Rootballed deodar cedar in burlap--first steps?

[I_I_am_not_a_cat]

I was so excited about the potential of this tree that I didn't realize that R&R trees are not generally regarded as good material. And perhaps the same would be said of this type of tree, for that matter.

Anyway, I picked it up at the orange box store on a whim today and it is now on my back deck. I started to clean it up a little so I could make some basic design decisions and realized I am not sure what to do about the burlap. Reading some threads, I see talk about bare rooting asap, as well as suggestions to plant it in the ground and hope it survives in either case.

It is starting to get hot here in the high desert but not exceedingly so just yet--but that is coming.

 

[I_I_am_not_a_cat]

Decided I needed to see what I was dealing with inside the burlap. Turns out the rootball is much small than the 5 gallon bucket would suggest. The trunk is also taller than it appeared in the pot, being covered by both burlap and bark mulch.




Since it is clay, I followed advice from a different thread that suggested using a hose to rinse some of the clay away to reveal the roots, then repot with half the rootball in bonsai soil. I tried to do that, but couldn't capture photos.

I cut down a slightly smaller nursery pot and wired the rootball in, but it was too unstable and top heavy, so I dropped that into the original added clay around the outside of the internal pot for weight and stability and wired the trunk down.




I also removed some of the smaller and inner branches but decided to stop there, as I do not want to stress it out too much.



Any suggestions or feedback appreciated as I am not certain what I have done so far is the best path.

At some point in the future, I plan on removing the upper 1/3 to 1/2 so it is flat topped. I might try to air layer that.

Any suggestions or feedback appreciated as I am not certain what I have done so far is the best path.

 

[James W.]

I think you did fine. You might want to place it in a shady spot to recover.
There is some disagreement as to the timing of repotting the similar Atlas cedar. I have had success repotting Atlas cedars after new foliage has all hardened off but it's kind of scary when they start to drop a bunch of needles.
I think you could start reducing the top and chasing back branches late this summer.
Disclaimer, I admire deodar cedars but have not tried to grow any.

 

[I_I_am_not_a_cat]

I think you did fine. You might want to place it in a shady spot to recover.

Thanks, that is affirming. I followed your advice and put it under a shade sail--so not full shade, but not full sun either.

I think you could start reducing the top and chasing back branches late this summer.

When you say "start reducing" does that mean I probably shouldn't take too much in one fell swoop?

 

[MaciekA]

I have 5 cedrus, and all of those were collected yardadori in the post flush period. All were completely bare rooted, but they were much much smaller than your B&B tree (they were seedlings of a cedrus the size of a building). They recovered very well from that collection timing, but I still wish I'd found them and collected them before flush, and they probably did fine being bare rooted due to their size.

I'd be aggressive as far as shade sailing and wind-breaking goes and limit any direct sun to morning sun only -- you are in a much much much drier place than @James W. , and much much drier than my location, even with our long paper-dry zero-rain summers. IMO, this is much closer to a summer-collected yamadori/yardadori more so than a repotted tree that can pick up and go soon after. If this was my collection, I wouldn't work it this year. You may have a western Oregon-like summer, but you still have a central Oregon winter and the tree should be allowed bulk up for that and to first signal to you that it's ready for work with plentiful new growth. Since you've mostly bare rooted it, you're potentially in for a ride and you can limit that by keeping foliage and letting the roots bulk up right into winter.

My cedrus were collected last year and I don't plan to work on them until this fall. WELL worth the wait to feel a pot that's gone stiff from rootage and to see lots of new foliage say "I'm ready".

 

[James W.]

When you say "start reducing" does that mean I probably shouldn't take too much in one fell swoop?

Top reduction could be radical.
Chasing back branches to interior buds needs to be done more carefully so as to maintain enough foliage on each branch to keep it alive and vigorous while it is developing those interior buds that will be your eventual branches. I am still experimenting with how exactly this will work on cedars.
I might be overly cautious.

 

[I_I_am_not_a_cat]

If this was my collection, I wouldn't work it this year. You may have a western Oregon-like summer, but you still have a central Oregon winter and the tree should be allowed bulk up for that and to first signal to you that it's ready for work with plentiful new growth. Since you've mostly bare rooted it, you're potentially in for a ride and you can limit that by keeping foliage and letting the roots bulk up right into winter.

WELL worth the wait to feel a pot that's gone stiff from rootage and to see lots of new foliage say "I'm ready".

Thanks for the reminder, as much as I really want to do more work on this I need to be patient. I moved it into an even more protected and shaded spot and hope to not move it again