Old Grey Owl

[kez]

Hey folks,

I picked this tree up today after checking it out a couple of times previously. It had always intrigued me, particularly the trunk, and last time I was looking at it I asked about it's back story. I was told that this tree is quite old, somewhere in the area of 40 years, and was initially purchased from the nursery I picked it up from. The tree was part of a collection and it would seem had been neglected after a time, resulting in rot getting into the deadwood/shari. I'm not sure over what period the tree was in this collection, or the circumstances under which it returned to it's original home, but the intention was to clean up the deadwood, re-work the shari and re-style the tree.

I couldn't resist having a tree of such age and character in my collection, and I hope as the new custodian of this tree I add a valuable chapter in it's already long history.

Here's a pic

IMG_2210 (1024x683).jpg

My first step will be to sort out the trunk, remove the deadwood bulge and the random downward pointing jin, re-define the shari, then bring the growth back in check and have a good look at what's happening up top before deciding on a style!

Any ideas would be great, or comments in general, and if the tree's previous owner is among us please fill us in on any more of it's story you can add

Kerrin

[MoGanic]

Hi there Kerrin,

Definitely remove the randomly downward pointing Jinn, and use a branch splitter to remove the bulk of the large bulging deadwood by sort of peeling it back.

The foliage looks a bit coarse so would probably be suited to a larger tree.

Good score and will be plenty of fun working on.

Regards,
Mo


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JaseH]

I have a smaller one of these I picked up from a nursery to experiement with. I trimmed it back a little too hard and the new foliage reverted to juvenile form, then since late summer it hasnt grown much at all. Seems to be a very slow grower?

[kez]

Work on the trunk has commenced, as well as a little pruning

IMG_2211 (1024x683).jpg

IMG_2212 (1024x683).jpg

IMG_2213 (1024x683).jpg

Now it's on to a bit of wiring

Kerrin

[treeman]

Hi Kerrin, I was really enthusiastic about grey owl a few years back and grew a lot of them. But after a while I decided that the foliage left a bit to be desired. BUT! they are supremely good subjects for grafting chinese juniper onto.

This leaves on this one were completely changed to chinese juniper (possibly Blaauw) only 3 years ago. And only with about 5 grafts.

gj1.JPG

[GavinG]

Nice imaginative work on the trunk, well done. Maybe don't take all the foliage off in one season that is eventually going to go - junis can get disconsolate, and sulk massively. Take a couple of seasons, and balance with a reducing root ball. Some folk recommend leaving lots of foliage when you do a hard root prune, which you'll need at some stage - I'm never game to leave things unbalanced, but wiser folk than me have suggested it. Good start.

Gavin

[kez]

Thanks for the replies folks,

It will be slowly slowly with this tree due to it's age, the foliage removal from today consisted of young shoots coming off the trunk, and from forks in branches that would not have survived or contributed in any meaningful way to the tree or design. I will also tip prune the branches that I will keep when I style but it will only be a little amount.

I have got the first branches in wire and will do a little more work tonight, more pics to come.

Kerrin

[kez]

Hey folks,

Well after a little bit of pruning (a little bit more than I initially thought), a bit of cleaning (still need to scrub the trunk and get some lime sulfur on the deadwood) and a LOT of detail wiring, here's the old girl now

IMG_2216 (1024x683).jpg

All in all I'm pretty happy with the result, and I'm over the moon at the angle of the final front as I wasn't sure how much I would get to highlight the trunk early on in the styling. Next step is final trunk work, and then rest for this old lady

Cheers,

Kerrin

[GavinG]

Nice work, you are clarifying your design well. In the next few years, maybe give some thought to removing the second right branch, that comes off with the first, then bringing the next right foliage mass strongly down to fill the gap. Two branches going to more or less the same place, doing the same thing, can end up looking congested. Maybe not yet though.

In the very long term, there is always the possibility of using the first right branch as the trunk, and taking off the top - there's a lovely line going up through the trunk then out along that branch. If that seems interesting, you might like to get some stronger angles and shapes into that branch soonish, while you can.

Best of luck,

Gavin

[Boics]

Hi Kez.

Once again some really good work to get this far.

I too thought the same thing as Gavin - the two branches are detracting.

I wondered whether you could lose (or Jin) the first or second branch on the right.
Then you could potentially train all the branches above to fill the voids with likely a new apex selection from the left hand side?

My other comments are..

1. What is the Nebari like?
2. Can you potentially tilt a little more to the left for some added interest?

Option #2 above might help with your lines if you decide to employ the idea of the bottom RHS branch removal plan.

Keep us posted!

[kez]

Thanks for the input guys,

The photo is a little deceiving re the 2 lower branches and going off the pic i agree with the assessment, in the bark however the top branch has backward movement and looks less cluttered/symmetrical. The other thing I have found when working these 2 branches is that it is very old wood and as such very brittle, the slightest movement in the first 2/3 of the lowest branch resulted in cracking so i haven't been able to add as much movement as needed to further diversify this section.

I haven't had a look below ground yet so not sure on the nebari, but I imagine a change of angle would be an option. I'll never finishing the trunk work tonight so more pics tomorrow, along with a pic if the 2 lowest branches

Thanks again

Kerrin

[DavidWilloughby]

Hi Kerrin,

Nice bit of material, I like what you have done and with a few years refinement it will be a very nice tree.

Just a quick question mate, I know photos can be deceiving but in the photo the trunk gives the impression its going away from the viewer, with the canopy coming back over and towards the viewer, is this the case or the trunk does come towards the viewer from the soil ?

Cheers

David

[raewynk]

Kerrin,

Nice looking transformation. Came to the right new custodian I am thinking. A lot of thought and care into your work.

Regards
Rae.

[kez]

G'day David,

Yes mate you are right, the trunk does move away, with the canopy coming back over the top. Im not sure this is technically appropriate but I feel it gives the tree the best look and balance

Here's a few more pics of some different angles and the final bit of trunk work

side view

IMG_2230 (1024x683).jpg

from slightly above to show the branching and give a sense of the depth

IMG_2239 (1024x683).jpg

and the trunk with the first coat of lime sulphur

IMG_2235 (1024x683).jpg

cheers,

Kerrin

[kez]

Just a little update on this old girl,

Really responded well to being thinned out and wired and has put on a bunch of strong healthy new growth, already starting to fill out and I'm really happy thus far

IMG_2600 (1024x683).jpg

As always any comments are most welcome,

Kerrin