[A Forrest Tale ] PWC - Fraxinus

[PWC]

Change of plan, probably won't be the last either. I have decided to take on a bigger challenge, just to mke it more interesting, hope it doesn't end in disaster. I came across some interesting rocks recently that got me to thinking, why not?

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The pot was full of roots, I gave them a heavy root prune and separated them into groups. Hopefully I didn't go to hard, I have put the rock with plantings in a larger container and covered it with fresh potting mix. I will let it stay as is for the next year and then see how it settles.

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The idea is to expose as much of the rock as possible while keeping the panting healthy. If not it could be a quick exit

[MJL]

I am looking forward to this plan coming to fruition. This and the other rock you recently found look great.


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[PWC]

It seemed like a good idea at the time, now I'm starting to wonder. I am going to have a battle trying to control the growth on these things, they are extremely apical dominant and I'm unsure of the best way to tame them.

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They are approaching 40 cm in height already, I was thinking I should take out the growing tips on the leaders now to divert some of the energy to the lower branches. From experience though it will probably just promote growth at the next highest set of buds. My other thought is to wait a while and then reduce the overall trunk and grow back up from there.

Any suggestions or comments welcome.

[terryb]

You can partially defoliate these by cutting the compound leaves leaving the last two or four leaflets. This will both slow them down and promote dormant buds to grow. You can also do this multiple times during the growing season. Leave the ones you want to be larger to grow. They respond well to being cut back as well.

[PWC]

I did a partial defoliation to slow them down and develop new buds, I am happy with the results so far. I will see how it develops from here and repeat the process again if needed. I am not sure if I will be able to keep them on the rock long term, I have buried most of the rock to get stronger initial growth. If I restrict them to the rock only will they survive or should I change the mix from potting mix to one that retains moisture for longer periods? Would I need to use something similar to muck that is used in vertical rock plantings or adjust my current mix I could not see a tradition bonsai mix being suitable.

Probably better to wait another year before making that change as it will either kill them or slow them down considerably.

[terryb]

Looking a lot more compact after the partial defoliation Peter

If you want to control the growth that you are now getting, you can pinch off the shoot tip after the first pair of leaves has emerged. The emerged leaves will open and function normally but you will get smaller leaves and no elongation, thus shorter internodes. As an example, the top shoot on the left hand tree appears to have two pairs of leaves emerged and you can see the shoot tip in the centre of the second (top most) pair. Also notice how much bigger the second pair of leaves are. Once the leaves have hardened off you can partially defoliate as before to stimulate the buds in those leaf axils and so on. How many time you can do this in a season depends on the strength of your trees.

[PWC]

One year on and the challenge for me goes up a level, I am moving to Qld and not sure how the move will affect this little group. I have put them into a tray for transport and hope they were not too traumatized. They have stopped putting on new growth so may be starting to shut down for winter.

Don't know how they will react in the new location as it will be considerably warmer in their new home, to complicate matters I'm turning all my stock over to my brother to look after until I get relocated ( could take 3-6 months ).

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[PWC]

With day time temps here in the mid 20's it was time to repot the group before they start pushing new growth. One of the larger trees didn't drop all it's leaves and the rest have bubs swelling. I have root pruned and replaced them onto the slab and will let them do their thing for the next couple of months and see what they give me to work with.

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[PWC]

It has been nearly 12 mths since I have updated this and will be the first year it has been in a Gympie winter. last year it overwintered in Brisbane as I was still in the process of moving up from S.A. It is still pushing new growth, I was hoping it would drop all leaves as some of my individual Ash have. I'm not sure how this will effect the trees long term, some of the new growth blackens and dies off.

Overall I'm reasonably happy with the progress but would like more ramification, its a constant battle as the upper sections dominate at the expense of the lower branches. Whenever I remove top shoots they are replaced by more vigorous new growth at the top. I'm not sure how I can effectively resolve this issue.

I may try to reduce the amount of soil and have it root pruned and placed on the rock only (refer to earlier posts) this next year and see how it reacts.

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[PWC]

They have now been bare for two weeks so I decided to give them a root prune and place them back on the rock without any extra soil for the roots to access. This will be a the test to see if they will survive long term, I have used clay to construct a bunding around the low sections of the rock to retain the extra mix.
The roots were pruned heavily to fit the restricted space available, I will need to be careful with watering as the is little natural drainage in the rock itself.
The plan from here on is to build ramification.

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[Watto]

I like it. Coming along very nicely.

[MJL]

Yes sir, that’s coming along nicely. I just love the creativity that group plantings can inspire … I’ve said it a few times but in a time poor world with individuals who want quick results … groups planting can provide a sense of place and age quite quickly / perhaps not ramified and magnificent like aged bonsai but still a satisfying pursuit that can garner interesting results, quite quickly. If quick is your thing ….
…well played here / going well.



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[PWC]

Unfortunately My forest has declined somewhat since my last post. There only four survivors of the original nine I think a combination of moving to a hotter more humid climate and my lack of horticultural skills has brought this effort to a close for me. A lot of the deciduous trees seem to be struggling this last month not just the Ash forest.

Mark, thanks for starting the Comp. It was fun while it lasted and I will be having another attempt at a forest this time maybe something a bit hardier like Chinese elm, I haven't succeeded in killing a single one yet.

[TimS]

Bummer! I was enjoying the group you had put together there but onward and upward to try again as you say

[PWC]

Yes Tim, I'll keep the remnant forest add a couple of other individual trees I still have and see if I can resurrect this in a later iteration along the same lines. Will have to probably go back to a pot rather than a slab though.