Fagus grandifolia #1

[Cmd5235]

I collected this American Beech probably 15 years ago, as a small sapling from my house at the time. It has been severely neglected, chopped, and stuffed in a pot. It has received occasional pruning, but it's one of the "oh, I forgot I even had that" trees. Well, I'm planning to give it a little more love this year. I'm going to prune it back hard (leaving one bud per branch to stop dieback), pinch it, and repot it. American Beech are tough, given their single flush style of growth, but I can't bring myself to compost this tree...yet...

 

[Tieball]

It is a nice looking tree. Tall? Thick at the base? It has interesting potential. i don’t know where you’re pruning back hard. I look at the tree and would probably lightly only in a few places and simply let it continue growth. Sometimes...ignored trees seem to grow the best.

 

[Cmd5235]

I'm definitely going to hack that last left growing branch off at the apex (second photo), in hopes that small bud beneath grows out. The dual branches at the top just aren't working. Every other branch is going to be cut back to work on ramification. The base ahs a bit to be desired however, and never developed the nebari I was hoping for.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Your apex branches, yes, you should cut back. I don't think I would prune as hard as you suggest in the lower parts of the tree, you have nice ramification already started. I wouldn't want to ruin it by being too aggressive.

 

[Cmd5235]

 

[Hartinez]

You’ve got everything that I would look for an a beech! It’s got the makings of a true tree in nature!
Here is a good beech that may inspire.

EUROPEAN BEECH (red cultivar)

Last year I traded Judy for this beautiful and elegant red cultivar of European beech (fagus sylvatica). I have long loved this tree for its beautiful smooth light bark, scarless and thin elegant trunk and gorgeous foliage. Yes there is still a place for thin trunked trees in the bonsai world...

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Cmd5235]

You’ve got everything that I would look for an a beech! It’s got the makings of a true tree in nature!
Here is a good beech that may inspire.

EUROPEAN BEECH (red cultivar)

Last year I traded Judy for this beautiful and elegant red cultivar of European beech (fagus sylvatica). I have long loved this tree for its beautiful smooth light bark, scarless and thin elegant trunk and gorgeous foliage. Yes there is still a place for thin trunked trees in the bonsai world...

www.bonsainut.com

Thank you. This tree has taken me a long time to get to this point. I dug this tree before I went to college 14 years ago! It was just a trunk with a single leader that I wired. When everyone talks about the slow development of American Beech, they are correct- but I've grown close to this tree over all of these years.

 

[Cmd5235]

 

[Cmd5235]

Well I’m thinking about changing the front. And perhaps a full air layer next spring at the base, as the nebari is pretty jacked up on this tree

 

[rockm]

No need to air layer. Simply do an "air layer" underground--in other words a ground layer, same principle, only you scar the base along where the roots are and cover the damage with soil for a year or two. I've done that with American Beech. It works pretty well.

 

[Cmd5235]

No need to air layer. Simply do an "air layer" underground--in other words a ground layer, same principle, only you scar the base along where the roots are and cover the damage with soil for a year or two. I've done that with American Beech. It works pretty well.

Did you have success with the wire tourniquet on American Beech? Or just a cut, rooting hormone, and time?

 

[Shogun610]

Scar up the base and roots at “nebari” down to cambium layer . Repot it deeper to cover up those scars , it will generate new roots mor radially.

 

[19Mateo83]

That’s a killer little beech!

 

[Cmd5235]

I’m going to attempt to ground layer it today

 

[Cmd5235]

Update: RIP tree
Ground layer attempt may have been a touch too deep. One week in, looks very wilted with death of new shoots. You win some, you kill some I guess. Still very bummed.

 

[HamburgerTrain]

dont throw in the towel yet dude!

 

[Dogestoevsky]

Left us on a cliffhanger! What happened to this one?

 

[Potawatomi13]

Was tree girdled by chance? Was only supposed to scar where roots desired.

 

[Cmd5235]

Good morning: had to get out and grab some photos. So here’s the update, 18 months post later attempt:

At first, all of the leaves began to die off. The tree lost all the leaves on the ends of each branch as well as the innermost leaves, leaving only a few isolated middle leaves. Those surviving leaves began to die, so I ended up plastic bagging the tree. This then started an issue with fungus, so I had to do daily care on the tree where I would let it dry out, then bag it during the day, then remove the bag at night for air circulation. The leaves never fully recovered, but it didn’t die.

I wasn’t expecting it to leaf out this year, but it did- but only existing buds, no real backbudding or shoot extension. I checked the roots and saw that it in fact had started to respond to the girdle. I cleaned up and re-scarred some areas, reapplied hormone, and continued to nurse the tree.

This fall, it is acting appropriately, and has set some buds for next spring. More importantly, a careful removal of a small amount of soil shows that it has increased roots. At this point, I will probably let it grow for one more year before pruning.



This will need drastic rebuilding of the branch structure, and I will have to do something with that big healed scar.

 

[Gabler]

I'm finding they do best if you give them a year off after major rootwork. Once you get them vigorously growing, the top can handle a lot.