In April 91, I dug a two meters Oak (Quercus robur) that was growing in a rocky area on the rim to a sandpit. The tree was growing in shallow soil on rock, so collecting it was an easy process. The top three-quarters of the tree was vigorous, straight growth that I removed on the spot and left as a short jin. What interested me were the lower trunk and a "ring" of apparently older branches that I could use to create a new crown. I planted the tree in a big wooden box and it immediately started growing vigorously and after only a couple of months roots were coming out of the corner cracks in the box. The Swedish bonsai society organized a workshop with Dan Barton at the end of August and I brought this tree along to work on. It is not a recommended practice to shape an old tree the same year that it is dug. But I did not know better and the tree was already extremely well established in the box. The tree was wired with heavy gauge wire and some branches were pruned. A back branch was wired up, in order for it to participate in the formation of the new crown. It spent the winter in a cold greenhouse.
	In March of 92, I pruned the very thick taproot and some other roots with a saw and gave the tree a bonsai pot. After this heavy work on the roots, I let the root ball soak in a high concentration Superthrive. I really do not know if that cure helps but I guess it does not hurt.
	The tree quickly recovered and during the summer I wired some of the finer twigs. This photo is from August 92 and was taken during an exhibition at the Liseberg amusement park in Gothenburg. I sent another photo from 92 to a competition in the German magazine "Bonsai Praxis Workshop" and won one-year free subscription.
	During subsequent repotting, I inclined the tree more to the right and raised the whole plant in the soil to show more surface roots. In the early spring of 94, I removed the top jin and instead started creating a hollow. The photo was taken in April 1994.
	Each spring, I remove the strong apical buds to encourage the weaker internal buds to develop. These side buds create new twigs and smaller leaves which leads to an increase in density. In June of 94, this tree won the best of show price in the annual Berlin Bonsai Societies exhibition. The tree was growing vigorously and later in June, I defoliated the tree completely. It worked perfectly, the photo is from September 94 and shows nice autumn colors.
	In this photo from April 95 it is easy to see the turnbuckle that I employed to bend the angular branch out and away from the center of the tree. Also, it is clear that the ramification has increased and that the tree is in good shape. This is where problems started. I exhibited the tree at the annual meeting of the German Bonsai Society in Wilhelmshaven in mid May. Unfortunately, the spring had been cold and the leaves were not fully hardened, which made it tough for the tree in the dry exhibition hall.
	Lots of problems with fungus attacks and pests caused the loss of several secondary branches that needs to be re-grown. The photo is from November of 96, the tree still suffers from the fungus that during two subsequent years caused the first flush of leaves to blacken and fall off. Fortunately, Oaks are very hardy and are used to pest and fungus attacks, also in nature they have to set a second set of leaves, but it does weaken the plant. I think I have succeeded in treating the fungus and I now plan to pinch the top but otherwise let the tree grow freely to recover its strength.
	Slowly but surely the tree is recovering. All of a sudden, four years have passed since the last photo. I have not had any problems with fungus or pests during the last two years. The only problem is that the tree does not grow as vigorously as I would like. It only produces new growth in the spring, not a second time in the summer as is normal for oak. In this past year, I have fertilized more then usual high nitrogen content feed late into the autumn. I hope that will produce stronger growth next season. This picture was taken in August 2000, approximately at the time of the major exhibition together with the annual meeting of the Swedish Bonsai Society. The accent plant is a common Swedish cowberry, Vaccinium vitis-idaea.
	Yes, it does indeed grow stronger this year. The leaves are larger and I repeatedly have to remove buds from the lower area on the trunk. So far, no second summer growth though. The picture is from the end of July 2001. It was repotted into a nice pot from the Yixing district in China. After the repotting, I have left the tree alone and only removed unnecessary large leaves from the top.
	This year, one of the major branches suddenly dies without prior warning. It is the zigzag branch to the left that is easy to identify on the winter pictures. I think oak does that, just like birch, selectively let branches die. You often see the remnants on the ground under large solitary oaks.  The other branches grow OK so the crown is nicely full in the summer anyway as can be seen on this photo from July 2002. It’s been a long time since this tree showed the typical second growth phase in the summer, that makes me somewhat worried.
	© Strand Bonsai

Author - Stefan Strand
Website: http://www.bonsai.se