Let’s hope it holds up! Driving home from a birthday party today I noticed a group of city workers man-handling a tree out of the ground beside a telephone pole. Upon closer inspection realized it was a beautiful oak with a huge trunk. I stopped, offered them all a case of beer if they’d walk away and let me finish the job. They had already half ripped it outa the ground so by the time I finished the job the roots were real scares. They were going to trash it anyway, so I figured why not try. It’s worth the effort saving such a beautiful tree. I just love the character of this oak so I’m going to do whatever I can to nurse it back to health. If there’s anybody with experience I’d love to hear suggestions, or care tips. I’m 95% sure it’s an English Oak (Quercus Robur), which grows fairly vigorously in BC. Like I said, I want this tree to live so if there’s anyone that can offer helpful advice I’m all ears.
Keep in shade or a little morning sun only. Protect from wind, Watch the leaves for stress like wilting, drying out. Also see if there is grow at tips. A good sign. Mist as often as you can if the area you live in is warm, hot and dry. If humid air, less misting. (The coast vs interior BC) Soak soil once and check H2O/O2 balance. Make soil dries out before watering again. Can try some products like Super Thrive and/ or Revive although no guarantee. Good luck. All experience is good if you learn something from it.
Thanks for the advice. I’ve got in in a perfect spot as far as shade and no wind goes. Soil, I used mostly DE with some small bark mulch…this was unexpected so I was unprepared as far as soil goes. I like DE and use it often but have no experience with it and unhealthy trees. I drilled a bunch of holes on the bottom to increase O2 flow. I’m hoping the large amount of small holes pulls more air through the DE.
Actually on my sign behind it i wrote Nursing a sick tree, needs shade! Haha I put in in a great spot at the back of my condo where people don’t go much and is well shaded and virtually wind free.
DE? Total shade could be a problem in so far as the tree needs some sunlight to photosynthesize. A little morning sun is gentle because it is not as hot - cooler morning air temps. plus low angle on horizon, as afternoon sun.
Hi Jesse,
English Oak can be hard to collect as they often have a big tap root, which if cut, can be terminal (I learned this the hard way). On the plus side, it’s good to wait until the leaves have opened before re-potting. Sounds like you are doing everything you can. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.
Yeah, that’s the whole issue here. The workers had dug two feet down and still couldn’t pull it out so when I had got there they had the saw out cutting the tap root. From what I saw in finishing the removal I’d say about 1/3 was removed. So I’m hoping there’s enough there to survive on. That’s actually why I had to pot it in a garbage bucket, the tap root was fairly long and robust. I knew if this tree was going to survive I couldn’t cut anymore off so I had to plant it in a deep container. My fingers are crossed. It was doomed regardless, but if I can save it I’ll be stoked!
I found an Oak in an old quarry, which had been growing at the base of the vertical rock in dirt which had drifted up the side. Someone had come along and ripped the whole thing off along with the roots in turf. Another rescue job, and 4 years on its doing well
Im trying to get the back buds to pop now to increase ramification.
Hey Andy, the tree looks great. You get your medical doctorate for that. What time of the year did you affect the rescue? There is some discussion regarding the best time of the year to collect oak. Most point to the spring but some say that they have had better success in the summer.
Diatomaceous Earth. There’s a great thread started by @Mike_Hennigan you can read here The Great DE Thread. I highly recommend it if you’re not familiar. As for placement. The tree gets about 2 maybe 3 hours of broken sunlight in the very wee hours of the morning. I’d say from 6am to between 8-9am. Theres some over hanging trees that break that up in the later part of sunlight but I think it’s just enough. I’m fairly certain I want to stunt transpiration to develop roots. So I figured this very early, broken sunlight would be just enough to give the tree some time to photosynthesise without losing too much water through out the day. The tap root got chopped a lot shorter than I would have done if I was doing this alone, and there was a very small amount of feeder roots, so it’s really touch and go. To be honest, I don’t have my hopes high. But it’s worth the effort to try! Thanks again for your input. I appreciate you taking the time to help out.
Wow! What a tree! Great job man. I hope mine makes it! I just love oaks.
Hi DavidJ,
It was late March in the UK when I found the Oak, well before bud swell. It grew so well that season that I put the big bend in the trunk with a turn buckle. I have taken a few backwards steps in the last few years, trying to refine before it wanted to, but its all a journey.
Andy, actually it was a UK bonsai lover who wrote about his positive experiences collecting oak in the summer. Do you remember the brand of beer you bought the lads? LOL.
It’s beautiful. I can only hope one of the dozen or so oaks I’ve collected this year so far make it to where yours is now. That’s a really nice tree. Even if it’s still developing, I can see exactly where that’s going and I’m a fan!
Go for it Mr.JS. Very few oak bonsai in the Toronto area. A definite weakness.
So I’m noticing today that most of the leaves are starting to curl in on themselves. They’re hard to the touch, crispy almost, but still a deep green. No discolouration, no wilting, just fragile, ‘crispy’ leaves that are curling. The tree is in almost full shade all day, aside from 3-4 hours of early morning sun, and I’ve been misting at least 4 times daily. I’m not sure what it is, but I know it’s not good. Is this normal behaviour for an oak in distress?
Doesn’t sound good. Leaves seem to be drying out. Don’t know what to say to turn things around. You are doing what I would do. Ask Ryan at the next Q&A. Tell Kendall its a 911 question LOL. The tree might shed leaves prematurely as a survival reaction. As for oak experience I only collected one last fall. Its doing ok.
Sorry to hear that Jesse,
Oaks are hard to collect once they establish a big tap root.
Wait a few months unti the acorns drop and have a go growing from seed. They are fast growers and you will be able to control the tap root better.
Yeah. I didn’t have high hopes…but it was such a nice tree. Ive collected over a dozen smaller oaks this spring. Some with great character already. I’ll just have to focus on those. That being said, aside from planting them in shallow containers, any other tips on controlling the tap root?
the tap root is a large storage organ for sugars so reduce them carefully and leave enought other roots untouched when repot. I have successfully airlayered an english oak and it worked great.