AusBonsai

I have this large old Crabapple stump that I have airlayered the top off last year viewtopic.php?f=129&t=2074&p=33163&hili ... yer#p33163 ,
, and have never had an idea of what to do with the rest of it.
It needed repotting so decided to have a look at it and see what i can think up

I collected this tree a few years ago from a mates place

Thoughts?

Ken

While out I turned it around and tilted it to see different angles

Hey Ken,

Nice stump, I see lots of carving but for now I would be getting it back in the ground to grow out some more up top. The live vein will widen over time if you get it growing strong. Or carve it out now & then let the live wood roll over into the void.

Look forward to seeing it progress over the years to come.

Matt

That angle is nice but since the roots are onesided and sticking up in that angle, you may risk killing the tree unless you design a special pot to acommodate the roots. I would turn it the other way and go for a semicascade. just my 2 cents.
Cheers,
DK

Hey Matt and Kvan

I Decided to carve most of the dead trunk off and go with my original leaned over style as if the tree had fallen over in a storma nd regrown. Too late for fotos now so I will see if I can some in the morning.

Matt the tree has ben growing now 4 the last 2 years and had not rolled over much, so give the top of the trunk was about 4 inches dia, it will take many years to complete. and there would still be no taper to it.

Kvan interesting Idea and if my initial style does not look a any good, this will still be an option.

Ken

kcpoole wrote: Matt the tree has ben growing now 4 the last 2 years and had not rolled over much, so give the top of the trunk was about 4 inches dia, it will take many years to complete. and there would still be no taper to it.

Ken,

Look forward to seeing your carving work. I wasnt meaning trying to heal over the cut area, when a tree rots out naturally the live tissue often rolls over into the rotted area. It will happen over time where carving is taken up to a live vein.

I have found crabapples to be really slow in a pot and they are slow enough to thicken & build good branching. You get alot more growth & ramification by ground growing over it being in a pot. One of the advantages of deciduous trees over coniferous, that you can go hard on the roots and if you dig and do regular root work while ground growing you get great nebari and there isnt that much reduction needed when the time comes for the tree to go into its display pot.

Matt

Got some finished Pics today

Matt the tree is in a verry large pot and Much better control over it than in the ground. I will put trees in the ground to grow in size, but once big enough, i will pot up to work them if i can. 'This one I have never had and idea about so left in it big pot

Hopefully the bark will roll over the trunk to thicken it somewhat, or I may have to reduce the top section some in th future.

Time will tell but I shall let it recover for a year or so and see

Ken

If it's possible to bend the straight part that you just carved (just arching it back toward the deawood's side, you may not need to reduce the top too much.

kvan64 wrote:If it's possible to bend the straight part that you just carved (just arching it back toward the deawood's side, you may not need to reduce the top too much.

I had thought of that, but do not know how sucessful it might be. It does move a little, but I would have to tape and bind it up to stop it from breaking.

Ken

kcpoole wrote:

kvan64 wrote:If it's possible to bend the straight part that you just carved (just arching it back toward the deawood's side, you may not need to reduce the top too much.

I had thought of that, but do not know how sucessful it might be. It does move a little, but I would have to tape and bind it up to stop it from breaking.

Ken

So whats holding you back

Matt

Btw thats what i call carving. With time the bark will roll over the cut edge but it doesnt really have the effect of thickening, just blending the edges.

MattA wrote:

kcpoole wrote:

kvan64 wrote:If it's possible to bend the straight part that you just carved (just arching it back toward the deawood's side, you may not need to reduce the top too much.

I had thought of that, but do not know how sucessful it might be. It does move a little, but I would have to tape and bind it up to stop it from breaking.

Ken

So whats holding you back

Matt

Btw thats what i call carving. With time the bark will roll over the cut edge but it doesnt really have the effect of thickening, just blending the edges.

Thanks

Maybe I am too scared to break it

actually I think I will just need to get onto a few other jobs round here another days job I think

Ken