Another Korean Hornbeam Thread

[SgtPilko]

Hello nutters!

Here is my Korean Hornbeam, firstly naked as purchased last month and now in leaf, after i took out some clutter and cleaned up some wounds.

I feel like I need to start almost from scratch with branching - some placements and proportions are off, some internodes are long and straight, there are thick pieces up high where they shouldn't be. My plan could be: don't remove more branches this year, focus on wound healing and set up some thread grafts in the right places, then remove more of the offending branches late winter. What do you think? (Or is that wasting time and just take off the bad stuff sooner rather than later)

At next repot I will see what I can do with the nebari - its missing that nice strong root base currently. Would you repot in a box, or just a spacious pot like today?

 

[BrightsideB]

I like the consistent taper in the trunk.

 

[SgtPilko]

I did not graft anything this season but I did take off a few more branches, cleaned up wounds etc. I still feel like this tree needs a full reset- i am not happy with most branches' lack of movement, long 1st internode and inconsistent thickness going up the tree. Also the nebari is not great. Branch placement is ok, it tends to give me plenty of options.

The tree has been really vigorous. Is there any reason why I should not cut back almost to bare trunk and start my own design? It does need a repot too, so would potentially be doing those two big moves in a season.

Thanks!