Hello all, first post, hopefully someone can help me out.
This limber pine is my first collected tree, I dug it up from my in-laws’ property in the Colorado foothills about a month ago. All the candles are elongating nicely, and it seems happy so far. I believe I got the majority of the rootball and kept it nice and intact. The main trunk had been cut down years ago, and three branches have grown and are competing to be the new trunk.
Obviously I need to wait until next summer at least to consider any styling work, but what would you do with this tree? I like the nibari, and the main trunk has a little movement in it. I’m thinking of probably eliminating two of the three branches and then carving a hollow in the trunk to get rid of the big cut. I think it will be pretty much impossible to hide, so may as well try to make it a feature? The branch growing the lowest from the cut has the most foliage, so I figure probably keep that, put some movement in it, work to compact it over time, and carve the trunk.
Thoughts? Suggestions? I know it’s not that spectacular of a piece of material but I may as well make the best of it. Thanks in advance!
I have a few more pictures of the lower trunk and nibari but as a new user can only post one at a time, apparently.
Don’t worry about which branch has the most foliage as you are so early in primary development that anything could happen and the foliage on that one branch isn’t worth thinking about in terms of secondary unless you know it’s going to become your awesome leader or a directional structural branch that sets up the rest of the tree. In short, be bold!
Nebari is ok but it looks like there may be a flaw. What’s happening over here where I circled with ‘?’ ? Is it empty? The curve without a root in that spot is awkward.
Maybe air layer one of the top branches and use it as a whip to root graft, or procure another whip to root graft.
Dont be too quick to hollow. Is that cut site totally desecated so it won’t heal over? I like following the line up here (in red) and working to transition the taper over the next few years. Alternatively, it looks like you have those nice shoots coming out around the cut site. You could cut everything next march or two marches from now to focus on those shoots as the development point for à Shohin woth à good trunk girth.
ForScience, I like your thoughts and had wondered about whether I should worry about amount of foliage on a given branch or not. The branch you selected grows pretty much right out of the side of the cut site and overlaps onto it just a little. Unfortunately, yes the cut site looks to be fully desicated and unless I do something to it, it’ll always look like someone took a saw to a small tree. So it’ll either need to be well hidden, perhaps by foliage, or altered in some way. See picture below. Really wish I could attach more than one photo per post.
And yes, that area you circled is devoid of any surface roots. I have not yet tried grafting or air layering, so it’s definitely a thought but a bit daunting for me. But I have some time, so… worth thinking about for sure.
I feel you. I have another post on this forum titled something like ‘trunk chop from hell’ where I took the plunge and cut the desecated chop all the way back to the angle when I got a collar of live tissue to stimulate for healing. I just figure, lets learn as much as I can about healing scars working with what I have. I think I’ll gain more from the technique side of it than hollowing out.
For your tree, youve got all that foliage on that strong branch. If you did cut back to live tissue, you probably would want to keep all the foliage and just let it grow grow grow, because all of those additional photosynthesis-driven resources moving through the tree would speed up recovery at the chop site.
Actually, heres another idea. You could do something similar with the branch sticking out directly in the back from your most recent photo, and achieve something similar to what I drew with the red line. From your most recent photo, it looks like it is about an inch or more below the chop site. This means you cut execute a new trunk chop, about a half inch above that branch, in which case you’d be in full control of pasting and healing!!
I like your thinking! Here is the tree from the other side, with that branch in front. I’m thinking you’ve got the right idea:
Wire some movement into that branch, reduce it a bit, and re-chop the tree, getting rid of the other two branches. I like it.
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Awesome! I wouldn’t even worry about reducing the branch now pictured in the front. Not until your new chop heals and you’re closer to the transitional taper from trunk to branch (new trunk continuation) that you want.
The additional resources form keeping the remaining branch long will just move everything along faster.
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