My Silverberry

[Dav4]

Spring haircut, unwired and ready to grow!

 

[Dav4]

Beast mode? Cousin ‘It’ mode? Not sure what to call it but this one is growing… A lot! It’s already in the queue to get its first spring cut back, probably next week.

 

[Dav4]

Cut back shoots to two or three leaves depending on size and location in the canopy, along with leaf cutting to open up the canopy further and allow sunlight into the interior. Some of the shoots on the lower branches were left alone to run free for a little longer. Too bad there isn’t such a thing as silver berry salad since produce is so expensive these days

 

[Dav4]

I cut the new shoots back again at the beginning of the month. It looks like I need to go in and thin out the foliage again.

 

[Dav4]

Leaf pruned and minor cut back last week. One of these days I will get my lighting dialed in…

 

[Dav4]

More “cousin It-like” every year… First cut back done .

 

[Dav4]

I love this tree but it’s a beast and hard to move by myself. It’s even harder to repot on my own, but needed to since its last repot was three years ago. The tree and I got through it in about three hours with maybe a smidge more of the root base exposed…. I’m going to have a beer now.

 

[SeanS]

Stunning tree @Dav4!
I remember seeing this thread a few years ago before I really had an interest in Elaeagnus. Now I have a few of my own and they’ve quickly become my favourite broadleaf evergreen (although yours isn’t, I’ve got the evergreen Elaeagnus pungens variety). The old gnarly bark on yours really is impressive!

 

[Berra]

Stunning tree @Dav4!
I remember seeing this thread a few years ago before I really had an interest in Elaeagnus. Now I have a few of my own and they’ve quickly become my favourite broadleaf evergreen (although yours isn’t, I’ve got the evergreen Elaeagnus pungens variety). The old gnarly bark on yours really is impressive!

Correct me if I am wrong, but Elaeagnus Pungens is not evergreen in cold climates. This is what I read at least. I keep an Elaeagnus X Ebbengei in the garden and it drops its leafs in winter.

 

[JudyB]

Still a chonker... I can relate to the pain of dealing with the big ones, I only have a couple left that are hard to deal with, got rid of the beast last year.
This one looks worth the hard work, not many of this size/caliber that I've seen. Nice ramification going on there too...

 

[MACH5]

WOW! What a fantastic tree!!

 

[Viridian Bonsai]

I’ve enjoyed reading through this thread! Very impressive elaeagnus! This genus seems pretty rare as bonsai in North America! How have the hollows healed since you filled them in?

I started growing some native elaeagnus from seed a few years ago since I’ve always admired their fragrance in the summer when they bloom here! These elaeagnus (Elaeagnus commutata), have icy blue leaves and small yellow flowers in July, I can usually smell them in bloom from 3-4 metres away. They also hold their small silver-blue fruits through winter, at least until the birds get them.

 

[Dav4]

I’ve enjoyed reading through this thread! Very impressive elaeagnus! This genus seems pretty rare as bonsai in North America! How have the hollows healed since you filled them in?

I started growing some native elaeagnus from seed a few years ago since I’ve always admired their fragrance in the summer when they bloom here! These elaeagnus (Elaeagnus commutata), have icy blue leaves and small yellow flowers in July, I can usually smell them in bloom from 3-4 metres away. They also hold their small silver-blue fruits through winter, at least until the birds get them.

No, the hollows haven't filled yet. This one exhibited a fair amount of weakness this year, with several branches never pushing growth this spring and others losing vigor and dying mid/late summer. I'm pretty sure I've lost the apex . I'm actually wondering if there might be rot within the trunk. Anyway, it's probably going into a grow box next spring and I'll have a better idea of where it's headed health and design wise in a year. Fwiw, I may end up carving the trunk, including those holes in the work, if it makes sense.

 

[SeanS]

@Dav4 deadwood on elaeagnus looks good, definitely an option

 

[defra]

No, the hollows haven't filled yet. This one exhibited a fair amount of weakness this year, with several branches never pushing growth this spring and others losing vigor and dying mid/late summer. I'm pretty sure I've lost the apex . I'm actually wondering if there might be rot within the trunk. Anyway, it's probably going into a grow box next spring and I'll have a better idea of where it's headed health and design wise in a year. Fwiw, I may end up carving the trunk, including those holes in the work, if it makes sense.

Sad to hear,

Im Just observating, it grew so hard past years looking at the photos and this year it didnt what changed, you repotted it so makes me wonder if thats why maybe to much to support for the roots? Idk hopefully you get it back in shape again at some point!

 

[Dav4]

@Dav4 deadwood on elaeagnus looks good, definitely an option

View attachment 573144

I saw this very post this past summer and it got me thinking about possible options going forward if a sizable portion of the trunk is dead. Time will tell.

 

[Dav4]

Sad to hear,

Im Just observating, it grew so hard past years looking at the photos and this year it didnt what changed, you repotted it so makes me wonder if thats why maybe to much to support for the roots? Idk hopefully you get it back in shape again at some point!

Yeah, the re-pot is the only thing I can think of that may have started this decline. I didn't think I was too aggressive removing roots but who knows. Getting it into the wooden box next spring will give me a chance to evaluate the roots and hopefully jump start the wonderful vigor this tree has had up until this year. Until then, it'll get spoiled and spend the winter in the cold room.

 

[Dav4]

This one spent the winter in my cold room, unlike the previous 3 here in MI. I noticed over the last few days that buds were swelling meaning it was time to re-pot and see if the carnage I saw in the canopy was mirrored in the roots. At least, there wasn't any more die-back over the winter.



There were a few areas with dead/inactive roots but over all the roots were healthy and actively growing throughout the root ball. Clearly, the oxalis is thriving .



I did find what looked like either a gall or very exuberant callus tissue. There was only one found, so I can't imagine it played a role in knocking this one back so badly last year, but who knows. I did a quick Google search on root galls in silverberry- there apparently is a bacteria that can cause root galls and stem galls but only one lesion in the roots?



Oh well, let the healing begin. As promised, this one went into a wooden box to convalesce. I'm hoping to see renewed vigor this year and build on it until this one gets moved back into a decent pot. I'm hoping for more buds to pop along the upper third of the trunk, as this will be a multi-year rebuilding process, and I'm looking forward to it.

 

[SeanS]

@Dav4 those gall like root structures are actually normal Elaeagnus roots! I was very worried when I repotted one last spring and found the same thing. I did a lot of googling and it turns out they’re some sort of natural adaptation in silverberry roots to apparently produce nitrogen.

 

[Dav4]

@Dav4 those gall like root structures are actually normal Elaeagnus roots! I was very worried when I repotted one last spring and found the same thing. I did a lot of googling and it turns out their some sort of natural adaptation in silver very roots to apparently produce nitrogen.

Well, what do you know . I think I knew that they are nitrogen fixing, but having repotted this one a couple of times I’d never seen that structure before. Good to have that confirmed, Sean. I appreciate it.