Collected Beech

[MI Tiger]

I collected this beech 1 year ago in Michigan. It had nice branches low on the trunk. Does anyone have any styling suggestions?

 

[Gabler]

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Start by picking the front that shows the nicest root base and lower trunk. Can’t see that from the photos, but that’s always where to start.

 

[FreshAirSunshine]

I agree with Brian but also just have fun making suggestions. Two spots I’d consider chopping to at an angle and having a leader come from. I think the higher one might be better just to have a better set of branches below to build from. Personally, I think Gabler’s suggestion is a bit too high for my taste as trunk taper seems to end lower in the tree but I may just be having a different vision of the ending tree.

 

[Gabler]

I agree with Brian but also just have fun making suggestions. Two spots I’d consider chopping to at an angle and having a leader come from. I think the higher one might be better just to have a better set of branches below to build from. Personally, I think Gabler’s suggestion is a bit too high for my taste as trunk taper seems to end lower in the tree but I may just be having a different vision of the ending tree.
View attachment 589219

Yeah, I'm picturing a fairly tall final tree. It needs to be a bigger tree for the leaves to look right. It wouldn't look right at shohin proportions. The end result will be a tall, slender tree with subtle taper, if any.

Also, those are pretty severe bends that you suggested for a beech branch. I would actually plan to cut back most of the existing branches, but not yet. The tree needs more vigor first. It's only one year out from collection.

 

[Gabler]

Start by picking the front that shows the nicest root base and lower trunk. Can’t see that from the photos, but that’s always where to start.

Based on the pictures, I would guess that the front will end up being the side facing the house, but I could be wrong. Regardless, there is an upward-pointing bud facing each direction just below the chop I proposed, so it should leave open several options for further development next year.

 

[MI Tiger]

Thank you for the responses. I guess a bit more info would have been helpful. It is currently 18 inches tall and I was thinking of a larger tree due to the size of the leaves. This pic is was my proposed front.

 

[jeremy_norbury]

No guts no glory.

 

[Gabler]

From that angle, I'm thinking something like this. You'll be growing more of the trunk yourself, but beech is reasonably fast at thickening. It can even noticeably thicken in a bonsai pot in just a couple of years. In a grow box, you should have a nicely tapered trunk in no time.