Uncommon Practice? (Wound Concealing) (56kb Warning)

Black

Here goes my first post...
I thought I would start off with something I have done last Thursday at late night.

It being a “Practice” I have not since come across on the net yet, I am presuming that either I have not looked in the right places or the reason it is not applied is that it is a too sure way to kill/ruin a tree.

This is a Yamadori that I have had picked up recently.
A tree that I found beautiful and that I in fact liked…I loved the tree actually, and wish to waste no tree if possible, but it being a tree that I have not spent years nursing; I thought it suitable to do such an experiment with.
Unfortunately I have not taken any photo’s of the steps I took at the beginning; including my collecting. So I made a simple 3D illustration series illustrating what I had had done until the photographed images… Shall the photos not be descriptive enough, I shall try to simulate the steps of those as well with illustrations.
What was odd about this one was how it was able to grow in an ancient mound of rubble with its leader actually growing completely to it’s side for about two meters give and take.. So my new leader is not living a new positioning technically… it was always growing upwards. But when I got it home and planted it the branch was dramatically leaning sideways, thus the illustration is not totally accurate of the tree, but it was at the end how it was positioned to grow.

1. Firstly as generally practiced I removed the largest branch saving one “new leader” to be and with a few hours of labour removed it from it’s grounds (For those that shall rightfully argue on why I went and collected a tree before spring; I had to hurry and save what ever I saw potential or not from there as already one half of the area was bulldozed, I replanted some I thought should developed some more and brought three of them back home with me).
2. At home I tried to cut the trunk as such as I have had seen in an article HERE and was pretty anxious to try out…. But the darned tree was so tuff, it was simply not possible to bend it like that.
3. Then I went to a method I presume most Arbosculptors tend to go for while bending thicker branches/trunks. And cut a notch along the bend…
   The earlier carving provided I get away with making only one grove to successfully bend it.
4. I literally glued this fold to each other doing my best in the meanwhile not to break the other side or damage the cambium layer still contact.

After this had managed to set I feared permanently weakening a practically supportive portion of the tree I wanted to drill both ends and then insert a sort of peg or what not. But the angle being too odd for my being able to insert a standard peg, I decided to make a grove to be able to “slide” a peg in.





Which got me to the idea of not using a peg but a piece off the branch that I had cut off (I tend to bring home also a generous length of the thickest branch I have removed while collecting for dendrochronological intentions) and filling the gap as best I can and match the grains as best possible with hope that through healing it would end up looking like a pretty natural “shari”.






Getting a pretty successful result...



I went in fact further and inserted chips to fill remaining gaps… where it struck me to cover the sides with moistened and then folded wrinkles of removed bark from the branch sample I had.





I went pretty decorative and literally tried to hide any marks of interference in spite there being yet no healing.
Actually this is the part that scares me the most.. have I over worked the tree? And such have Iliterally doomed the upper segment into a slow death?
Or more obviously to ask, have I made a mistake with so much additions that most possibly the area is going to swell up like hell giving me a very non aesthetic trunk/reverse tapper?


And a wider shot:



Covered the surface generously with wound-paste:





I hope that this was helpful or at the least inspiring for few of you and would hope also that for those this is nothing too new nor intresting, I would like to hear from your experiences on the matter as well as advices.


Lets see how it is going to make it through a few growing seasons... I definately will try to update you


Thank you for sparing so much time on my jibbering long post.


cya;

Black

Advertisement

bonhe

Hi Black,

Your post is really interesting. Thanks for sharing technique. Bonhe

AndyWilson

Interesting. I would certainly be worried about the healing 'over' this bit of wood, i think you may get a large bulbous wound forming there over time. How are you going to keep this bit of wood 'preserved' so to speak? over time will it not degrade quicker then the rest of the plant and look unatural?

Not trying to nit pick here just giving some of my initial thoughts.

Black

Thanks Bonhe and Andy for our kind words...
I like what it looks like now and I am trying to actually cherish it... but as time passed since my attempt, I have grown more and more uncomfortable with what it may end to.

For your question Andy;
As to appreciate that the so called “peg” was glued into position, I am hoping that the glue will provide an insulation to the live tissue in the long run, and have thus planned to encourage some weathering on the peg both with hopes for it to add character and convincingness (Unfortunately the grains of the peg do not exactly match the dramatic taper of the trunk).
Later the peg shall be treated with a wood hardener of choice to prevent any further weathering.


Good Idea?
I have browsed through a great many arbosculptors dating from decades back where they have very mercilessly introduced objects to trees. Such as gigantic hinges, axe heads, hammer heads, bowling balls (though I think the ball was held in place with a series of approach grafted trees… so not sure if that would count)… and none of them displayed extreme healing characteristics that I fear for.

But to be on the secure side and presume that for sure there will be a large wound; what say I air layer it the following year just from above the thinner branch you see under it? I really liked the natural nebari of this guy, but the thought of a big bulge and then spreading roots are growing on me. I could then make the lower branch the new leader of the new tree.


Black

MacInOakRidge

Any chance we could find out what kind of tree this is? Are you in the USA or someplace else?

Black

Oh yes of course…

I am so sorry for the mystery-man presentation… I have just updated my profile to provide the country I reside: Belgium.

The climate here was I think officially declared as to be maritime temperate (Oceanic Climate). It is pretty casual here to have rain at least once almost every week; save from the hard colds were we are just too cold for rain and not suitable enough for snow.
Winters there is often frost at nights but not too often is the temperature below a value that would kill most temperate trees (if any)
Thus it is an ideal place (save for tropical) had there had been more sun!

As for the tree... unfortunately the state I have collected it I was obligated to overlook my usual practice of determining the cultivator of the plant because I had to literally “save” them.
But judging from the bark and the characteristics of its wood, I am presuming that it is a common ash (Fraxinus Excelsior) and between 10 to 20 years of age.

Hope this helps better criticise


Black

Ps: I have the tree indoors… it was the biggest of the three I brought home. The five I have replanted to a wilder part of a park across from the city prison were much better collected and I believed would be able to survive the cold. These three I was not as sure.
And to prove myself more merciful than I may appear: I have attempted this stunt only to this one mostly because the angle that the branch was leaning to the side like that made it VERY difficult to find a corner in the house where I can provide it sunshine.

__________________
"I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life.
I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery,... "

Christopher Reeve
25 September 1952-10 October 2004

AndyWilson

I am sure gonna follow this thread, fascinating idea and should be a great one to follow up on. Well done!

bonhe

If the wound is in posterior aspect of the trunk, I think it should be fine. Bonhe

kcpoole

I have heard of doing something like but never seen in person or such a good description.

Please keep us updated with the results

Ken

__________________
When engineers work out how to make something Idiot proof, humanity invents a better Idiot