For many who discover them helpful (and who doesn’t?), Peter Tea’s handouts made a return in January, to assist summarize and improve the knowledge he gave us in his partaking repotting demonstration.
In any case, I’m not going to attempt to summarize Peter’s total demonstration as a result of a lot of the essential data is in that handout, and I nonetheless suppose it’s best to actually go there your self if you’d like all the pieces out of the displays. Although when future assembly notes are formally separate, I suppose I’ll have the room to enter a bit extra element (sarcastic “yay!”).
True to his promise, Peter did repot two member bushes, although the second ran relatively late. Earlier than he began on both, he talked for about an hour in regards to the causes for repotting in addition to the particular strategies, and the way the sort and well being of the tree can issue into the seasonal timing of all the pieces. That was the handout stuff. After which, after all, there have been the tidbits that have been added all through the lecture and the repotting demo that adopted.
A few of my favourite tidbits, or ah-ha! moments, throughout Peter’s presentation: When discussing mounding the soil round a tree versus leveling off the soil, Peter gave many execs and cons to think about, together with the age conveyed via mounding and the benefit of working with roots when leveling. One level I discovered particularly enlightening when he was discussing the exposed-roots mounding con is that uncovered roots generally tend to develop straight down searching for soil. And straight down is NOT a very good search for nebari! As a fan of mounding, and somebody who’s at all times experimenting with uncovered roots, since daylight stimulates them to fatten, I took heed of this warning. Maybe this may be added to the numerous causes we’re speculated to repot growing bushes extra usually, a part of the final root pruning and upkeep Peter recommends if we would like corresponding improvement within the above-ground a part of the tree.
The subsequent Peter tidbit that grabbed me was in his dialogue about why it may not be so unhealthy to repot a deciduous tree a bit late within the repotting season. To not the place a number of units of recent leaves are open, but when the primary leaves are simply popping or barely earlier than that, even higher. Such late repotting is an effective solution to gradual the expansion of a tree for which fast improvement is of little or no concern. A few of the different advantages he talked about, nonetheless, additionally sound like issues we would like from our growing bushes, particularly the shorter internodes that apparently end result from the slowed development. The smaller leaves that end result can be extra for developed bushes, however I like them on my growing bushes, too, if in any respect attainable. Or possibly I’m simply in search of excuses to place off repotting a few of my bushes . . .
Dennis supervises as Peter works on his tree.
For me, the largest revelation in Peter’s demonstration got here when he was displaying how the tie-in wires work. Most of us have seen the four-point tie down process (full with the “pig tail” for a full wrap-around) many occasions, however Peter had not less than two particular particulars of that process that I’m certain I wasn’t the one one listening to about for the primary time. To start, he made certain the wires went into the oblong pot such that each different wire was longer than the opposite. They’d all be the identical size in a sq. or round pot. The explanation for that is in order that one wire reaches all the way in which over to the basis of different. Um–what?! Am I the one one who missed this in different demos? The one two wires that meet within the center are the final wire and the little pig tail you connect to the basis of the primary wire. And people ought to meet the place your tree roots are strongest. After I say “root” in relation to the tie-down wires, I’m speaking in regards to the level at which the wire emerges from the soil and the tree’s root ball.
The second outstanding level about tie-down wires that Peter made concerned the tightening of the wires. Apparently, when the first-through-third wire ties are made, there may be NO TIGHTENING. Once more–what?! I’ve been half-tightening all the way in which round as I’m going! Thanks for setting me straight, Peter. When the primary wire meets the second on the root, you merely twist them as soon as, snugly collectively towards the soil and tree roots, and transfer on. Similar with the subsequent two factors. On the finish, when the fourth wire finish is assembly the top of the pig tail you connected to the basis of the primary wire, you permit them to fulfill within the center, and that is the place you do all of the tightening. Make sure you pull on the wires firmly earlier than and just a bit throughout your twist in order that the twist doesn’t overlap itself. Bunched, overlapping twists are the first reason for damaged tie-down wires. In different phrases, you tighten the wires across the root ball by pulling on them earlier than twisting, not by utilizing the wire twist like a tourniquet. This additionally helps keep away from getting roots caught within the twist. And by tightening all the pieces collectively on the finish, you eradicate the irritating tendency for the tree to get crooked within the pot for those who have been to tighten particular person pairs of wires.
Thanks so very a lot to everyone who stayed additional late after Peter’s demo to assist clear up.
– David Eichhorn
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