Yamadori scrub oak and douglas fir

I’m really just curious if its possible these have completely fused together and share a vascular system. Is the scrub oak just going to grow around the douglas fir? Its been boxed with pumice and the native soil and appears to be in decent health.

I don’t think they’ll fuse to the point of sharing a vascular system, but maybe they have fused close enough that you will have trouble separating the two without seriously hurting one or both.

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The third photo is in a box? You did lift these trees. They look interesting…
Did the roots just ‘pull’ apart?. How did they do this summer?

Yes, they have been in a box for almost a year now.

Thankfully the conditions it was growing in was great for collecting. Almost no reduction to the root mass was required. I did not separate them, but the scrub oak died from a deep freeze that came through or may have already been dead when I collected it. The douglas fir is doing well. It pushed quite a few good sized back buds. I will be excited to see what it does this coming spring.

I will most likely keep it in the box for another year and assess the situation then regarding separating the two trunks. Though I kind of like the look of them joined together.