Tree of the Day - Tuesday, April 19, 2005

mike_p

Thanks Matt. That's the pot my "quercus ressurectus" is in.

Regards

Mike

Attached Images

toshoak_04_05.jpg (68.2 KB, 27 views)

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DavidN

Mike, I also have to agree with Matt about your magnificent pot being perfect for that tree.

BrianBay9

Come on Carl. The point of this thread is to encourage discussion. There have been several requests for a broader contribution to the discussion. Your comments, while heartfelt I'm sure, go well beyond "direct" when you talk about "castrating" a tree, or "the thought of some ignorant doing the sort of damage that you've depicted". You can be direct without being derogatory. How about explaining why you feel weeijk's virtual would be a serious mistake?

Brian

Carl_Bergstrom

Brian,

You're right. This forum feature is not really the place for remarks like mine.

On the other hand...can you understand how it might be irritating to come on here day after day and watch people assertively ripping on world-class trees styled by some of the artists that I most deeply respect? As if some of these artists don't know the first thing about design, and as if the posters actually do...?

I find it one thing when I don't know the tree, and I've largely kept quiet under those circumstances. But seeing those remarks and those virtuals for this tree, a tree that I've been in love with ever since I first set eyes upon it four years ago....it's like overhearing some jerk at a bar call your woman an ugly whore. Fair or otherwise, you see red and come out swinging.

And as for explanation, I cannot do the tree justice by trying to explain in any logical language, save to say that the soul of the tree lies on the balance of those branches with the main trunk, and to say removing them takes it from a unique masterpiece to a rather ordinary tree that might not turn heads even at a local show.

With my best regards,
Carl


As for explanation?

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DavidN

Carl, I'm right with you on this. I too feel the way you do about that tree. I believe I might have seen this tree somewhere else and thought it was magnificent from first glance. When Matt put this tree up I was overwhelmed again and felt exactly how you described in you last paragraph. However I can't even imagine this tree being in that pot. I believe Matt must be virtually changing the pot.

David

Carl_Bergstrom

Hi David,

Thank you for the supporting words. You probably have seen this tree before; I believe I've posted pictures of it here in the (distant) past. It is also shown in Jack Douthitt's book

This beautiful tree really, truly is in that pot, and it has been ever since I first saw it. The photo below was taken two months ago.

With my best regards,
Carl



(Matt, your picture of this tree is lovely. Much better than anything I've taken, much better even than the one in Douthitt's book.)

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DavidN

Carl, Truly overwhelmming this tree is without foliage. I can now see why he chose this pot with the colour of the trunk and branches blending so perfectly with the pot. How much more mature does this tree look without foliage than with? Thanks Carl for sharing.