Liquid Ambar - Sweet Gum stuff

[leatherback]

So.. I got annoyed with the whole Yew situation, that I decided to do something stupid and respond to another add.

According to the add, a columnar maple was available for free, to be collected today, some 20 minutes away for me. Thinking.. Small plant according to the pictures I drove with just my large caliber trimmers and a spade. Well.. I was wrong. Because they were wrong. It was not a maple, but I think it is liquidambar. So leaf size is a bit different.

In any case. I know it is the wrong time to repot and collect, but I decided to go and pull this out of the ground; Else it would have been out of the groung on a compost hill come morning.. It is now sitting in a tub of water, soaking vitamine B, because that does not help the rooting process. And then tonight or tomorrow, dewpending on whether we will finally get some rain here. Will take some pictures of the victim during and after potting.

 

[Joe Dupre']

If it was going to be trashed anyway, why not take a chance. In my limited experience, aftercare is the BIG thing. Little or no sun for 2-4 weeks with just enough water to keep it going. I'm not sure, but some recommend defoliating also. Looks like a nice sized specimen.

 

[Palmer67]

I like it! I've been weirdly attracted to liquidambar. I think it's the lighter colored trunk in contrast to the green leaves. I have a couple I'm trying not to kill, fingers crossed they make it to next spring. And there's always room for another tree, especially a free one. Thanks for the pics!

 

[leatherback]

So.. the part that was below the soil like is well barked up. Not sure whether this is due to grafting, or to soil exposure. Anybody experience with liquid Ambar?

 

[Jzack605]

Likely my favorite big tree in the landscape.

Personally I would have dug a rootball and put in a big nursery pot this time of year; doing so would have made survival almost guaranteed if dug and cared for properly.

Is there a reason you opted for bare rooting?

 

[Jzack605]

So.. the part that was below the soil like is well barked up. Not sure whether this is due to grafting, or to soil exposure. Anybody experience with liquid Ambar?

It does kind of look like a graft. However mature liquidambar bark is fissured and not smooth like you find on the young trees. So it may just be on its way to getting to that point.

I’m jealous, I want one as a bonsai.

 

[rockm]

So.. the part that was below the soil like is well barked up. Not sure whether this is due to grafting, or to soil exposure. Anybody experience with liquid Ambar?

It is a graft. You said in the initial post that this is a "columnar" variety. That is how that is achieved--grafting a scion with the upright column growth pattern onto a stronger base of garden variety liquidambar. Columnar tree varieties are sometimes called "fastigate"

Unfortunately, the bark here is never going to match and will always (at least in your lifetime) look a bit off...Just the way it goes.

Fastigate liquidambar

 

[leatherback]

Is there a reason you opted for bare rooting?

Impatience and .. seeing the potential grafting site, deciding it better be strong and take this. If not.. Too bad, next.
Only by pushing the boundary can one learn the limits.
Besides.. It was in sandy soil which dropped off as soon as I lifted the tree. No real rain for a few months will do that.

Unfortunately, the bark here is never going to match and will always (at least in your lifetime) look a bit off...Just the way it goes.

 

[leatherback]

Unfortunately, the bark here is never going to match and will always (at least in your lifetime) look a bit off...Just the way it goes.

Guess.. there might be a low cut coming up after this has rooted and then beck in the landscape for a few years. Ah well. For sure, these to not layer well?

 

[defra]

Nice find, pretty fall colors on this species right?
For what it's worth, I have a young hawthorn on its side in the ground to grow out as raft someday the bark on the trunk which is covered with soil does already get the flakey bark while the above soil parts are smooth
Can't Realy tell from this picture but I don't see a obvious graft tough

 

[leatherback]

Can't Realy tell from this picture but I don't see a obvious graft tough

Me neither.. The line is perfectly horizontal though. Not sure.
In any case.. Will let it sit in a corner for now. See whether it survives. If it coes, I might wrap the main trunk in spaghnum for a year and see whether thay creates bark. If not, I have a chainsaw.

 

[leatherback]

As predicted by many. This one did not make it. Ah well. Win some, loose some. Took it out of the pot and onto the burn pile today.