AusBonsai

Well there ya go . Nice stock too Kvan!

I disagree with Jamie as if you left the root on as you describe, it will not throw roots aas the cambium beneath the root is not severed enough.

You cannot leave it as it will never blend into the trunk and bark adn I think we all agree with that.

Either remove it completely and then try to layer it. Or just cut the trunk above it and restrike as a cutting

Ken

sorry ken i have to disagree, i beleive it would fuse and blend in if it was left on and i also think that the layer would work fine, it will throw new roots before it has time to bridge i reckon.

JMO. im not arguing for the sake of arguing either, i truely beleive it will work.

jamie

Good on ya Jamie and you may well be right. Maybe the definition of novel does not work here but your idea is a little out of the ordinary. I would love to see if it worked. It may very well fuse and cause some very interesting taper.
I bought a tree of Don Blind.(it is a fun thing to do ) He wanted to send a few for me to choose from but I said there was no need. I wanted a tree with a number of years under it's belt. I was confident that I could work with whatever he sent me. I knew I was getting value for money and could work with whatever he sent. New roots branches or new taper it did not matter Don is a reliable grower and I would work with whatever I got.
Not sure If I have the original pic but what I got was quite strange
It had drastic taper at the base with a long straight trunk then movement at the top
What I found most interesting was the base seemed to be a root wrapped around the trunk? The wrap around root was starting to fuse to the trunk and there was surprisingly radial spread of lateral roots spreading out from it(although small) Talking to Don he said this was a technique that he used to create great taper. I have since airlayerd off the top section but I very much look forward to re potting this guy and start training the roots to see what happens.

I agree with Anttal's comment... with all the good bougs that must abound in your neck of the woods.. why waste time and energy over this one. It's nice but not fantastic. It's a learning curve but would you really achieve something that was worth the additional trouble? If you think you would... go for it. Otherwise go looking for a replacement.

Yes Mela and that is the point. The time verses the end result. will it be worth it? I'm not convinced. Also having no experience with these bougs, are you sure you can make a convincing shohin with a boug?

......But whilst you look for a replacement, you might as well try it as a cutting as that requires little time/effort. It is also pretty much guaranteed to strike now so long as the proper method is used. And you will get a nice nebari. And if you find something better, you haven't wasted too much time on this.

Good luck!
Joel

I'm in the temperate zone and I would love material like this. Was told of a Boug that grows better around here in the frost I will have to chase it up.

Jamie what I meant was if they root that easy. It would not be a problem putting a new set that you could monitor from day dot. So you have a good nebari and tachiagari,
it has the mikimoyo there already.

Cheers Pup

thanks for the clarification pup

i got what ya was saying brett, all good i know it is out of the ordinary but unless we try different stuff we wont know do we, if DK wants to sell the tree i will quite happiy buy it as is and try it myself from what i can see in your tree you used as an example it is exactly what i was talking about though and i think in time will work.

i also beleive a convincing shohin can be made from bougs the leaf can be reduced quite drastically


jamie

Thank you everyone for your inputs. The reason I posted this one was because it's looks kind of funny and is a good example of bad root work when it was planted originally. It could be purely accident that the root wrapped around the based when planted. The neigbour didn't want this anymore even though it had planty of nice flowers. When I came home a month ago, it was already chopped down to near the ground. I offered to dig it up for him. So it's a free-bee. I however don't mind wasting time and effort on it because it is an opportunity for me to experiment with ideas.

Jamie, I like your idea about a nice flare base due to the root wrapping. However, when I peeled of the bark of the root section, it came off like a piece of tape. This tells me that all I did was making a parallel strip of some of the phloems that would not cut the flow of glucose and sucrose in the bark and hence would not induce rooting (at least they won't spread evenly like traditional bark ring). So, I decided to do like Brett suggested earlier and trimmed the protruding part of the root and flatten the surface - what a funny looking shari Jamie, if I didn't do this, I would have given it to you to experiment with your method.

Yes Pup, in QLD bougs strike very easily. I accidentally left a section in the water for many weeks before putting it in the soil and it still took roots. The problem with this stump is a big branch just above the root ring was cut off leaving a big area with no bark. If I cut it just above the root ring, this section may not take root and cause uneven root spread??? If I am to go this way like most comments of people here, I would let it heal/recover a bit more then see where I should make the cut.

Anyway, it's great to read all your inputs. I'm learning so much from them!
Edit: Add pics.

all good DK it doesnt look like it had bitten in as much as i first thought though.

keep us updated, will be a good tree in the future


jamie

Good for you kev having a play ! i hear you loud and clear, been there done it. Hence i now have run out of room. enjoy it and good luck with it mate!

Sure jamie, will do that.

Antt, I know what you meant . My missus kept saying that I am collecting ...weeds and rubbish and turning the back yard to a rubbish dump and you are right about there are serious bougs around here. There is a guys on Blunder road which is a few minutes from my place only collect bougs of different varieties. He has a front yard full of big ones and yesterday he just added a huge stump about 60cm in diameter at the base to his collection. I just don't know how he dug it up. I've also seen big bougs in private lands that cover and almost kill big gum trees. I would drop by and ask the owners if I could manage the digging and had time for that.