Go big or go home!

[Dav4]

I was reworking the callus edge of the chop scars on the tree above when I discovered something a bit troublesome… a boat load of punky wood. I was surprised because this wound had been healing so nicely and was on a more vertical part of the trunk so should have been shedding water well. Any way, I removed as much of the punky wood as possible and applied wood hardener.

Ideally, I would have filled the void with epoxy putty but didn’t have enough… but I did have some acrylic stucco repair/patch in a tub. Let’s see how this works.

 

[Dav4]

It took two days to fully
Cure, but that patch is hard! ( mental note to do a better job cleaning residual filler before it hardens). Anyway, hopefully we’ll see more rolling callus by June.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Do you plan to carve off the callous bark or just let it grow and hope it eventually fixes itself?

 

[Dav4]

Do you plan to carve off the callous bark or just let it grow and hope it eventually fixes itself?

My plan is to leave it alone until it heals. I may gently rub off some of the rough bark around the scar but don’t anticipate any further carving here. The wound is on the back of the tree fwiw.

 

[Dav4]

 

[Dav4]

This one may go into a wooden box this spring as I've decided to let things run almost everywhere in the canopy except the very top of the apex. All the branching needs to both thicken up and extend at least 50%. I'm hoping the last section of trunk will finally thicken enough that I can lose the sacrifice branch in 1-2 years.

Please pardon the ghetto wiring job... it is what it is .

 

[Dav4]

Last tree to be worked this year. Anticipating a new planting angle next repot.

Slow and steady

 

[Dav4]

Repotted with a new planting angle. The buds are swelling now, so I went ahead and worked the chop scars and did some judicious pruning. This tree needs to step its game up a bit this year.

 

[Dav4]

 

[Dav4]

This one went back into the same pot, but I’ll let it run this year. Still debating on whether to keep the apex as is and hope the sacrificial branch finally fattens that section up enough or just chop lower. I started a thread graft an inch or so below the blue tape and will let it and the older sacrificial branch run for a few years and see what we get. I keep telling myself “it’s the journey“

 

[snowman04]

It is the journey!!! I vote for the apex where it is, like that matters...

 

[Dav4]

It is the journey!!! I vote for the apex where it is, like that matters...

It matters….


… when you agree with me

 

[Jrmcmich]

This one went back into the same pot, but I’ll let it run this year. Still debating on whether to keep the apex as is and hope the sacrificial branch finally fattens that section up enough or just chop lower. I started a thread graft an inch or so below the blue tape and will let it and the older sacrificial branch run for a few years and see what we get. I keep telling myself “it’s the journey“
View attachment 590136View attachment 590137

Just wondering what blue tape is for?

 

[Dav4]

Just wondering what blue tape is for?

It’s a visual cue to get me to do something. Here, it’s reminding me to think twice before pinching or pruning anything above it… or below it??

 

[Jrmcmich]

It’s a visual cue to get me to do something. Here, it’s reminding me to think twice before pinching or pruning anything above it… or below it??

Smart idea

 

[Dav4]

At least it looks good during the growing season…

 

[snowman04]

At least it looks good during the growing season…
View attachment 597606

Don't they all!!! Great tree, Dave...

 

[Dav4]

When a chop scar stalls despite vigorous growth, look for rotten wood… . Welp… at least it’s on the back of the tree. Let’s see if I can make that hole a bit smaller before the trunk rots out . In short, all the punky wood was scraped out, lots of wood hardener was applied to all the nooks , crannies, and exposed wood, acrylic stucco patch was used to fill the cavity, allowed to cure for 24 hours, the callus edge was scraped and then sealed. Let’s see what we have this August

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

Will the wood hardener and acrylic stucco patch slow or stop the rot? What did you use to seal the nicked scar?

I should've listened to the thread title and went home.

 

[Dav4]

The wood hardener slows the rot and the stucco provides a base for callus to roll on to and hopefully close the wound. Only the complete wound closure will stop the rot. Callus won’t grow onto soft wood. I used Duct Seal to cover the nicked callus which will help it roll further.