Re: Walnut
Posted: November 9th, 2010, 7:20 am
This walnut is producing a generous number of shoots, but not all of them are going to be of use in my design for this tree; I’m hopeful that this indicates that it is also producing a host of new feeder roots after its rather severe root pruning. (My previous experience with this species indicates that they are very forgiving of severe root and top pruning)
My next job will be to remove shoots on the trunk and at the junction of trunk and upper branches. I will tip prune the shoots that I am keeping and hope that tip pruning them at this early stage will result in a shorter internode length and promote branch ramification. I had been hoping that I would have shoots advanced enough to have defoliated before the end of the competition to promote a second, smaller lot of leaves, but with this run of cooler weather delaying shoot development, defoliation will not be possible until possibly late December/January, this season.
The season has been very cool this year hence the late shoot emergence; they budded at much the same time as last year but development of the shoots has been very slow. We have had over night temperatures down to 3 degrees C, with significant wind chill factor, and days down as low as 9 C, again with wind chill. Last year daytime temperatures in this same week were in the low 30 degrees C range.
The sphagnum mulch on this plant will also be removed and I will at last begin to dress the soil surface in keeping with the Ballerina / Woods Fairy image that I see as the character of this tree. I plan to use a fine moss closer to the trunk of the tree, to hint at the fine spring growth of mountain grasses, and smooth, water worn gravel and the graduated blue pot to represent the pool in a mountain stream that she (the tree) leans over.
My next job will be to remove shoots on the trunk and at the junction of trunk and upper branches. I will tip prune the shoots that I am keeping and hope that tip pruning them at this early stage will result in a shorter internode length and promote branch ramification. I had been hoping that I would have shoots advanced enough to have defoliated before the end of the competition to promote a second, smaller lot of leaves, but with this run of cooler weather delaying shoot development, defoliation will not be possible until possibly late December/January, this season.
The season has been very cool this year hence the late shoot emergence; they budded at much the same time as last year but development of the shoots has been very slow. We have had over night temperatures down to 3 degrees C, with significant wind chill factor, and days down as low as 9 C, again with wind chill. Last year daytime temperatures in this same week were in the low 30 degrees C range.
The sphagnum mulch on this plant will also be removed and I will at last begin to dress the soil surface in keeping with the Ballerina / Woods Fairy image that I see as the character of this tree. I plan to use a fine moss closer to the trunk of the tree, to hint at the fine spring growth of mountain grasses, and smooth, water worn gravel and the graduated blue pot to represent the pool in a mountain stream that she (the tree) leans over.