Prunus Shirotae - Mt Fuji Flowering Cherry

[alpineart]

This was a purchase for "The Hacker" unfortunately he let me down and couldn't find the time in his schedule to dig it out . I'm not 100% sure but from the research i have done i looks like it is a Mt Fuji .

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Me being responsible for the purchase , I made the decision to travel to Melbourne and collect the tree . It was around 3 m high /wide so i whipped it back with the loppers to 2m and dug it out .

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The trunk is 200mm in diameter and the base below ground level is close to 400mm , the owner estimated the tree at close to 60 years old ??? . Time will tell when i sever some of the leaders and do a ring count .

My labourer spent the day talking rubbish with the owner , so it was up to me to do the hard work , he was way too rough anyway. I did receive a little help to slide it into the ute , note there is not even a speck of dirt or mud on the hired help

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.With it safely loaded and wrapped in shade cloth its off into the wild blue yonder .

Once home after a 12 hour round trip i slid the tree out and into a bath of seasol power feed overnight , then without assistance moved it around behind the house out of the sun and wind and potted it into a 900mm square grow box .

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It has had some damaged done to the lower trunk ,

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possibly 2 leaders have broken off in the past and left untreated

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it was infested with an ant nest

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and plenty of slaters had made a home .

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A quick carve with the die grinder to clean up the rot

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and deadwood

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. This will be left alone and de-flowered to utilize the energy for growing the foliage .

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Hopefully it will survive as i have a 2-3 year plan for a single trunk 2 man tree and and "The Hacker" might get one of the numerous layers i plan to set in a few years time if and when it recovers and or survives . This has definitely been a real back breaker , one i didn't need .

Cheers Alpineart

[Pup]

There you are telling me to do as I am told. No wonder your bloody leg is taking so long to heal.
Nice future tree though, he had better do something to earn those Airlayers mate.

Cheers mate, Pup

[Freckl]

That is an absolute monster alpine, congratulations on getting it back in one piece. Look forward to seeing how it develops.

Anthony

[Jason]

A lot of work for one man!!
Do look forward to seeing where you take this though Alpine, some beautiful material you've got there

[alpineart]

Hi Pup , mate my instructions are to do some bending exercises on the lower leg , guess the back couldn't handle the workout . They tell me no pain no gain , doesn't always work that way .
I've got the trunk , "The Hacker" might be lucky enough to get a layer if they take . Never tried layering a cherry but they grow well from cuttings of all sorts so there is hope .

Hi Freckl , mate the ute was loaded with every possible tool i could think of , hand winch , slings , skids/ramps , trolley , pick , shovels , and no crow bar , the owner supplied one which was great. Trouble was only one operator and a big gas bagger , he did keep the lady occupied for a few hours with idle chatter while i tackled the job at hand . Almost 4 hours to do the deed , Linden was that tired he slept all the way home.

Hi Jason , mate i'm usually the only reliable worker when needed at short notice , Its hard to get good help anywhere these days .This was grown on a compacted clay base so the tap root went sideways with the main stay roots , only 300mm from top to bottom of the root mass so i managed to get most of the required feeder roots close to the trunk , hoping its enough .

Cheers Fella's . Alpine

[Jester]

Wow, that's what I call dedication!!! Few could question your dedication to bonsai. Superb specimen mate...Good luck with that.

John

[alpineart]

Hi Jester , mate it is an awesome specimen , i have been looking for one for years , just not quite this big .Hopefully the layers planned will do justice for such a unique tree .I have taken a few big root cuttings as well so we will see if and how they grow .

I was down sizing , this is just another hiccup in the plan .

Cheers Alpine

[alpineart]

Well i sharpened the saw and ripped into the trunk first attempt at paint

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This is the trunk i saw the moment i clapped my peepers on the tree . Makes for a tough looking unit at around 1.2meters high witha 200mm trunk , hopefully i can lift the base up and show off the 400mm root mass as part of the exposed Narebri .

Cant wait to actually get to cut the other branches off after the planned layers are taken off of course , A couple of years away if i can keep the Stihl in the shed it will be a good thing .

Cheers Alpineart

[Boics]

Nice lines Alpine.

Big project - well beyond my spatial ability!

[squizzy]

Great trunk alpine. Can't help seeing a frog with its head stuck in the sand though.

You are a Trojan.

Squizz

[alpineart]

Hi Biocs , mate it does have a very nice flowing design , willingness gives me the ability to tackle the no so impossible .

Hi squizzy , mate that's one bloody big frog , with some shoots and in time it will be a unique old cherry , hopefully as impressive as some of those half century old Japanese specimens .

Cheers Guys Alpine

[Shannon]

Going to be a cracker Alpine! Great material mate and in good hands now.

[alpineart]

Hi Shannon, only time will tell . Its safer here than with "The Hacker" .At least if i kill it i get to learn about this species , already spent a few hours over a couple of days removing the flowerbuds before they open up , another couple of sessions over the next week and they should all be removed .

I plan to layer a couple of collected cherries i have here to see how the go and how long it takes . This will gauge the time required for the layers on this mother that are planed for the future . If the test on the collected stock fails then its out with the Stihl and "Hook in roy" to say the least .

Cheers Alpine

[alpineart]

Well this has shot like a Trident Maple and is back budding well . I have checked the root mass and there is a large white mass of roots throughout the scoria . If its not healthy them i'm a done dog . Time to set a few layers i have once again i have used the open pot method that has proved itself here many times

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.I have placed shade cloth over the pots to prevent the mix from being washed out with the hose

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. I set five layers over the last few days but 7 are required to balance the branches back ready for stage 2 of layering next year .There is still plenty of foliage to feed the main trunk .The roots cuttings taken are growing strong

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so hopefully the layers will do the same .

Cheers Alpineart

[alpineart]

This is an update on the progress of the tree .Its growing so bloody well its coming out in flower again

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.All the branches have new growth and most likely flower buds, i did remove the majority of the flower buds pre season to reduce the energy on the newly potted root mass and to stimulate leaf growth .

The roots cuttings or be it a few of them have survived the heat , the layers have struck roots from what i can see without disturbing the pots too much so it a good result considering the damage done over Summer to the majority of my stock .

Looking forward to removing the layers but if there is any doubt i will slip pot them into bigger pots and leave in place for another season . An additional 3 layers will be set in Winter/Spring as the planned trunk has sprouted new branches in the right places, it should make for a nice monster Fuji in the coming years .

Cheers Alpineart