AusBonsai

Geez if the outcome is as good as the mock-up - happy days!! Enjoy a well earned beer or whatever drink floats your boat!


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legoman_iac wrote: ↑August 16th, 2020, 10:17 am Amazing that any tree can recover from such a reduction in branches and roots! Where does it get the energy and strength to grow new shoots without roots?

It's pretty impressive. My understanding is energy (starch/sugars) is stored in the xylem, so in the branches and roots. If you cut off all the roots there's still some energy in the branches, and the plant will throw all of that into surviving, ie. growing new roots and leaves so it can get water and food (from photosynthesis). Sometimes the tree will run out of stored energy before it can do enough to get more energy and will die. When deciduous trees are dormant there's more stored energy which is why we root prune / repot at this time of year.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge corrects me if I've said anything that's incorrect.

There will be a fair bit more digging, cutting and possibly cursing in between each of the steps you have showed but that does seem to be the basic outline of digging most trees.
Some come out relatively easily - olives is one of those. Others have very tough roots or lots of down growing roots and they can be much slower and tougher. You may have seen the photos of my recent Chinese elm dig. The root ball I dug was about 30-40cm diameter but the hole needed to be over 1m wide to allow the tools to cut the roots under the trunk. That took 1.5 hours to extract.

Thanks everyone ... I'm feeling very prepared now, have a bag of curses ready to go too.

Looks like this will happen next Tuesday, will keep you posted with updates and pics.

Thanks again!

Update: Steps 1 - 5 completed!!!

Minimal cursing required. Had a few tap roots which offered resistence. Haven't chopped back as far as I'd planned to, as I really want to see it recover first. Also, kept more roots than shibui's worldly experience suggested, hopefully this doesn't hinder recovery.

Before/during/after here ... now to wait and watch for signs of life, usually breaks into leaf around end Sep/Oct. Not sure how that timing is affected now. Will keep it in shade for a few days, then move to a sunnier spot. This should give me a few months to decide on a new front!

First a cool mockup ... now a photo montage ... looking forward to the updates - for the tree and the creativity. Well played!


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The extra roots won't hurt, probably give it an even better chance. You can cut them back further in future repots.
Same for the trunk. With a bit of luck it will sprout shoots all down the trunk and you can select a good one for the new trunk next year. If you don't get enough low ones then let it recover and regain strength for a year or so the chop lower to force new shoots where you want them.
No point selecting a front yet. You can pick the best root view but the front of a bonsai is a balance between the best views of nebari, trunk and branches and we have no idea where the ultimate branches and trunk line will be yet. Just let it grow for a year at least.

Thanks again everyone for your support and encouragement! This wouldn't have happened without it!

Is there anything in particular, re: care, or just water when needed, feed in a few weeks?

No need for any special care. It doesn't have any leaves so no real need to keep it in shade. Leaves should open in its permanent location so they are adjusted to it rater than moving leaves from shade to sun.
No need for fert until it has roots and leaves.
Keep damp but not soggy. With few active roots it won't use much water but that will change as the roots start to grow and weather warms up.

First signs of life!!! Buds starting to swell on the tiny branch we left intact, new buds forming on the stumpy branch, pic below:



Noticed some black spots on the trunk we cut clean off. Not sure if some kind of algae, or just the wood dying back? Will grab some pics tomorrow if it's of concern?

Leaves opening up!!!

Nice base. I would use a wider and more shallow pot though.
Cheers
DK

Yes, will get a wider shallower pot next when I repot, once it's had time to recover, guessing 2-3 years

Oooo, the excitement and the tree grows!!! Just counted 20 new buds/leaves forming on the trunk!

Been watching this tree closely, will update with another collage of pics tomorrow. Have noticed the cambium layer receed soon after the trunk chop, now it is "bubbling back up" and pushing the bark away a little!

Found this little critter enjoying the freshly made layer! When I removed it, saw a bright green spot ... took me a moment to realise it is fresh cambium!!!