April 2018 Re-potting

Spring 2018 Repot

This post covers the re-potting of a few trees.  As I had feared, many of the trees in my collection perished, due to three moves in three years, in conjunction with the strong southern California sun (despite 70% shade cloth). I basically re-potted all the trees that showed signs of life - two boxwoods, a sickly maple, a privet (I got for free at the L.A. library), and a ginkgo.   

Below is the ginkgo.  This is what the planting angle has been.  You can see the vertical (flame) style that is typical of this species.  I am proud of the movement away from the trunk that I achieved from early wiring.  The carving on top is simple but has the look that I am going for (so far). 

On the side that was laying in the soil (left side in previous image), there appears to be some rot.  I tried to nick it with my fingernail and it seemed pretty firm, so I decided to leave it.  I will probably have to carve and preserve it in the future. Big root cuts made previously were the same, but seemed to be callused over. 

The root in the image above (on the right side) was too high, now that I decided to change the planting angle to get that side off the soil.  My plan was to stand it up, and actually have it lean slightly the other direction.  This, I hope, will do two things:

1) Dry out and hopefully prevent any further rot.
2) Cause a change in direction in the new growth to add visual movement.            Ginkgo's can be brittle and difficult to wire.

Below is a photo with the root cut. Taken from a different angle.

Here you can see the rotted section and the line on the right side of the image showing the bark line.

You can see the new angle and the "windswept" look.  The new growth will most likely grow straight up and give the branching some more movement.

The main flaw in this tree is the lack of root spread which is evident in the photo below.

Here is the opposite side.

Update: here it is in the beginning of June 2018

Next, is the Japanese maple, the last survivor from a batch I got 10 yrs ago.  This treee has historically been the runt of the litter.  Ideally, it should go in the ground, but does not fit with my housing situation right now.

There are very little roots to speak of and half the branches are dead.  I have my fingers crossed on this one.  I planted it in a pot with plenty of space and planted it deep in the pot.  The other maples died from sun exposure and the added soil on top may offer some protection from the 90 degree plus days of August here in Boise. Below is the image before I put the soil in.

My soil mix this year is something like: 2 parts Turface, 3 parts diatomaceous earth (Napa Auto Dry), 1 part red lava rock, 1 part bark.

It was easy to wire the tree in using the strongest root on the right and the cluster of roots on the left.

Like I said, planted deep.  It should be good for 2-3 years in here, or hopefully in a growing bed soon to grow out the trunk.

Next, is one of the boxwoods.  This one had a lot of downward root growth.  I did my best to eliminate any large downward growing roots. I used the root comb and the hose to bare root it.    I decided to plant this in a larger box and use the wood bottom like it was a tile to spread the roots.  I did what I could to spread the roots, boxwood is really stiff, and tightly anchored the tree in.

I also took a privet out of the gallon nursery container.  I aggressively cut back large roots and secured it to a piece of cut off pallet wood to act like a tile and help spread the new root growth outward.  I wired the piece of wood to the pot.  (repot 1-2 years)