Roadside Rescue

[senseijames]

Hello folks, thought I would show my nice pick up yesterday, a Sheoak growing out of a bank on the side of the road, I thought I should rescue it from the council slasher or tree poisoner, should be a good specimen if I can get it to grow some roots, unfortunately I was not too careful when collecting it and didn't get many roots. The tree is about 120 cm high with about 6 cm trunk at base.I have used Pearlite and Cocoa peat for bottom soil, and covered the roots/trunk with attapulgite, and I will feed it with seasol regularly, hopefully it will survive, i think it was blessed ( there was a small pray-mantis on it today when I potted it up ) so it should come back. Any tips folks??.
James

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[Jamie]

gday mate

nice bit of stock there, the base and roots have a penjing feel to them, are you planing on keeping it this height? i would be tempted to chop it 30-40cm above the base and see what pops then when the new shoots harden off cut back to a new leader.

thats if you arent gonig for a literati tree

jamie

[senseijames]

Hi Jamie, yeah mate I am going to do a literati but not sure about the height yet, just want to wait and see if it lives or not.
cheers mate
James

[Jamie]

the few cassa i have collected (well got me cousins to dig them ) i have given them a long long soak in a seasol/superthrive bath. the ones that came out strongest were in the bath for a couple of weeks, i have kept them pretty moist at all times, they love the water, the bigger one i got which is about 6-8cm trunk has started shooting so i got around to some preliminary carving the other day

if you are patient enough they will bud out all over the trunk

jamie

[Krusty]

It's got some nice movement in the trunk for a sheoak. Hope it survives.

[senseijames]

Actually been thinking about the style and now think an informal upright may suit better, any ideas ??

[kvan64]

Nice movement that could be great for literati like jamie said. However, I think it may not be sheoak. could you post a close up shot for the folliage? I forgot the name but it looks like a common species found on QLD roadsides that has small yellow flowers.
DK

[senseijames]

Nice movement that could be great for literati like jamie said. However, I think it may not be sheoak. could you post a close up shot for the folliage? I forgot the name but it looks like a common species found on QLD roadsides that has small yellow flowers.
DK

The third last photo shows some of the foliage, but it is definitely a sheoak.

[alpineart]

Hi James thats a good looking hitch hiker you picked up .A man after my own heart , cant leave them to be slashed or sprayed .Good job Alpine

[kvan64]

Is roadside collection legal? I wanted to dig a few recently but was worried!

[Greth]

I don't collect natives from the roadside, especially as our road is a Landcare reveg site! Very few even from our property, except when they are in a roadway or somewhere difficult and have to be removed anyway. Airlayering seems to me to be a way to get good sized reveg trees of local provenance to plant around, can even pick male or female cas as needed, so is currently one idea I am working with. I am also growing from seed, but it takes a lot longer to get a tree big enough to survive without watering that way.
I do pick up the seedling olives as I know they will be cut and poisoned yearly, and have talked to Landcare about it. Essentially they are pleased that I am saving them much more work down the track if the things manage to get big. The council only grades the road occasionally, trims dangerous branches maybe once every two-three years, so no threat of poison or slashing.

James is in an entirely different situation, if he felt that the tree was really in danger from the council I have no problem with him picking it up.

[Jamie]

Actually been thinking about the style and now think an informal upright may suit better, any ideas ??

it all depends on what you see for it mate! what i see there with that base is a penjing style tree with the root system, have you thought about a raft???? you could get some seedlings/struck cuttings and graft them into that long root and great a very respectable raft from it