sounds appealing to me, easier on the tools

 

[Shogun610]

This thing back budded so profusely I cut the top and made it shorter to compact the tree.. now.. I want it to bud back in the main trunk if not the far left will be the leader and cut bac .. I like the taper in that direction grow baby go

 

[berzerkules]

Nice looking alder. They are all over the place up here so I have collected a bunch. They are prone to die back but are tough trees.

 

[Shogun610]

Nice looking alder. They are all over the place up here so I have collected a bunch. They are prone to die back but are tough trees.

Not if you have growth further back down. I only cut back down to where a bud is , too right branch there is a small bud emerging, safe to cut back to. And fertilize heavily, drench too, they love H2O

 

[berzerkules]

Not if you have growth further back down. I only cut back down to where a bud is , too right branch there is a small bud emerging, safe to cut back to. And fertilize heavily, drench too, they love H2O

Yeah, I like having multiple buds or sprouts all around the branch if I cut back hard. I made a lot of mistakes last year and lost some branches but they all woke up this spring.

They love water too, always find them on the edge of lakes, ponds and rivers. I water my alders everyday, sometimes twice.

 

[Shogun610]

Pretty cool eh

 

[Shogun610]

@BobbyLane

 

[Shogun610]

I think I’m going to cut the central trunk back to the left branch and develop it from there. I need to drive kore growth further down , then work on roots in spring , reducing it further and have it in a better pot for stability

 

[Shogun610]

Repotted into a plastic training pot for now , I have a permanent pot picked out for it but honestly it’s not ready, and I don’t even know what direction to take . Any input would be cool, I was thinking of cutting the thicker upper branch and just going with the smaller secondary trunk , it has better taper but not sure. Also these things love akadama

 

[Shogun610]

These are thought trees to figure out, that larger trunk never budded out so i replanted in a small but deeper pot as well. And have been watering 3 x a day

 

[Shogun610]

I’m trying but I just don’t think Alnus Serrulata is conducive to Bonsai. It doesn’t heal back

That’s the chop , even on a American Hornbeam or American Beech you’ll get callus

And Damn you Mickey Moniak