I am not exactly sure why I even collected it...perhaps I saw something in it at the time? I am glad that I did bring it home though.
So I didn't do much with it, just fed and watered it keeping it alive. As I learnt more I quickly realised it wasn't any good as bonsai but I couldn't bring myself to dispose of it.
I finally decided to do something with it and at the start of spring (as ash are one of the first deciduous trees to start growing), I air layered it.
I used the skirt method that i saw FlyBri use on Ausbonsai (if not aware of this method, I suggest that you search for FlyBri's thread on it as it is very detailed with many step by step pics).
It was tricky to ring bark the trunk and cut slits to wedge open as the point on the trunk that I was layering was nearly parallel to the soil line and I only had 5cm of clearance between the soil to the underside of the trunk, as well as it all being confined in a pot.
I cut off the top quater of a couple of pot plants and joined them together and them placed them over the Ash to fashion a rim to hold the soil in for the air-layer. I also cut many air holes in the sides of this new container.
The tree grew really strongly this spring so I decided to cut the layer off 2 days ago...and I was happy with the result.
The trunk prior to being layered was of one caliper (at least it was above the point of reverse taper anyway), and when I seperated the layer the slits in the bark that were cut and wedged open had fused together very well in a short time and, as a result had increased the girth of the base of the new tree considerably...creating decent taper and some basal flare.
There were stacks of roots too!! (I used rooting hormone). Infact I didn't turn the pot as regularly as I should have of when the layer was taking, and as a result one side in particular received more direct sunlight, and it had masses of roots there that were around an inch thick and already partially fusing...I was amazed!
I love this species, it has so much going for it! New white roots on any species are delicate and breake easily, but on Fraxinus they are so strong! I bare rooted the air layer and I was surprised at just how strong and forgiving these new roots were.
The roots formed up the entire length of the slits that were cut into the bark. The inside curve of the lower trunk was exposed to the most sun, and this was where the roots formed the most and were fusing together, around an inch thick at this point. When I potted up the layered tree, I added rooting hormone to the very bottom edges of the trunk because there was around a centimeter that did not form enough of an even root spread around the entire perimeter at that point. I hope to induce roots there as the trunk is actually about another centimeter wider at the very base. So if I can get an even spread of roots there I can eventually reduce some more of the highest roots which will expose more of the trunk and create more taper and a slightly thicker trunk base...I was so suprised at just how well the slits of bark fused together because when they were wedged open they were a good 1 to 2 centimeteres apart in some areas.
I am shooting for an eventual shohin and it has a fair bit of development to come, but this is where it is at after potting up the layer... Here is a picture of another Fraxinus that I collected in the winter of 2010. It has had its roots worked on at the start of this spring and had already had one complete defoliation. Hopefully this will be another shohin in the future. Its final height will be around 15cm.
By the way Grant B, if you get a chance I would love to see a thread on the mini ash that you are developing!
Cheers, Dario.
