purple leaf plum

[MattA]

This tree is currently in the ground regaining some vigour after another in a long line of mishaps for it. Dogs mainly. I have had it almost 10yrs, collected it originally had a trunk 4times the diameter. Half died & i toyed with the idea of a big hollow trunk. The log splitter solved that 1/2 the trunk gone, 12mths later the axe took half again. It has had no wiring, strung up a few times in its early yrs the rest has been pruning.

Plans for when it is dug & potted next spring. am interested to hear other options.

RIMG0149a.JPG

Most recent front. At the base of the trunk a large elbow root (deadwood) comes forward at about a 30deg angle.

RIMG0148a.JPG

Looking along the trunk from the right.

RIMG0151a.JPG

From almost the back.

I have always seen this as a light tree & think it has lost some of that feel in the ground. I am considering layering off the crown to make a small tree 6-8" and that would get some new buds from down the trunk a bit and regrow a new crown. Any other options? Ideas?

Matt

[kvan64]

I see nice literary potential. Informal upright probably be the most suitable composition.
Cheers.

[paddles]

you want to ask miyagiman, he's awesome with plums.....

[anttal63]

He certainly knows his plum stuff! unlike some. PM him im sure he'd be happy to help Matt.

[MattA]

I finally decided on the new direction for this tree. Dug it yesterday to start working on it, was really happy to see the mass of roots it had formed over the 18mths it has been in the ground. Given that it has received no other water than what mother nature provides I was expecting a very coarse root system, not the case, loads of fine feeder roots close in to the trunk.

I spent some time removing all the deadwood and got most of the way there, until I was a little rough wrenching a bit off and cracked halfway thru the minimal live vein. It has been potted up & put in a protected spot so frost cant get at it. Am hopeful that the crack doesnt cause me to lose the top half but if it does it just presents a new start & direction other than what i had forseen.

The plan is to carve out as much of the deadwood as necesary to enable it to be twisted & bent around into a bunjin style like many of the spectacular ones I see in the kokufu books. No pics until next month when I get my camera back out of the club library cupboard ( I left it behind at the last meeting). Will post them up once I take them. It will be a long slow process to bring the trunk into the lines I want, that is if the crack doesnt necesitate a complete start over. Either way it will be improving on the original tree.

Matt

Not bitching, but, got no reply to the pm I sent back in feb, so go it alone as I have always done.

[anttal63]

Had alot on his plate back then, im sure different now. Come on miyagi !!!

[MattA]

Ant, its all cool.. really it is... I had lost my way with this tree for a while is all... I even contemplated giving it away until I saw its next incarnation in the Kobayashi book. Am now just hoping the crack heals before I do any more work on it.

Matt

[miyagiman]

hi matt & ant, lets deal with the tree. matt, did you seal the crack, this is very important as they dry out through the crack very quickly. if you have sealed it, it should be fine as long as its only a crack. however, plums aren't forgiving & you won't be able to bend it at all again at that spot. if it heals ok, you can then go ahead & plan the trees future with bends in other spots.
I have just checked all my pm's & there is none there from matt in feb, in fact i have no pm's for feb at all. did you send it to another miyagi by mistake?
hope the info is of some help, i'll keep an eye on this post. cheers, miyagiman.

[MattA]

hi matt & ant, lets deal with the tree. matt, did you seal the crack, this is very important as they dry out through the crack very quickly. if you have sealed it, it should be fine as long as its only a crack. however, plums aren't forgiving & you won't be able to bend it at all again at that spot. if it heals ok, you can then go ahead & plan the trees future with bends in other spots.
I have just checked all my pm's & there is none there from matt in feb, in fact i have no pm's for feb at all. did you send it to another miyagi by mistake?
hope the info is of some help, i'll keep an eye on this post. cheers, miyagiman.

Past is past & not something to worry about.

Now to the plum, seal with what, I dont have any of the propriety bonsai products or even general sealants used in horticulture. I havent done any bending as yet, I was still trying to remove dead wood. I will have to carve out alot more wood before I even think about bending. I know they are brittle & dont really like being bent as it is. I have lost count of the number of branches I broke during the early years of this trees development.

I find it interesting you say that plums are not forgiving. I have found this one to be very forgiving of most of the rough treatment I have metered out to it over the years, tho I also have not attempted such major work as I now do. Tho they are not the easiest to bend.

I am half tempted to just break it off completely, cut the crown off and make 2 cuttings out of it. Leaving me the lower 1/4 to grow on as a 3rd tree. How do they go as hardwood cuttings?

RIMG0149a.JPG

Red line is about where the crack is & extends halfway thru the live vein, blue line is where i would cut the upper bit to make another cutting. BTW all of the visible deadwood in this & earlier pics is now gone. Only what sits beneath the live vein remains to be carved out.

Matt

Edit to add pic & comments on it

[miyagiman]

you can seal it with egg white or "aquadhere" wood glue, both dry clear.
when i said not forgiving, i meant that they don't like to be bent again in the spot where they cracked. i don't think you will be wanting to bend it that low down anyway. i've never had any success myself with hardwood cuttings from plums, although i must say i've never tried very hard. to keep the top of the tree, an aerial layer will be the way to go, you will get a nice tree off the top & the lower section will shoot well for future branch selection. cheers.

[MattA]

Heres pics of the tree now that most of the deadwood has been removed and my inspiration for redesigning it. The tree is approx 50cm along it length, height is a bit less due to lean.

R0012822.JPG

R0012820.JPG

R0012832.JPG

R0012835.JPG

Matt

[MattA]

Ok so a few days of wondering if it will or wont heal & looking at it every day on my bench, I finally decided it had to go....
SNAP

plumduble.jpg

The upper portion has been split into 3 cuttings & potted up in sharp sand, cross fingers something strikes. The base will be replanted in the ground once it has started growing and I have selected the new leader & let it grow. Rather than try to bend the old trunk I felt it would be easier to regrow a trunk in the line I want. Clip & grow may be slow but it is the best way to produce major bends.

Matt

[MattA]

This is one of the cuttings that was taken from the original plant.

100_3602rz.jpg

100_3603rz.jpg

Matt

[Jester]

Hi Matt, (Oops!!, sorry.......Hi there crazy kids!!!!)

Matt, firstly, let me say that I love the 2 photos of the cuttings that struck , mate I am salivating. I love Prunus Blireana and have many I have planted in open ground but there is one next year that will blow everyone away!! Just be patient.

At the risk of sounding like a wowser though, I am concerned as to whether the tree you dug up and worked on will survive. I would have thought the best time of year to do this would have been just at the end of winter as it is coming out of it's dormancy. I hope I am wrong and you every success with it as it is a ripper. I would appreciate it if you could PM me the moment it starts re-shooting

Cheers John

[MattA]

Hey John,

I have never been too bothered when I work on my trees, this one was no different. The original base was planted back in the ground & reshot well, unfortunately I couldnt get water up to my top garden last summer & it died. 3 cuttings struck from the upper branching, 2 were given to a friend & I kept this one for myself.

It was pruned 2wks ago & defoliated last week once new buds had started forming. It has a few years before being worthy of the title bonsai but it already has a permanent spot on my bench and a name forming in the ether.

Matt