AusBonsai

I picked up an oak a couple weeks ago. As it was pot bound I teased the roots out and went next pot size up. It appears to have responded well as buds are swelling on the trunk. It’s Got a thick strong leader that obviously needs to go in favour of the thinner secondary leader but I could use the thicker as a sacrifice. But it has a few branches in that area. I’m thinking that area will form a knuckle if I leave it much longer.

I’m ultimately thinking I’d remove all the branches eventually as they are all thick and straight and start branching from scratch.

So i could leave as is till next spring but maybe get some reverse taper. Or do some pruning and slow growth. It’s also only been a couple of weeks since I was playing with the roots.

Just wondering if anyone has any opinions? What would you guys do?

Definitely need to let it be in the short term to get over the repot. Oaks don't always take kindly to root reduction so a little more often appears to be better than a lot less often.
I've given up with oaks for bonsai. They are hard to kill but also slow growing, don't ramify very well and don't always produce new buds in the desirable places after hard pruning.

Good luck with this one. Hope you can do better than I did.

Thanks Shibui,

I’ve always liked oaks, I know they grow slowly and maybe they are more suited to Medium to lrg bonsai with the ramification issues.
I’ll try my hand and see how I go. I’ll keep that point in mind about Less more often.

This is a link of a vid on Mike Pistello’s collection which has some nice big oaks. Also liked his crepe Myrtle’s.

https://youtu.be/7DbJseIGyFE?si=G7zPgAnETQ4Y0pCf

I'll be interested to see how you go with this. Is it an English Oak (Quercus Robur)? The leaves appear to be English Oak, however I do know there are other oaks that have a similar leaf. I would be inclined to remove the thick leader sooner rather than later to start building taper. You will also have a smaller scar to start healing over. This is something I regret not doing sooner with my developing oak.

Patmet wrote: ↑November 26th, 2023, 4:01 pm I'll be interested to see how you go with this. Is it an English Oak (Quercus Robur)? The leaves appear to be English Oak, however I do know there are other oaks that have a similar leaf. I would be inclined to remove the thick leader sooner rather than later to start building taper. You will also have a smaller scar to start healing over. This is something I regret not doing sooner with my developing oak.

Yep, English oak I’d say. I’ll probably at least wait until it’s pushed new buds and actively growing before I even think about any further pruning. It was in a dark greenhouse with heaps of other plants shading it out. I’d say with the repotting into a larger pot with good soil, fertiliser and plenty of sunlight it should respond well. I’ll provide updates.

I concur that oaks can be tricky. I've tried a few from seed/acorn and it's usually the repotting/root pruning that's killed mine, I think ... currently at 50% kill rate/50% survival rate, as compared to every other species (maple, figs, azalea, banksia, jacaranda) I have which are fine with my rough and yearly (if pot bound) root prunning "technique".

A nice, aged, strong oak is a mighty thing to behold though! Good luck, and keep us updated!

It’s responded well to the repot. Lots of new growth and growth down low as well. Getting lots of sun and fertiliser. I figured I was safe to remove that sacrificial branch so I did.
I’ll just let it be now.