English Oak Trees

Bonsai_james

Hello one and all

I have decided that i would like a fine English Oak in my bonsai collection and as i have a vast quantity of oak trees around me i was planning a trip round the woods tomorrow (Sunday) to hunt one down. I have a question regarding oak trees. There are many small (5 - 10 ft high) saplings around my area that would suit the 'lopp of the top and grow' method of bonsai styling. Does Quercus robur respond to this treatment or is it more likely to just die before budding / shooting out? I am unsure so wanted advice before killing oak trees. :. If the result is certain death then i will look for an interesting seedling or sapling with potential for the clip and grow type method. Im also looking for beech and other material and will report back with any finds worth mentioning _

Thanks in advance
James

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TreeBay

I would think an oak of most any kind is likely to send up some shoots after being headed back. They are very shrublike in nature. They live their lives getting broken by wind, struck by lightning and coming back strong. It's not unusual for even mature oaks to have some budding along the trunk.

Other plants I would lump in the same category are Ilex (holly) Privet, boxwood (buxus) , redwood (sequoia), elm (ulmus), Azalea, Bald Cypress and any other tree that sends brave men (and women) in search of dynamite or stump killer.

Among the oaks, Cork Oak (Quercus suber) is about is the only one I'd be concerned about heading back hard without seeing some live twigs beneath, because the bark is so thick, that it might tend to sucker up from the base if it was unable to push dormant buds through the cork.

Regards,

Matt

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kvnharv29

I collected an oak a couple months ago and chopped about 2/3 of it. Now a few buds have shot out and trown out some small leaves that look pretty good. Also the root system was just one huge tap root so i cut some bark of the root and im try to get it to produce a new radial root pattern there.

tmull

Re: English Oak trees

I've sliced a wedge shape about 15cm down the face of a 5cm dia Oak tree and had the tree send out shoots every where, for broom style. The tree is another 5 years older and growing well. If you can get your hands on a copy of a book called, the TREE BOOK by J. EDWARD MILNER and read page 98 and onwards, he explains the old traditional English method of Pollarding and Coppicing of different tree varieties. One variety was the Enlish Oak.