English Oak -Quercus Robur

[alpineart]

This is my latest project still under wraps I purchased this for small change along with numerous others in a must have deal to be had . I have been on the lookout for a trunk like this for many years , its not a chop top but a naturally grown multi leader trunk .

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The trunk itself is is over 50mm however it had roots coming out just below the branches .I trimmed the smaller ones off and kept the larger ones and placed a split pot around the base in order to age the trunk but also to keep the roos alive to help feed the canopy . Originally it had 14 leaders creating a reverse taper so i removed 5 larger shoots/branches and wired the remaining shoots down as base branches . This is its first season since purchasing it dormant in early spring 2013 . With plenty of years to go before i class it as a bonsai but i think this one will make it all my other gave up after a couple of years growing . The pot is a 550mm x 350mm oval training pot , full of roots the raised black pot appears to be quite firm indicating it too has good root mass feeding the leaders .

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The tree is 1100mm wide 550mm deep and 650mm high . There is plenty of new buds appearing up the main leader and will be selectively rubbed off in winter . Another update will be posted come dormancy when it will be root pruned and tucked back into the same pot .

Cheers Alpineart

[Brian]

I never had much luck growing oak as bonsai Alpine.

They can get sooty mould on the leaves and its difficult to reduce its leaves to an acceptable size for bonsai. Good luck with it.

[alpineart]

Hi Brian , mate i have had a few goes from seed and collected material with and eventually they all died . I have managed to reduce the leaf size with plenty of foliage but its difficult to maintain it . This was grown from seed in a 45 litre bag so it a good thing it as made it through the exteme heat I had up here .

I'm planning on a big tree around the 750-800mm mark in height and about 1 metre wide , hoping this will keep the leaves in proportion a little better .There has been plent of new side branches grown this season so hopefully next season will be even better .

Cheers Alpine

[bodhidharma]

Just another smaaallll project again Alps.

[alpineart]

Hi Bodhi , i have tried these as small trees under 500mm and they just dont like my methods so i thought i would give this one a better chance . A few years in this pot will give a good thick narebri while keeping plenty of feeder roots in there as well .

A mistake i made numerous times was under potting Oaks , slipping this into this pot from a 45 litre bag was a challenge in itself . I'm glad it survived now its time to let it grow and trim and wire it continually .

Cheers Alpine

[Josh]

Hi Bodhi , i have tried these as small trees under 500mm and they just dont like my methods so i thought i would give this one a better chance . A few years in this pot will give a good thick narebri while keeping plenty of feeder roots in there as well .

A mistake i made numerous times was under potting Oaks , slipping this into this pot from a 45 litre bag was a challenge in itself . I'm glad it survived now its time to let it grow and trim and wire it continually .

Cheers Alpine

Interesting comments Alpine. I have 3 oaks I collected a while back I'll start working on after this winter. Was planning a smaller tree but might have to rethink that idea. Also your saying don't under pot. Is this first time potting or for their entire life to pot into larger pot?
Will be watching this one with interest.

Josh.

[alpineart]

Hi Josh , i have struggled to keep mine healthy in smaller pots during the growing stages in early development even from acorns . I will be keeping this one in this pot at least for a couple of seasons , then begin to gradually downsize once the basic development of the upper main branches has been achieved . This has been closely watched and wire twice over this season , take your eye of it and it had numerous shoots , many in the wrong place so i was rubbing the buds off keeping only the ones required for the framework . Its pot bound now so it will get a good root prune and hopefully i will get it back into this pot with room to spare .I may replace the black pot depending on how the reverse taper is and if it has improved the trunk and base to something more desirable .

Cheers Alpine

[Josh]

Thanks Alpine. Will be interesting to see where you take this one. Please keep us all posted as to it development.

Josh.

[alpineart]

This had a workover in the root department today . I removed the split pot and it has worked a treat producing a very healthy root mass so the old roots were removed

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and the trunk re-potted back into the same pot

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for another season . Plenty of buds the need rubbing off and some wiring is needed to reposition the branches and trunk line , hoping for another good season .

Cheers Alpineart

[arklan]

I killed an oak with power feed

[kcpoole]

Nice roots Alps.

I killed an oak with power feed

Curl grubs got mine. Now I use Diatomite
It was a tree grown in a large ceramic pot on my balcony for 20 years and what started me into Bonsai.
Lost it a few years after I started and now have 2 in the ground and 2 collected ones in pots. Both about 300mm tall so smaller trees.

Never had issues trying to reduce the leaf size on my original one, so will be interesting to see what happens this time round.

Ken

[Josh]

Funny you updated this now. I saw these trees today and thought of this tree.

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Josh.

[alpineart]

Hi arklan , mate i dont know how you managed that , i cant say i have killed anything with powerfeed. I have over fertilized and burnt the roots with Rustica , but powerfeed is not that strong . If following the directions on the bottle its almost impossible to kill anything .

Hi kc , the new roots are a treat , wasn't expecting such a good result from an Oak .

Hi Josh , maybe i needed a little bit more inspiration and motivation . I love the Avenue very similar to the Heritage tree's up here .

Cheers Guys . Alpine

[PeterH]

This was mine and was the runner up in the NBPC competition. The leaves do reduce in size.

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Regards,

Peter

[alpineart]

This is taken shape nicely

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.Plenty of new shoots along the branches and leader , look forward to trimming this over the growing season to see if it pushes smaller leaves and new shoots .

Cheers . Alpineart