Two years of a Downy Birch

Hi IBC, Never seem to get the time to post anymore. Just a two shot progression over two years.
Downy Birch (Betula pubescens)
First picture 14/07/10
Second picture 21/10/12
Pot: Tokoname (I known it could do with a clean!)

Bam! That is sweet!

excellently carved taper. Very good work.

cheers

Hi Mr Miyagi,

it seems like the base of the trunk grew very well in this 2 years. what did u let it eat ?

very good work !

Efi

Only 2 years? Fantastic.

You did a very good job,Mr. Miyagi, in only 2 years.. a very nice tree !! take care john

Can't be the same tree... Great job with the carving. From youth to old age in two years - great illusion!
Todd

tell me at what time, winter or summer, you do Shari on birch?

Thanks everyone for your comments. The tree has been fed every 2 weeks through the growing season using a lot of whatever is cheap. The shari was done in the first winter. Here are a few more pictures of its progression. When I re-potted it last spring a sharied root at the front had completely rooted and broke away. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise.



servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=415&u=16318982][/url]

Thank you, great job. Good luck to you and the tree.

Forget my rudeness Mr.Miyagi. The tree is yamadori, right? I havent find anything mentioned above.

yamasuri wrote:Forget my rudeness Mr.Miyagi. The tree is yamadori, right? I havent find anything mentioned above.

Hi Vlad, yes the tree was collected just before the first photo.

Thanks for reply. How old it could be? Aproximately? BTW I love birches

yamasuri wrote:Thanks for reply. How old it could be? Aproximately? BTW I love birches

If I had to guess I'd say between 10 and 15 years but I could be well out. Think I may still have the large removed section from the top. If I can dig it out then I'll have a go at counting the rings.

Oh no no you don't have to do that. Just curious. Like your carving and overal progress. Nice nebari makes your tree strong.

So you chopped the trunk 2 times? you chopped it the second time, after you allready did the first work on the shari?
I ask because i see two different dimensions of the tree on these pictures, if you look at dimensions of pot and tree, also the shape of the shari. And offcourse maybe other branches appeared after the second chop?

Overall, good little tree

age, i suspect the tree to be approx 5 years (when it was dug up from the wild)

yves71277 wrote:So you chopped the trunk 2 times? you chopped it the second time, after you allready did the first work on the shari?
I ask because i see two different dimensions of the tree on these pictures, if you look at dimensions of pot and tree, also the shape of the shari. And offcourse maybe other branches appeared after the second chop?

Overall, good little tree

age, i suspect the tree to be approx 5 years (when it was dug up from the wild)

Hi, yes I redesigned the tree to a much small tree in the autumn of 2011 as it looked awkward as it was. I edited the shari a few time with small detail. Also where I created the shari the trunk died back a bit on it own, as is common with birch. In the pic of its original design you can see the branches I used to build t as it is now.

Thanks Sam

Hi there
I m going to do something similar with my birch. I m just wondering how did you protect the death woods. Did you use only lime-sulfur or other stuff too.
It is lovely tree progres BTW
Regards Piotr

twinsrat wrote:Hi there
I m going to do something similar with my birch. I m just wondering how did you protect the death woods. Did you use only lime-sulfur or other stuff too.
It is lovely tree progres BTW
Regards Piotr

Hi Piotr. Originally I used lime sulfur mixed with a small amount of black Indian ink. This looks awful when applied but looks ok in a week or so. However after I shortened the tree and re-carved the dead wood I left it for the grow season with nothing and have only just applied some wood hardener. This gives a chance for rot to set in a make the dead area much more natural. So my advice is to carve, then do nothing for a year, then harden. Other species I would leave longer but in my climate and birch dead wood would completely root away.
Hope this helps. Sam

Thanks Sam
This is what I have been thinking about. I m just wondering what kind of wood hardener did you use. Was it any ordinary builders wood hardener or some special one. If you can recommend one, or point what should I avoid.
Regards Piotr

twinsrat wrote:Thanks Sam
This is what I have been thinking about. I m just wondering what kind of wood hardener did you use. Was it any ordinary builders wood hardener or some special one. If you can recommend one, or point what should I avoid.
Regards Piotr

Hi Piotr,
I just used an old can of Cuprinol Wood Hardener, so nothing special. Not sure if its white spirit based or not. Just make sure you don’t get coned into using any specialist product that’s too expensive. Saying that, I believe there to be some reasonable priced ones available. But I just use whatever’s at hand. The trees not dead so I guess its ok!