Scrub oak pre-death

[Woodland Spirit]

I found what looks like Quercus turbinella dug up and thrown in a pile. One looks like it could be bonsai material. It was dark when I nabbed it. I think there is some chance.
The trunk is about 3 inch across. It has a small brach off the side and is maybe good for a trunk chop. I want to get pictures tomorrow and look it over to see what could be done.

 

[Handsome John]

sounds like it could be a good find, def wanna see the pics of it!

 

[Cypress187]

Yey pics

 

[Woodland Spirit]

It's dark. No lights. High on whatever the drug crazy doctors gave me. Wait for morning.

 

[aml1014]

I'm watching this one, I just collected one last Wednesday and it's still looking awsome so im hopeful for yours.

Aaron

 

[Woodland Spirit]

It looks a little different in daylight than I thought it would.
Still, lots of potential.
Chop chop.
I'm not cutting off the storage roots for a while.
It needs a chance to get some feeders going.

Finaly got back and took pictures.
It's to burning cold out.

 

[aml1014]

I'd get rid of all or at least most of the leaves to reduce transpiration considering there's not much roots.

Aaron

 

[Woodland Spirit]

I hope to get rid of most of the existing top.
What do you think of doing a major downsizing chop right now and taking all the leafs off? To much? Bad timing?

It's in a temporary spot right now. I'm thinking of putting it in a big flower pot.

 

[Woodland Spirit]

I'll just do it then

 

[aml1014]

I'll just do it then

Sorry I didn't see your post, the one dug i chopped about 6ft off the top and defoliated once I got home also I sealed the chop.

Aaron

 

[GrimLore]

What do you think of doing a major downsizing chop right now and taking all the leafs off? To much? Bad timing?

If you do not have a lot of roots do it now. I am guessing it will do best in a semi-shaded area during recovery.

Grimmy

 

[fredman]

Didn't realise it snows in Utah/Arizona...them Acacia trees wont like that

 

[Woodland Spirit]

Didn't realise it snows in Utah/Arizona...them Acacia trees wont like that

Do you have any idea how big Arizona is?
Utah is well within the snow zone.

 

[Woodland Spirit]

Am I right to leave the big storage roots for now?

 

[rockm]

A long-time collector of live oaks in Texas (and those aren't the same species as this, so FWIW) told me that he chopped the top and most of the branches off of what he dug at collection ,got as much root as possible. Whatever foliage remained on the tree was left. From what he said, the trees that survived the collection process dropped all the existing leaves and pushed a new crop, while the trees that didn't survive held onto their leaves and browned out never to return.

This was with Escarpment live oak (quercus virginiana "fusiformis," which is also called quercus fusiformis). I have no idea if it applies to this desert species, though.

Also FWIW, NEVER chop a tree to its "final" height in the field. Leave some extra length on the trunk to work with. Wait for new growth, choose a new bud that hopefully forms at the right place on that length as the new leader, then chop it. That process can take a year or more. Rushing to cut a newly collected tree into a final design never ends well...

And yeah, it snows in Arizona. The state has some fantastic ski resorts, just like New Mexico.
http://www.skithelemmon.com/
http://www.arizonasnowbowl.com/?q=webcams

 

[fredman]

Keep em. You want all the help you can get seeing it was found on a pile.... When in doubt there's no doubt is my motto...

 

[GrimLore]

Am I right to leave the big storage roots for now?

Not certain what you mean exactly - When I yank a tree and chop it the tap root and most all the rest get cut(balanced) not the same for every type of plant of course.



Grimmy

 

[rockm]

You have to be very careful about species and environment with collection advice. What work for a hornbeam on the east coast will kill a desert tree that has far less root resources. Oaks can be a bit sensitive to root work in the first place.

 

[fredman]

Do you have any idea how big Arizona is?
Utah is well within the snow zone.

Your avatar says "near Utah/Arizona" border. I vision it as arid/desert....last thing I expected was to see snow.
Remember we talked about planting African Acacia there? They will do the heat and dry, buy not that freezing night colds...

 

[Woodland Spirit]

I already cut it back. I left a good 4 inches extra where I could.
Not as sexy as I had hoped. But with time.....

The brach in the middle with the leaves still on, is that a good sacrifice branch to fatten that trunk a bit more or should I cut it off? Also on the upper left, what should I do there?