350岁古树返老还童
Aging Backwards: Reviving a 350-Year-Old Ancient Tree
极目新闻记者 云迎 胡浩
Jimu News Reporters: Yun Ying,Hu Hao
摄影记者 李辉
Photos by Jimu News reporter Li Hui
通讯员 江萌
Correspondent: Jiang Meng
翻译 裴文思 黄伟韬 卫拉 （湖北大学）
Translators: Pei Wensi, Huang Weitao, Lisa M.K （Hubei University）
紫薇是武汉市黄鹤楼公园的园花，公园中有一处依蛇山而建的紫薇苑，面积约1.6万平方米，种有14个品种、上千株紫薇，其中乔木168株。园中一株最特别的紫薇古树位于黄鹤楼公园鹅池西侧，今年已经350岁高龄。它因曾遭受雷击，树干只剩下了三分之一，为典型的“半张皮”古树。
The crape myrtle, signature flower of Wuhan's Yellow Crane Tower Park, has a dedicated 16,000-square-meter Crape Myrtle Garden built besideSheshanMountain. The garden hosts 14 varieties and over a thousand crape myrtle plants, including 168 arbors. Among them, the most notable one, located on the west side of the park's Goose Pond, is 350 years old. Following a lightning strike, the generations-old tree lost one third of its trunk, earning the fitting description as a “half-seared” ancient tree.
“靠接”法修复的350岁“半张皮”古树，枝繁叶茂，花团锦簇（ Following a grafting procedure called “inarching”, the 350-year-old tree that was previously scathed by lightning, is restored to a show-stopping blooming powerhouse）
尽管如此，在该园紫薇养护专班的精心养护下，这株紫薇古树仍年年开花。眼下正值花期，紫薇枝头缀满水红色的花朵。
Despite the setback, the garden’s ancient crape myrtletree continues to put out an annual display of blooms, thanks to the maintenance team’s meticulous care and upkeep. Currently in bloom, the branches are studded with clusters of bright red crape myrtleflowers.
2023年冬天，养护团队进行了紫薇实生苗嫁（Winter 2023: Maintenance crew grafting crape myrtle seedlings）
黄鹤楼公园紫薇苑养护专班负责人雷勇涛介绍，这株古树复壮采用的是“靠接”技术，为嫁接技术的一种。通俗地说，“靠接”就是让紫薇小树与紫薇古树靠在一起生长，让它们连成一体。被选中的紫薇小树，都是从古树的树穴萌发出来的，通过择优“培养”，让它们长大。然后将小树的树干与母树的树干绑扎在一起，让它们的树皮和木质部分逐渐长拢，直到连成一体。
Lei Yongtao, head of the Crape Myrtle Garden maintenance team at the Yellow Crane Tower Park, explained that the grafting technique, inarching, was employed in reviving the ancient tree. In layman’sterms, inarching involves affixing a young tree onto an established one to merge the two into one trunk. The young crape myrtletrees selected for this process are actually same brancher sprouted fromthe ancient tree, that have been allowed to grow out owing to their excellent traits. With time, trunks of theyoung tree are bound to that of the mother tree, allowing their bark and wood to graduallyintegrateinto one.
对树干受损部分进行防腐处理（Anti-decay treatments are applied to damaged parts of the trunk）
雷勇涛说，古树到了一定的年纪，根部从土壤中吸收养分的能力会下降，而通过“靠接”方法，可以使母树直接从小树身上汲取养分，最终使古树延年益寿、“返老还童”。
Lei Yongtao noted that with ancient trees, their ability to absorb nutrients from the soil decreases with age. However, with inarching grafting, the mother tree is able to directly extract nutrients from the young trees, prolonging the ancient tree’s life, and essentially aging backwards.
修剪花枝（Pruning branches）
记者在现场看到，经过几年生长，目前已有3株环绕古树的小树，直径长到了8厘米左右。其中一株小树的树干，已经与古树的树干连成一体。
Reporters on site noticed there are currently three small trees encircling the ancient tree, with diameters of about 8 centimeters after a few years of growth. Among them, the trunk of one youngtree has already meshed into that of the ancient tree.
雷勇涛指着树穴内一株高约30厘米的树苗说，这是今年萌发出的小苗，会将它保留下来，等它长大后继续做“靠接”的小树。
Lei Yongtao pointed to the 30-centimeter-tall seedling nearthe ancient tree and said, “This is a young sprout from this year. We will keep it and let it grow, once it matures it will be used in future inarching grafts.
雷勇涛精心养护“半张皮”紫薇古树（Lei Yongtao carefully tends to the “half-seared” crape myrtle ancient tree）
“用‘靠接’法复壮古树靠不靠谱？”武汉市园林科学研究院高级工程师史红文称，“靠接”是古树名木保护的一种成熟技术，在条件合适的情况下可以使用。有些古树衰老之后，吸收营养的能力下降，此时可以在旁边种植一株同树种的小树，或者利用树穴萌发出的同树种小树，等它们长大后，将它们与古树紧贴在一起，等树干长拢后，利用年轻的、鲜活的小树吸收营养，源源不断地为古树供应营养。
“Is inarching a reliable means to revive ancient trees?” Senior engineer at the Wuhan Institute of Landscape Architecture, Shi Hongwen stated inarching is a mature technique which, under suitable conditions, can be utilized in the conservation of ancient andiconic trees. For older trees,agingbrings along a decline in theirability to absorb nutrients. In such cases, for grafting purposes, a new seedlingof the same speciesis planted besides an aging tree, orits ownbasal seedling is used. As the seedling grows, it istightly boundto the aging tree, eventually, once both trunksmerge, the aging tree will utilized theyouthful vigor of the younger tree to uptake an endless supply of nutrients.