European White Birch

[Hartinez]

Alright y’all. Picked up this Euro White Birch on a whim from Lowe’s. Would not normally buy a large landscape tree like this, but these things appealed to me.

-I’ve been on the hunt for a birch for sometime.
-the base, trunk movement, aged bark and low branching are all on point for a slower transition.
-it was discounted well enough to buy.

I asked a few members on here who have some experience with these, so I have an idea on its transition to a bonsai. But I thought I’d ask you all your thoughts on its transition and how you might handle this tree?

 

[Frozentreehugger]

Nice tree great find . I’m having trouble coming up with advice for someone with your experience . . I’ve had frustrating times . In the past with paper birch . In my humble opinion the branch die back issues are best addressed . With vigorous health before trimming . The prone to disease best to be pro active . Instead of defence . The mature bark is a plus . Keep in mind major work that requires more to develop . Takes longer to develop in a pot best of luck . Obviously has very nice twin trunk potential . I feel the species looks more natural and convincing taller than you would style another tree

 

[DavidBoren]

Unless they are necessary to the health of the tree, I would get rid of these:

 

[LAS]

That’s a good scoop

 

[SgtPilko]

No real experience to add here but Corin from Greenwood Bonsai has a series of 3 videos on a yamadori Silver Birch that might be interesting. Here is the first and then there are a couple of updates on the channel

 

[bluone23]

I have a few of them, they grow well in all types of soil, and like lots of water.
I ussualy prune mine after the first flush has hardened and through out the growing season as i get 4 pairs of leaves on a branch.
don’t prune in spring, because they will bleed.

also if the suckers are not in your final design cut them off.

ps make sure you are not alergic to their pollen ( I am)

 

[Hartinez]

I appreciate the thoughts nuts! But I was really hoping someone has had experience with rootball reduction on a birch? All of the deciduous I have are awfully vigerous and being incredibly heavy handed on the roots and a hard chop at the same time is not and has not been a big deal. I have heard though that they can be a bit temperamental? Maybe its just the branch dropping reputation im thinking about? Anyways. Heres what my game plan is for spring Based on a few convos Ive had with other bonsai friends.

Red lines are cut lines. Green lines are new trunk line. Ultimately though the idea is to cut as little as is needed to get close to the desired trunk line. And obviously there are a few more branches coming out the back of the trunk not seen in the picture. Im worried about removing all growth entirely from the lower trunk. Id rather eliminate that branch over the course of the growing season, or even after a few years. I will make that decision based on how the tree responds from a root pruning and root ball reduction. Which I plan to also take slow, Building a relatively oversized wood grow box and leaving some of the originally soil at repot. I plan also on raking out as much of roots I can rather than just hacking back as I do with elms.

If anyone else has experience with hard chops or heavy repots on birches, Id love to know your thoughts.

 

[Colorado]

My birch is probably the thirstiest tree in the garden - always the first to dry out. However, also fairly tolerant of sun if you can keep it watered enough.

Looking forward to what you do with this one!

 

[Hartinez]

My birch is probably the thirstiest tree in the garden - always the first to dry out. However, also fairly tolerant of sun if you can keep it watered enough.

Looking forward to what you do with this one!

Im wondering to what extent I’ll get backbudding on old Wood?

 

[Colorado]

Im wondering to what extent I’ll get backbudding on old Wood?

well, I have to say that I definitely don’t get constant back budding on the trunk during the growing season like you would with an elm.

But I have never done a hard chop on a birch like yours. Based on my experience with birch I would expect good back budding though. ESPECIALLY at the base, it will want to sucker aggressively. I think you will need to cut those off judiciously in order to direct energy to the trunks.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

I appreciate the thoughts nuts! But I was really hoping someone has had experience with rootball reduction on a birch? All of the deciduous I have are awfully vigerous and being incredibly heavy handed on the roots and a hard chop at the same time is not and has not been a big deal. I have heard though that they can be a bit temperamental? Maybe its just the branch dropping reputation im thinking about? Anyways. Heres what my game plan is for spring Based on a few convos Ive had with other bonsai friends.

Red lines are cut lines. Green lines are new trunk line. Ultimately though the idea is to cut as little as is needed to get close to the desired trunk line. And obviously there are a few more branches coming out the back of the trunk not seen in the picture. Im worried about removing all growth entirely from the lower trunk. Id rather eliminate that branch over the course of the growing season, or even after a few years. I will make that decision based on how the tree responds from a root pruning and root ball reduction. Which I plan to also take slow, Building a relatively oversized wood grow box and leaving some of the originally soil at repot. I plan also on raking out as much of roots I can rather than just hacking back as I do with elms.

If anyone else has experience with hard chops or heavy repots on birches, Id love to know your thoughts.
View attachment 452792

I appreciate the thoughts nuts! But I was really hoping someone has had experience with rootball reduction on a birch? All of the deciduous I have are awfully vigerous and being incredibly heavy handed on the roots and a hard chop at the same time is not and has not been a big deal. I have heard though that they can be a bit temperamental? Maybe its just the branch dropping reputation im thinking about? Anyways. Heres what my game plan is for spring Based on a few convos Ive had with other bonsai friends.

Red lines are cut lines. Green lines are new trunk line. Ultimately though the idea is to cut as little as is needed to get close to the desired trunk line. And obviously there are a few more branches coming out the back of the trunk not seen in the picture. Im worried about removing all growth entirely from the lower trunk. Id rather eliminate that branch over the course of the growing season, or even after a few years. I will make that decision based on how the tree responds from a root pruning and root ball reduction. Which I plan to also take slow, Building a relatively oversized wood grow box and leaving some of the originally soil at repot. I plan also on raking out as much of roots I can rather than just hacking back as I do with elms.

If anyone else has experience with hard chops or heavy repots on birches, Id love to know your thoughts.
View attachment 452792

you have the right plan go slow with root reduction . They will survive aggressive root pruning . But you risk die back . And then they sucker from the base this is seen in nature when they dry in summer and sucker . Why risk it large root ball establish vigor for styling . You have time . As I said my experience is with paper birch the silver is considered more forgiving . As for trunk chop . Risky again it will survive you just might not like it . I have a paper garden tree experiment 30 foot tree massive trunk chop 3 feet left no branches . Early winter last year . It has not root suckered 2 buds one each side but was very late spring early summer leaf growth shrivelled a bit mid summer heat so mixed results so far they traditionally don’t like massive chops and as I said takes long to replace nature bark on new growth in a pot I would preserve what I had

 

[August44]

Alright y’all. Picked up this Euro White Birch on a whim from Lowe’s. Would not normally buy a large landscape tree like this, but these things appealed to me.

-I’ve been on the hunt for a birch for sometime.
-the base, trunk movement, aged bark and low branching are all on point for a slower transition.
-it was discounted well enough to buy.

I asked a few members on here who have some experience with these, so I have an idea on its transition to a bonsai. But I thought I’d ask you all your thoughts on its transition and how you might handle this tree?

View attachment 452758
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Nice find! I like it a lot!

 

[DanaWhicker]

Almost exactly how I would chop the trunk/branches. I can not advise on the rootball.

Nice find.

 

[cishepard]

I have limited experience with birch bonsai, both of mine were collected with fairly minimal root balls and recovered vigorously.
However, what I want to say is that I have a paper birch in the yard that I pollard every year to practically nothing but the trunks and it consistently explodes with new growth in spring, with no suckering at the base. I know bonsai in pots can respond differently, just a little piece to add to the information puzzle : )

 

[Bnana]

Birches do not drop branches because they are unhealthy, they drop them because they do not need them anymore. Birches are weedy, they grow fast, invest in the top to stay above the rest and branches lower on the trunk are discarded. I wouldn't be surprised if the lower branch on the left will die off.
That is not ideal for bonsai obviously as it might discard a branch you need in your design. The best way around this is to grow it as a broom and do not let the shape depend on any individual branch. The trunks are very nice and it will keep both.

 

[BobbyLane]

Looks like himalyan birch. bit difficult to see, but maybe id want to keep it as a tall, slender twin trunk. id imagine same applies, prune during active growth.

 

[BobbyLane]

Nice twin trunk one I used to admire on another forum, this is pubecsans. note its not a mother n daughter style and the trunks are similar in height, often you'll see many examples just like this in nature. another twin in this link https://www.bonsaiempire.com/tree-species/birch plus birch info

 

[Hartinez]

Looks like himalyan birch. bit difficult to see, but maybe id want to keep it as a tall, slender twin trunk. id imagine same applies, prune during active growth.

Tag says Euro white birch. But you know How labeling from big nurseries goes. A birch none the less.

Nice twin trunk one I used to admire on another forum, this is pubecsans. note its not a mother n daughter style and the trunks are similar in height, often you'll see many examples just like this in nature. another twin in this link https://www.bonsaiempire.com/tree-species/birch plus birch info
View attachment 452891

Thats a beauty right there! Def great inspiration. Can’t wait to get started next spring!

 

[Hartinez]

first repot of the year. This tree was pushing buds and starting to open and with highs and lows looking good for the coming weeks I decided to dive in.

I sawed off almost 2/3 of the rootball and then tried to just rake out and spray out nursery soil leaving as many feeder roots intact as possible. Did I go too hard? I don’t think so, but we’ll see! There are quite a few not so great roots that will need addressing in the coming years. I just need this guy to push for now. I also chose to leave some of the larger stumps that in years past I would have chopped flush. Longer existing shoots were also mostly left to keep as many buds as possible. Andrew Robison’s posts on Instagram have been a big inspiration.

 

[Hartinez]