This was quite simple as removal of foliage takes place on collection
to lighten the load on the roots I basically took it a step further and wired
and styled the tree into a trainer .
More movement in the vertical appearance
will take place over time .While i was at it a needle trim was also done .
Enough torture for now, it can rest and recover until i find the time to revisit and finish the styling
Archive for July 22nd, 2010
This was discovered a couple of years ago , it was a chop top after the Plantation corp workers left a shoot behind during roadside clearing .All it takes is a shoot or bud to start the regrowth process .
I collect many chop tops as the trunks are formed and aged ,
the only drawback is reverse taper which is not always an issue .This specimen has little or no taper .It was vertical when discovered however a Bulldozer used for clearing a fire break ran over the trunk and fractured the branch Over time it has healed and when collected it was almost parrellel to the ground .
It lent itself to a cascade and hence the design
was set .The severed top is healing quite well, a sacrafice branch was purposely left to aid the healing process .A close look at the chopped section still shows the chainsaw cut in the older wood .Because of the trimming that has taken place in the bush i semi styled this tree into a cascade starter 2 days after collecting . The dozer had obviously severed the tap root as removal was incredibly easy and a root-mass that you could only achieve in a training situation .
These are the trunks that were collected from a winery in 2009. They were allowed to grow on uncontrolled to build a root-mass capable of sustaining themselves 
.With a quick cleanup with the garden hose i could get down to trimming the roots
.These had responded well to the trim when collected . No real care was taken during trimming
, the chainsaw would make short work of the butts then its into the planter bags
for another season .
I carved these trunks down from 1 metre high prior to removing them from the ground .Detail work is yet to be carried out .Cheers