Quercus Rober

[BobbyLane]

English Oak


Hi folks, thought i'd share my latest addition, I had initially planned to try a Literati style with this tree as it has the characteristics, tall, slender and elegant trunk, good movement with majority of growth at the top, i was going to remove or reduce and strip the wood off the first branch like this, then proceed to do a little thinning in the canopy...
bonsai-stieleiche-quercus-231071-0-19863 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
I decided to scrap that idea and style the tree with what was present, im glad i did

IMG_2227 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_2239 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr



After a little wire and tidy up, i removed a thick, crossing branch and have stripped it for a dead branch feature, common in Oak
IMG_2247 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_2248 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_2250 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_2255 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_2257 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_2259 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

Its quite a tall tree for me, stands approx 20in, ive gotten some gnarly bends in a few of the branches, common feature with Oak in the wild, im looking forward to the winter image...
IMG_2292 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_2294 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

inspirational photos and kind of winter image im working towards
IMG_8412 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_8414 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

More to do with mimicking the gnarly bends in these two rather than following the branch structure to the letter.

 

[GGB]

I love this, English oak is high on my list of "Trees I need"

 

[rockm]

Extremely nice job!

 

[sorce]

Continuing to demonstrate an excellent eye!

I love what you see, and how you always find it!

Sorce

 

[Aeast]

Beautiful tree!

 

[TomB]

Hi Bobby - good call not to go with the literati styling, I like this.

Up in Scotland I've seen a lot of oaks that look like this - very similar to Scots pines in fact. A very different image to the spreading lowland oaks, but very natural and with just as much character.

I particularly like the image with the main branch to the right, but both sides work equally well as a front.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Is this "striped shirt" Bobby from Michaels place?

 

[BobbyLane]

@TomB Hi mate, the main branch to the right was actually how the tree was advertised and what i'd intended to work from, after seeing the nebari i decided to flip it, i still feel the branch structure looks a tad better on the side with less nebari, that could also be because that side is a little more open, it needs to fill in a little..but ill be doing some tweaking here n there to get everything flowing. great to have two sides, ill enjoy the tree each time i rotate it on my balcony.

 

[Giga]

What a great oak. Oak is still one tree I don't have but also need. Much yamadori hunting this winter.

 

[MACH5]

Very nice work Bobby! I love oaks. There was a big English oak at the US National Exhibition this past weekend.


Giga, I am looking for some large oak material. So if you happen to come across some, let me know if you are interested in selling or trading.

 

[coh]

Nice oak you're developing there!

Very nice work Bobby! I love oaks. There was a big English oak at the US National Exhibition this past weekend.


Giga, I am looking for some large oak material. So if you happen to come across some, let me know if you are interested in selling or trading.

Funny you should mention that. I thought that was a really neat tree (at the National), don't see too many English oaks. I have one in my growing bed. It was just trunk chopped in 2014 and lifted for root work in 2015. It's developing a gnarly trunk but with some reverse taper. I was worrying about whether it might be suitable for bonsai, or whether it would wind up being a yard tree. The tree at the National, though, provided some encouragement because the trunk looks similar. Kathy Shaner was doing a critique and someone asked about "reverse taper" and she responded that the trunk showed great age and character, and the "defects" actually were a positive (which was what I was thinking). So I've got some hope. We'll see...

 

[fredman]

Bobby I have this one that needs root pruning and cutting back this season (it spring here now). I planning a natural oak style for it.


I'm unsure when to do the root and branch cut backs. I have read they don't like roots disturbed (dieback and even desiccation). I since found this article (fascinating read) and it seems the better time is after the leaves has opened...

http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATquercus rootpruning and repotting.htm

When do you do your work on it?

Beautiful tree you have mate. Great to see how well the leaves reduced Great work !!!

 

[Cypress187]

It's very nice, I've a double trunk one which is almost ready for styling.

 

[BobbyLane]

Bobby I have this one that needs root pruning and cutting back this season (it spring here now). I planning a natural oak style for it.
View attachment 117082

I'm unsure when to do the root and branch cut backs. I have read they don't like roots disturbed (dieback and even desiccation). I since found this article (fascinating read) and it seems the better time is after the leaves has opened...

http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATquercus rootpruning and repotting.htm

When do you do your work on it?

Beautiful tree you have mate. Great to see how well the leaves reduced Great work !!!

Hi Fredman, i prune deciduous at any time really, root prune in spring and i even root prune and repot later in the season on occasion with good aftercare. with an established Oak, they build up a lot of mycorrhizal fungi and too much disturbance all at once can set the tree back. but saying that, i chopped a garden centre oak last winter, severely root pruned it so it was able to fit in a bonsai pot, but then decided to just put it in a growing bed....in winter, it back budded in spring and has been growing well all summer. the bonsai4me article is a good one to go by though, however results may vary in your climate.
Btw ive only had this tree approx 2 weeks, ive only done some wiring and styling on it, i can see that the previous owner has been leaf pruning it, cutting back hard in the crown and id imagine its been regularly defoliated, large buds removed in spring and a somewhat pot bound root mass have all resulted in a very small leaf size. ill continue this process with the tree and when i repot it in spring i only intend on cutting the root mass like a cake around the edges.
I have two Oaks in my allotment, one is going on its second season in the ground after being in a bonsai pot, i kind of leave them to it but constantly prune back the apical branches, id recommend keeping some of the field soil when transplanting to a pot.

 

[BobbyLane]

Thanks for the replies and interest folks

Btw does anyone have a link to images of trees at the US nationals? ive only seen the bonsai empire vid and dont recall seeing an Oak, but that Birch is something else..

 

[coh]

Bobby, the only links I have are in the Exhibition thread. I don't think I've seen the oak in any of the photos. If you are on facebook, there are a fair number of photos of the event floating around, though again...I haven't seen the oak.

I'll add my two cents regarding repotting, root work, etc. I have had several oaks over the past few years. Two English oaks which started as nursery stock, both were planted in the ground with extensive root work in early spring and they did fine. The one that is destined for bonsai (eventually) was trunk chopped in spring 2014, then dug with extensive root reduction in spring 2015. It has recovered well and is growing strongly. So it seems that standard spring root work is OK for many oaks. I also have a willow oak that came from Jay Wilson in Florida, that one is in a bonsai container. Again, repotting and root work was done successfully during the "standard" spring window.

I will note that both of my oaks tend to break buds later in spring than many trees, so I do the repots a little later - but still before bud break. So far, so good.

 

[BobbyLane]

Hi Coh, yeh for me too the best time is spring, although a little later than many of the other deciduous. i have indeed seen some pics on fb, i might have seen the Oak already actually.

 

[SlayingCondors]

I'm fascinated by the idea of an oak bonsai as I live in London too and obviously they are one of the most iconic native English trees.

I always thought they'd be unsuitable for bonsai though as their leaves are so big. Is it possible to reduce the leaf size or do you just have to live with it?

 

[fredman]

The leaves reduce considerably as can be seen from the pic on the tree above. Very pleasant surprise for me to.

 

[GGB]

I finally found some saplings for sale, 12 for $3. These trees aren't so popular in the states, and info is hard to come by. Glad to know these guys can take a little abuse