Elegant Beech

[BobbyLane]

I'd been looking for a Fagus Sylvatica that could be moulded into a tall, elegant example of the species. i found one at my local plant nursery for a tenner, out in the field.

i cut it back to one trunk, choosing the trunk that gives the tree a better flow
20180416_134745 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

the area with red arrows was an eyesore for me and the high roots were hindering my idea of a clean trunk line in blue. the bulbous area is the result of a massive root coming from the trunk. i thought of air layering, but i like the basal flare i think it adds movement to the tree.

20180416_143716 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

correcting the area would leave a big scar, i went ahead and reduced the swelling, its at the side of the tree and not visible from the front
20180416_165441 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

will take some time, maybe it will heal or at least roll in enough for me to forget about it. chose not to hollow it out
20180416_170122 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

sealed all cuts
20180416_170117 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

chose to remove this bar branch and wired up a branch underneath to take its place
20180416_170134 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

so this is the tree with a much improved trunk line, it has a bit of everything, movement, taper, basal flare, grace, everything i wanted in a Beech really
20180416_214934 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

this is the rootball that went into the crate, will be reduced gradually, no rush, in the past ive killed beeches by stuffing them into bonsai pots. i think there is a good flare to build from,
i also made window cuts at the blue blobs with a scalpel, maybe i will get new roots... and packed in with spag moss, so will see how it responds
20180416_152007 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

20180416_172006 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180416_172001 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180416_172020 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180416_172031 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180416_215126 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

20180416_214842 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

ive been leaf pruning areas on the stronger right side, to allow the left side to catch up, tree is responding well, for the price i get these at, i dont mind carrying out these experiments
2018-05-24_02-24-27 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

 

[just.wing.it]

Daaang, this one is more my speed!
Very nice start.
Love your contributions to the site, Bobby!

 

[Tieball]

The roots will need attention yet...but...Wow! Great job on pulling together the above ground elements. Mighty fine! And lots of good healthy new growth. Well done.

 

[queenofsheba52]

That's a lotta nice beech for a tenner!

 

[Victorim]

Very nice Bobby. Simple and elegent. Can't wait to see it in a few seasons.

 

[BobbyLane]

The roots will need attention yet...but...Wow! Great job on pulling together the above ground elements. Mighty fine! And lots of good healthy new growth. Well done.

Cheers folks, it actually would of been fuller by now, if not for me pinching out the right side, it hasnt skipped a beat though, ive been removing leaves on the right side and new buds have been re appearing in space of a week and yest was the first time i decided to sprinkle a little miracle grow on the surface. the first left branch was last to leaf out, i think removing some root on that side and the wound might have weakened it, pinching out the stronger side has enabled it to get more light and catch up. the little things can be big things in a tree's development.
re the roots, i may leave it in the crate to develop the canopy for at least two seasons before reducing the roots again. there is a good flare, i just need the roots to back bud in the way a branch does, then cut back progressively. i think leaving the flare as it was, will also help to drag the base/lower part of trunk out, part of reason it went in a crate.

 

[Tieball]

Well organized in your total approach to the tree. You’re doing it right.

 

[BobbyLane]

@JudyB here's one thats been leaf pruned quite a bit on the right hand side, not so much for back budding but to stimulate the dormant nodes which were present on the branch and in this case to allow the left side of tree to catch up

the last image above was may 24th, note the first right branch that was stripped

may 30th its filling out again, this branch is extremely vigorous, ive been constantly pruning leaves on it 2 or 3 times in places
filling out bit by bit by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

june 3rd
20180603_123952 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

at the beginning this shoot by the yellow arrow was just a node, i doubt it would of activated without the defoliation
20180603_123935 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr


this is the first left branch, the one ive been trying to strengthen, it wasnt defoliated, but it was weak and the leaves were wilting on it, maybe a result of the wound on that side, anyway i ended up removing all the wilting leaves, see how its back budding there, its still a little weak though
20180603_124253 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

today
20180619_151506 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

back to the first right branch which has been leaf pruned a few times
20180619_145119 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

the other side of the first right branch, you can see how twiggy its becoming
there's a couple of new buds in there including the one at the base, that was marked by yellow arrow, that was just a brown node
20180619_145214 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

this node activated but has failed
20180619_153749 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr


20180619_152138 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

you can see the difference, i think theres at least three new shoots that formed from barely visible nodes on the branch, might of been some back budding too because this branch was also snipped
20180416_214934 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

also, right side of tree hasnt skipped a beat throughout the trauma, for last week or so its just being left to grow now and constantly rotated, newly activated buds still will fail if dont get enough sun

 

[JudyB]

Thanks Bobby for the photos and progression on this. I have seen similar things on HH's site, so I know it's possible. I am just very cautious with the tree I have in the stage of development it's in. I will try some of these measures next year and see. Thanks again!

 

[MichaelS]

This will be a good tree.

 

[BobbyLane]

This will be a good tree.

Thanks mate, you have some pretty cool material yourself

 

[Samson]

Hi there, how is this tree doing?

 

[BobbyLane]

this tree declined and withered away in the same season, probably a result of top and bottom work. ive never had any luck with beech dug from growing fields. this is one of a few that have perished from a nursery i used to visit that has a growing field. i was allowed to just go out there and dig up what i wanted. most of the roots were very long with feeders at the tips, difficult digs. theyre all dead. there was a couple in my other thread on here European Beech Material, but on those ones i didnt do any top work, i just put them in a training pot and left them in the green house, none of them woke up in spring.

so now im trying air layers to get my own roots