Stewartia Monodelpha

[DaveNuts]

I picked this up from a garden centre last summer.
I like the beginning of the texture on the bark.
It's got quite a nice flair.
It seems to back bud readily, has a low shoot, and was fruiting last season.

Need to get it out of the nursery soil this spring.

My question is... is there anything up top worth trying to air layer? If not, is it best to work the roots this spring then chop later?

 

[bwaynef]

There isn't anything OBVIOUS up top. You could probably get a couple trees off this one, and one in particular (near the knuckle at the top) that's different than anything else on the tree. All of the options would be pretty longterm projects though.

 

[DaveNuts]

Thanks for your advice.
I have plenty of time, so think I'll put it in the ground and get an air layer or two for a couple of years.

A lot of stewartia I've seen tend to have very smooth, fleshy looking bark. Do people brush the flakes off, or do I have something a bit different here?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Thanks for your advice.
I have plenty of time, so think I'll put it in the ground and get an air layer or two for a couple of years.

A lot of stewartia I've seen tend to have very smooth, fleshy looking bark. Do people brush the flakes off, or do I have something a bit different here?

The bark is paper thin and mostly flakes off by itself, or can be just brushed off by hand.

 

[JeffS73]

That's a good piece of material there Dave, I've found Stewartia hard to come by, I've just got some twigs in comparison.

AFAIK, Stewartia roots are quite fragile, so maybe need to take it easy on repotting. Air layers and maybe ground layer sound like a good idea.