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I recently
aquired this Larch, it was a tree a friend of mine didn't want,
so he asked me if I'd like it.
I accepted, however i was not really sure what to do with it once
i had got it. Though I wanted to put my stamp on the tree to make
it mine.
I decided that some drift wood, would really add some character
to this tree.
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I live about
15 miles from the mouth of a large estuary, so I set off down
to the foreshore to see what I could find. In the end i gathered
up about 20 or so pieces of wood and went home.
After sorting through the pile, I found one piece that was perfect.
I've soaked it in wood preserver and applied some lime sulphur
to stop the wood rotting in the future.
To build the
Tanuki I'll add a base to the drift wood made from car body filler
and chicken wire, and drill holes in it for the roots of the tree
to grow through.
Then i'll remove bark from the trunk, where the drift wood is
going to be attached.
I'll attach the the drift wood very tightly with plastic ties,
and then apply grafting wax to the joined area where the peeled
bark and drift wood meet, this will stop the area drying out in
the early stages of forming a callous.
I'll also clean all traces of soil from the root ball with a jet
on a hose pipe, this should give nice free roots to feed through
the holes in the base of the drift wood.
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Here is the
tree with the driftwood loosely wired to get some idea what it
will look like.
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And a drawing
of how I'd like it to look when finished and planted in a slab/rock
pot that I will make for it in the future.
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To make the
base of the driftwood I made a rough ball (about fist size) from
the chicken wire and then loosely stuck the end of the wood into
the chicken wire ball.
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Then I used
some fast-setting epoxy resin to glue the wire to the wood, this
was rock solid within about ten minutes.
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Once it was
set, I then applied car body filler to the wire, making sure to
work it in well. I think it is best to use a light coloured filler,
as this will blend with the colour of the drift wood more easily.
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Whilst applying
the filler, Iheld the wood in a vice.
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Once dry I
used the exterior wood filler to blend in the areas where the
filler and wood meet, this disguises the union quite well and
also has a slightly porous surface which accepts lime sulphur
well.
I'll leave all this to dry well for a week and then next week
end i'll attach the wood to the tree.
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