I reread your thread, about going 2/3 up the tree. I would
think it would
depend on the roots that you leave on the remaining live tree
material. You state
that it is partially rotted at the base The remaining material
has to have
enough root to support the tree. I would only be concerned if
you plan to remove
more mateial from the base. The I would just make sure you
leave enough roots
to support the tree growth


Thanks, Steve.

All my cutting will be above the natural cavity in the base. I
don't really think this is "rotted" per se, or if it is, the tree
had walled it off years ago. Bark folds all around inside the
cavity and at the bottom -- when you repot the tree and hold it
up to the light, bare root, you can see a fairly sizeable
"window" through the bottom. It's like the stump grew up around
a post, and someone pulled the post. ;-)

I'll post pictures when I'm "done" -- assuming there's still a
live tree to post pictures of. I stripped bark from the area I'm
going to carve away yesterday and will let the wood dry for a
week before I start working on it with my little Dremel.
Otherwise, the wood burrs up -- which is OK, but it offends my
sensibilities (and we can't have that, can we?).

Sweetgum roots are few and far between, anyway so I'll be doing
it slowly; we'll all have a few more gray hairs before I'm
"done."

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only to the
white man was nature a wilderness -- Luther Standing Bear
(Ogallala Sioux Chief)

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