Field grown Callery Pear

[MattA]

Hi all, I finally got to sydney to collect some trees from a trade with ES. Amongst them was this challenge, a callery pear 40cm high and wide, 12cm across the 'nebari', 10cm across at the base flaring out to 15cm at its widest. Couple of major chops in the top, bad field grown roots. No offence to the orig nursery as i dont know how they acquired the tree but this shows all the negative aspects of ground growing trees.

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I laid eyes on the tree friday night & every opportunity till sunday i spent studying it. Before finding this site I would have hacked into this tree with a mini arbotech and go for my first idea. Basically carving the whole centre out of the tree, getting rid of the largest central trunk and keeping the the other 2 trunks.

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Red is trunk to remove, grey would be carved out. The carving would continue up thru the remaining 2 trunks. There is already lots of big cuts so instead of trying to grow them over or disquise them, make them a feature. I would work with the natural cuts & just extend them until it all interconnected, lattice work livewood.

When i got home & unloaded the trees i got an odd view angle of the smallest trunk. Planned work is out the window.

[MattA]

Pup, I dont know if its you who said it but "look for the smallest tree" has stuck in my head for a while now. You AND your trees inspire and i saw this little baby hiding in amongst the mess.

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A sweet little layer in the waiting. Approx 5cm across my desired nebari, 18cm long. Postpone planned hollow trunk to do layer next spring, have a mini in the making by january, carve next year. But hang on, that ruins the planned hollow trunk idea, this little trunk is part of the picture.

Had a chat to a good friend & knowledgable grower re the mini layer and the tree in general, because it will be difficult to ensure a full radius cut it may not take as there is a way round the cut. Bit of a mental setback but i knew this tree was going to be a challenge from the beginning Eddie had been critically honest about the merits or lack thereof of this material. I love a plant challenge, if it cant be done I will work on the problem till i find a solution or just go ahead and try. Some failures some successes, dont know for myself unless i try.

[MattA]

Following on with the smallest tree theme and with all the recent dialogue about nebari and especially about the pro's of layering. I am now seriously thinking MAJOR layer across the widest part of the trunk. After removing the layer and carving out the large 3rd trunk in the middle i would be left with a turtle back style with 2 major trunks and a number of smaller subsiduary trunks. Again lots of carved out hollows.

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Blue is layer line, approx 15cm across, primary trunk is 8cm wide and 25cm high, the secondary is the possible mini shown in the last post. 5cm across & 17cm long. Plant the 18cm high stump back in the ground to regrow for a few years and then carved out to again create a hollow tree but along the lines of a broom.

Critiques of my ideas, comments on possible other directions wanted. Also any first hand experience with layering material of this size and tips or pitfalls to watch out for.

Matt

[Jamie]

layering this might be a little awkward, you will have to give it a rather large ring bark i think, most of the time you go 1 and a half times the thickness of the trunk for the width of the ringbark, that would make it a 20-25cm width mate that in itself destroys any chance of getting anything out of the bottom half of the tree mate..

[bodhidharma]

Not all layers have to be ring barked. You could do a sliver cut or bridge on this no problem. Have to say though i have ring barked a tree and could not do a wider cut and have had success with only a strip cut 30mm wide.

[MattA]

I know the normal for layering is as you do jamie, 1 to 1 half times the thickness but usually when layering the material has a lot less diameter. Or like many of the beechs that the japanese layer, they have a much longer trunk to work with and generally they are not interested in keeping the base afterwards. Even then they only make a cut wide & deep enough to accomodate a thick wire. In the second year they open up a gap below the formed callus/roots. yr 3 cut off & pot up.

I like you Bodhi have had success in the past with cuts of just 30mm as long as I have cut into the wood to minimize chances of healing the wound. I would use a wire ring around the bottom of the cut to help stop the flow aswell. I have a band about 5cm across the middle of the tree that i can work in so making room for the cut is ok.

Because it is so short I was just going to put a large pot with the bottom cut out around and use a free mix with some sphagnum around the immediate site of the layer. I am wondering how being buried will affect the lower portion of trunk tho, will it rot or is the sphagnum wrap theory right and make the craggy bark even rougher. I wont complain, the bark is the main attraction and they are supposed to have superb autumn foliage.

Matt

[bodhidharma]

You can build one around it M att. Cut some timber to fit around it with room for root growth and shape a bottom (also out of timber) make the appropriate cuts then assemble the box around it and screw together. You can hold it up with blocks or bricks or anything really

[MattA]

Thanks, I just went & found an old drawer that will do the job superbly. Now to just figure out how to go about getting it on the tree.

Another thing, I was thinking of starting the layer now, almost like a giant hardwood cutting. It would benefit from whatever energy the leaves can impart now to build a callous & give me a head start on next year. Is this right? Or am I way off track as normal.

Matt

[MattA]

I finally got round to carving out the large unnecessary trunks in mid April . With the space now more clearly defined it was even more obvious that the only options were to completely hollow out the trunk or out take one or more layers and start again with the remains.

With the strength and vigour this tree had been showing since arriving from Sydney I decided to bite the bullet and proceed with starting the layer. Most advice for making aerial layers is to take them during spring/summer when the tree is actively growing. However, as seen in Bonsai Magazines, very large layers are often put on during late winter/ early spring before growth has started.

I decided to go ahead with the layer for a number of reasons;
1, the tree is still growing strongly.
2, I still have a fair amount of growing time before the tree goes dormant.
3, to get a jump start on next year by having a good callus formed over the remaining season & winter. (hardwood cuttings are taken in winter)

I used a friends mini Arbotech to cut a deep channel approx 25mm wide around my desired line. The cut line is not straight or even around the trunk to produce a bit more variation in the final nebari. Wrap and tie a huge piece of plastic around the lower edge, smear honey along the cut edge, slowly pack in as much sphagnum moss as I can and tie off the top (allowing an easy point to get extra water in if needed before spring.

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In spring when this tree is getting ready to break bud I will remove the bag & moss to inspect the progress. Cutting back any bridges that the tree has formed to try and get around the ringbarking and trimming off the bottom edges of the callus to force the roots to come from the sides. If any roots have formed they will be either kept and shortened or removed dependant on where they have formed. The whole lot will then be over potted using my standard bonsai mix with a bit of extra sphagnum mixed in around the immediate base of the trunk for extra moisture retention.

Matt

[MattA]

With all this talk & showings of winter I look outside to my trees & wonder "What winter?"...

I thought I had posted about doing this layer at the time I did April 16 (gotta love photos with date stamp), but remembered that I had only done up the article about it for the club newsletter but not posted it here (memory is not what it should be).

So last post is a slightly edited version of the newsletter article & here is a photo of it today.

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As you can see this baby is just powering on, still throwing out new growth all over the place, gives me hopes I may be able to remove the layer alot earlier than I at first thought it might take. Will find out when I remove the current wrappings in spring. Then again the tree could just be expending all its energy before dropping dead on me it wouldnt be the first to do it...

Matt

[MattA]

Fly, after seeing your pear today & discussing the chop factor You have alot room to play with in a trunk of 350mm height.

I am thinking 3-5 main trunks and several secondary ones around the top and sides of a giant hollow, removing most of the wood from the centre and down thru the bottom, with maybe the odd sliver to show light from behind. Live wood curling over into the hollow and up from underneath. With bonsai wound pastes I would think that could be sped up considerably. I am aiming for a dense twiggy domed canopy that comes right over the hollow, total height of about 20-25cm with a trunk of over 12cm dia. Wide spreading monster in miniature, Very light sketchy pic sorry.

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This tree has finally stopped growing for the year ie no new leaves coming, but is still not showing any signs of turning yet. As hoped when i placed the layer, it has produced lots of shoots on the lower portion of the trunk and also at various points across the ridge of live wood between the 2 carved areas of the top half.

A mate told me from the start of this project that I was crazy so why not push it further. A method I read many years ago about growing roses from hard wood cuttings, plant them all in a bucket of damp sand & leave till buds start showing sings of waking. Remove them all and plant those that had calloused in the ground, those that hadnt went back in the sand. The process being repeated until all the cuttings had struck (up to 3mths over spring/early summer).

If it works for roses why not any h/w cutting. I am thinking of cutting the layer off in spring and treating it like a giant cutting, given the growth it has made over the last 3months I would expect considerable callous to have formed at the very least, i would not be surprised to find some rootage. I think the key will be providing really good growing conditions for the roots to get going, once its started there will be no turning back, this tree just wants to perform. Bring on spring

I will get some new pics in the morning.

Matt

[Jamie]

gday mate

i reckon your sketch is a goer, do you think the twin trunk look is right? maybe try and get one branching out instead of straight up and parralel to the opposite trunk?

your plan actually is very similar to one of my celtis! i will get a pic of it tomorrow for you

jamie

[MattA]

Here's the tree as of this morning. I havent paid much attention to it in a while, looking at it today, there is finally colour starting to happen on the inner leaves.

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[FlyBri]

Gday Matt!

Looks like you Pear is going great guns! I wish we had a growing season as long as yours, although it would make it difficult for me to know when to repot...

I like the direction you've indicated in the sketch - but I agree with Jamie about the parallel 'goal posts'. The sketch is very similar to ideas I have for my Pear, and I will probably try to achieve a similar result from at least one of the sections (top and/or bottom).

With the strength and vigour this tree had been showing since arriving from Sydney I decided to bite the bullet and proceed with starting the layer. Most advice for making aerial layers is to take them during spring/summer when the tree is actively growing. However, as seen in Bonsai Magazines, very large layers are often put on during late winter/ early spring before growth has started.

Now this little tidbit of info has my interest piqued! Winter layering is not a thing I have ever seen or heard about. I'll be interested to see how your layer has gone, even if it is hardly Winter layering if your tree hasn't gone dormant. Anyway, I'd like to know more behind the theory, if you have any more info at hand.

Great thread and tree(s)! Please keep us posted.

Thanks.

Fly.

[MattA]

Gday Matt!

Looks like you Pear is going great guns! I wish we had a growing season as long as yours, although it would make it difficult for me to know when to repot...

I like the direction you've indicated in the sketch - but I agree with Jamie about the parallel 'goal posts'. The sketch is very similar to ideas I have for my Pear, and I will probably try to achieve a similar result from at least one of the sections (top and/or bottom).

With the strength and vigour this tree had been showing since arriving from Sydney I decided to bite the bullet and proceed with starting the layer. Most advice for making aerial layers is to take them during spring/summer when the tree is actively growing. However, as seen in Bonsai Magazines, very large layers are often put on during late winter/ early spring before growth has started.

Now this little tidbit of info has my interest piqued! Winter layering is not a thing I have ever seen or heard about. I'll be interested to see how your layer has gone, even if it is hardly Winter layering if your tree hasn't gone dormant. Anyway, I'd like to know more behind the theory, if you have any more info at hand.

Great thread and tree(s)! Please keep us posted.

Thanks.

Fly.

Thanks Fly, Your comments and encouragement mean alot to me. Yes its hardly a winter layer when the tree has been thumping out new growth since doing it 3months ago.

I think its BT volume 48 or 49 wheer they show a big beech being layered. The cut is made just before leaf break late winter, this layer is also done with just a narrow channel big enough for a thick wire to be inserted, no removing a wide ring from around the trunk, that is done in the second year of the layering process. I will try & find my copy and take pics of what they have done. It is a great article showing the stages of work over a 8yr period from starting layer to removing & also rebuilding work in the canopy. It also covers the setup for the layer. Shows that even masters get things wrong, in its first year after being separated the medium wasnt draining well enough & the roots didnt grow as much as they expected.

I cant wait for spring to have a look in the bag & see how the layer has done so far.

Matt