Grow Beds 2020

[JoeR]

Just a thread to catalogue progress of some projects I planted in grow beds. Most trees are from cuttings in 4" pots planted in the beds last summer or fall. Not everything that I have in the beds will be posted, and more pics will come in the spring. I believe almost all of these were screwed to a board before planting. Lines are to help visualize present or future trunk lines.


Vitex agnus-castus, from 4" wired cutting. Nice shape and buried nebari- looking forward to digging it up in a few weeks.



Ulmus parvifolia Seiju- mother plant of several mame projects. Bark starting to form, and apparently the board did this tree wonders from what I could see. I did notice a gelatinous fungus ? On the roots of this and another seiju- not sure what that would be. Doesn't seem to be affecting the trees growth.

 

[JoeR]

Prunes mume- if I remember correctly this is a pink flowering variety, if not white. It was grown in a colander for a year prior to out planting, which seems to have been an efficient grow out method. I'm not sure if it's better to turn the sacrifice branches into shari/jin/deadwood, or attempt to heal them over. I have four or five ume planted in the beds and they absolutely took off growing.

 

[JoeR]

Acer buergerianum- never remembered to take the wire off this one.

 

[JoeR]

Malus "Liset" Crabapple- had no potential so I threw it in the bed, might turn into something one day. Nice red flowers and fruit.

 

[Shibui]

Ulmus parvifolia Seiju- mother plant of several mame projects. Bark starting to form, and apparently the board did this tree wonders from what I could see. I did notice a gelatinous fungus ? On the roots of this and a other seiju- not sure what that would be. Doesn't seem to be affecting the trees growth.

The gel on elm roots is not fungus. It is a natural reaction to physical damage. I see this reaction whenever I root prune Chinese elms.
You are developing some nice little trunks there. Pity the trident does not yet have better nebari. Some proper root pruning or layering should correct that. I think the trunk will probably be wort spending a little time to develop roots. Hope no-one ever decides to do a low chop on that trunk though. Cutting tools do not like hidden wires.

 

[JoeR]

That's all the grow bed pictures I have today but I'll have more after the weekend. Heres a few other projects that I have going that may or may not go into the beds too.

Zelkova serrata forest, 2-3 years from seed


Toyota nishiki quince- debating outplanting this too, but it has potential as a mame or shohin as well.

 

[Shibui]

Be careful planting groups in the ground. It is far too easy to loose control and have trees that should be smaller get larger than the focal trees. Trees at the edge of a group tend to have better access to nutrients and room for root growth so they take off and grow while inner trees suffer from competition and may not grow as fast.

 

[JoeR]

The gel on elm roots is not fungus. It is a natural reaction to physical damage. I see this reaction whenever I root prune Chinese elms.
You are developing some nice little trunks there. Pity the trident does not yet have better nebari. Some proper root pruning or layering should correct that. I think the trunk will probably be wort spending a little time to develop roots. Hope no-one ever decides to do a low chop on that trunk though. Cutting tools do not like hidden wires.

Now that you mention it, I do remember elm producing the jelly after being cut. Since the stuff was on the tree even before I touched it, I would assume that means there is something like a pest causing physical damage to the roots, so I'll keep an eye out for that. I've read rodents have an affinity for fleshy elm roots.

I havent dug far enough to look at the root mass of the trident but as far as I can see it does seem lacking, which is common with seed grown. A ground layer might be in order come spring. I thought this one was planted on a CD actually, but I cant remember.

Thanks for the heads up, in fact I've already noticed this pattern with the interior trees. There are two japanese maples (some unique cultivar from cutting but I cant remember which) that were shaded by the tridents (which grew to almost 12') and subsequently were delayed.

 

[JoeR]

Acer palmatum 'Ibo Nishiki' cork bark japanese maple from an airlayer. Again, wire was accidentally left on while I've been gone for school but since this is a rough bark cultivar it should be fine.

Also pictured is the mother tree, started in 2011 by Evergreengardenworks. Trunk is boring and straight, so I'm not sure what to do with it. Suggestions are welcome and encouraged. Additionally, the mother plant has a bad fungal infection so yesterday I cleaned all the visibly infected twigs and sealed with wood glue. I'll be applying lime sulfur tomorrow to all maples. No matter what I do, I cant keep my maples fungus free.

 

[JoeR]

Ume flowers opening on another ume in the beds

 

[JoeR]

Standard Acer palmatum from cutting. Not much to look at but I'm probably going to make it a delicate twin trunk, and this one is also planted on a board.


Satsuki Azalea 'Dads White' From @Mellow Mullet , didnt grow much or at all since being planted in the bed. I wired it last year so it has a nice shape to grow out when it does decide to do something, on it's own timing. Considering adding an acidifier to the soil around it.

 

[Tentakelaertje]

Sweet trees in there Joe! Good inspiration to start making some grow beds too!

 

[W3rk]

Acer buergerianum- never remembered to take the wire off this one.
View attachment 277350View attachment 277351

I'm sorry but I can't not see this:

 

[Carol 83]

I'm sorry but I can't not see this:
View attachment 277680

I agree, like Kardashian bonsai

 

[JoeR]

I'm sorry but I can't not see this:
View attachment 277680

I.. will never unseen this haha

 

[Anthony]

Joe,

we had an English man introduce the grow bed idea back in 1986 or so.
He dug to a depth of 3 feet and about 12 feet long.
Refilled with a 8 mm gravel and compost mix, like a bonsai soil mix.
Prpduced massive trunks in no time.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[sorce]

I can't unsee this!

This green line seems to straight for too long. Dunno if you can bend it?
Love this bark swoop.


Nice.

Sorce

 

[JoeR]

Please please please-- keep an eye on your grow beds people! They get out of hand very fast when they're established.

Prunus mume from above. Allowed sacrifice to grow unchecked, massive at this point. Wire bit in,, pulled it through and doesnt look too bad. This will be the future back of the tree.



This will be the trunk line I chop to come time to pull it out.


This one has retained plenty of lower branching which was wired for shape and removed today.

 

[JoeR]

Bonus shot of my helper this morning

 

[Carol 83]

Bonus shot of my helper this morning
View attachment 322119

That's a beautiful cat!! Such pretty eyes.