AusBonsai

Gday folks!

Had a spare hour or so on my hands today, so I thought I'd go dig a Pear tree that I'd had my eye on for some years now. (At least I think it's a Pear, possibly P. calleryana, given its small, round leaves and profuse thorns...) I noticed it several years ago while wandering around the in-laws' property in Panton Hill, and at some point I chopped it back for future collection. I now sorta wish I had chopped it back further, but that's neither here nor there.
I took much longer to collect the tree than I had expected, despite the damp, soft soil. The thing had three fat taproots that were making things difficult, but I wanted this tree and a couple of roots weren't gonna stop me! Once I wash the soil off, I should get some idea of where I can saw off the taproots.
It currently stands at about 1.5m, and the trunk section is about 350mm tall and 120mm across at the soil line.

Updates to follow...

Thanks.

Fly.

G'day Fly,
What a find!! I love those leaves..they're beautiful. I can just picture this tree with that gnarled old trunk and a full canopy of those beautiful leaves. I'M JEALOUS!!!
Loretta

looks good fly

love its small leaves the base has a penjing feel to it, are you going to try style it like a penjing or are you gonna try and sort the roots out?

keep us updated mate

jamie

Loretta wrote:I love those leaves..they're beautiful. I can just picture this tree with that gnarled old trunk and a full canopy of those beautiful leaves.

Gday Loretta!

The leaves were great at the time of photography, but I can't help but wonder if they got larger and harder as the months passed. After all, the photo was taken not long after Spring had sprung... Either way, it still bodes well for small leaves in potted culture.

Jamie wrote:the base has a penjing feel to it, are you going to try style it like a penjing or are you gonna try and sort the roots out?

keep us updated mate

Gday Jamie!

Here's your answer and your update, all in one handy package:
Thanks folks!

More to follow...

Fly.

nice work Bri looking good!

thanks for that

jamie

Gday folks!

I'm having real difficulty in knowing how to treat this trunk... As it stands, the trunk is too tall and taperless, so at least some portion of the top will need to come off. My dilemma is whether to chop it lower NOW and begin the transformation of the trunkline immediately, or to attempt an air-layer of the top, which would delay the development of the lower trunk by at least one year. All too often I look back at my progress photos and regret that I had not made the hard decisions earlier.

I think I know what I should do, but I am uncertain if it is what I want to do...

Any ideas, suggestions and/or moral support is welcome. You have until about midday tomorrow.

Thanks.

Fly.

Hi Fly,

What did the little girl in the 'dinosaur' lollies commercial say to her dad after he ate a lolly....

Chop it

Hey Fly,

let me answer your question with another... Do you want 2 trees or one from this?

If it was me I would CHOP CHOP CHOP But then i am often accused of being too quick to get to it.

Matt

EdwardH wrote:Chop it

MattA wrote:let me answer your question with another... Do you want 2 trees or one from this?

If it was me I would CHOP CHOP CHOP But then i am often accused of being too quick to get to it.

Gday fellas!

I sorta thought that this might be the consensus. It is what I think I should but...

I would like to get two trees out of this stump, but not two ordinary trees at the expense of one that could be really good.

Anyway, I've taken a couple more pics of the trunk, and I don't think they'll change your minds, somehow... There is a patch of exposed deadwood down one side, and at the top of the deadwood section are a number of nodes about the girth of the trunk. Kinda makes me think of a 'broom-style' Pyrus.
Chopping at about this point would reduce the height of the trunk by half, making it somewhat more difficult to reconcile taper issues in the short term. However, in the long term, judicious carving and tight branching could produce a really gnarly, compact little tree.

Maybe I'll just look at the top as cutting fodder... I just have to make sure I don't kill the trunk in the meantime.

Thanks!

Fly.

Hey Fly,

Cutting fodder? do you mean just cutting the top & dumping it or trying to strike it as a giant hardwood cutting? Not sure how well they go as hw cuttings but a layer would work no trouble at all, as you have said tho it just extends the time line a bit.

As for reconciling the taper issue you got it in one, carving & right placement of branching will take care of that. If you saw the callary pear I am layering, it faces similar issues once the layer is off, the base will be 12cm high & the same wide, I am hoping to get some shoots close to the cut line so i can train them into a tight little broom over the top of a big hollow like you sometimes see with really ancient deciduous trees such as the walnut in Italy called the tree of a thousand horses.

The fun bit of doing layers with this sort of stock is getting thru the thick & hard bark but once thats done they are no different than a normal smaller piece that you layer. Not sure you will be able to utilise your wedging techniques tho.. I look forward to seeing how you tackle this one. I always enjoy seeing your trees and how you work with them.

Matt

MattA wrote:... a layer would work no trouble at all, as you have said tho it just extends the time line a bit...

Gday Matt!

At the risk of being called an indecisive wimp, I think I'll go with the layering option. The top has too much potential to just throw it out, and an extra year in the course of this tree's development isn't gonna hurt too much.

So, I'll simply trim back all the long branches (and attempt to strike them as cuttings) and pot the thing up.

Thanks for the support!

Fly.

Hi Fly

Great material. Looking at the leaves I doubt it is a Callery pear. The leaves are too small and not square enough. Does look like some sort of pear though.

regards
Dennis Mc

dennismc wrote:Looking at the leaves I doubt it is a Callery pear. The leaves are too small and not square enough. Does look like some sort of pear though.

Gday Dennis!

Thus far, none of my online searches have yielded any positive ID for this tree. Perhaps the leaves will give me a hint later in the Spring (I just realized that I have cut off all the flower spurs, so there will be no blooms this year to aid in the ID ). If anybody knows their Pyrus, please feel free to speak up!

Please find attached pics of the trunk as it stands today. I figure that if I am to layer the top off, I might as well begin to get some movement into that upper growth - in this case by beginning to clip and grow. Both of the main leaders have a lot of damage (probably due to bunnies/roos) and locating viable nodes close to the trunk was difficult, so I have left them long to be safe.
Thanks.

Fly.

PS: Matt - I see your Callery Pear thread is powering along. I'll try to drop in later and give you my $0.02.

FlyBri, I was looking at your tree and remembered a post by sreeve, An Alternative to Broom style – Willow Leaf Example, where he and his father cut down a willow leaf fig to create significant taper and set the plant up for future broom styling.

They cut a very deep wedge out of the tree, (right through to the roots) and rejoined the remaining pieces. I don’t know how it would go with this species but it is another possible way to go with the tree,

Jan

nice one mate looks good in its pot