Korean Hornbeam - First Tree

[dtkabardin]

Picked up this Korean hornbeam, this is my first “serious” purchase. I decided to be done with the phase where I buy $20 sticks and then end up with a bunch of trees I don’t like.
I picked this one out for the nebari, base, and the movement up top.

 

[jesse3489]

This looks like a great start! I love starting from nothing, but it is really nice to look out at all of your material and see some trees that are already starting to LOOK like a tree. I have ALOT of young material that will take at least 5 years or so before they start to look nice but I also have quite a few larger more developed trees to enjoy while im trucking on the smaller ones.

 

[BobbyLane]

My first tree was a Carmona, that I kept inside, so you're doing way better than I did for my first tree!

 

[JudyB]

Congrats! It’s freeing to shed the $20 tree habit. You may have fewer trees, but better ones.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Nice score...the tables just turned. You are personally now building your collection . It will be the trees ones think of you when they see them.

 

[dtkabardin]

Thank you all! What would you personally do with this next season? I’m going to let it grow until I have a definite plan. My thinking is the area on the middle right looks a bit bare, maybe a graft?

 

[rockm]

Keep your hands off for the first year. Learn what it needs. Don’t be tempted to start “designing” it just because it’s a nice tree.

There is a very nice tree in there if you have the patience to have it reveal itself and not force things all at once. That is what happens with more advanced material. Instead of trying to envision what a seedling may look like ten years from now material like this takes some time to show you all its possibilities.

 

[Dav4]

Thank you all! What would you personally do with this next season? I’m going to let it grow until I have a definite plan. My thinking is the area on the middle right looks a bit bare, maybe a graft?

I’d stare at it for a few months before making any big moves design wise. Perhaps a repot, too

Fwiw I have stared at new but substantial stock for years before pulling the trigger on any significant work

 

[dtkabardin]

Keep your hands off for the first year. Learn what it needs. Don’t be tempted to start “designing” it just because it’s a nice tree.

There is a very nice tree in there if you have the patience to have it reveal itself and not force things all at once. That is what happens with more advanced material. Instead of trying to envision what a seedling may look like ten years from now material like this takes some time to show you all its possibilities.

Thanks for the advice! Do you recommend a year just to let it settle in, or to learn to care for it? I did care for a Korean hornbeam prebonsai for the last year just to learn how to care for them, and feel like I have a decent grasp.

 

[dtkabardin]

I’d stare at it for a few months before making any big moves design wise. Perhaps a repot, too

Sound advice. I’ve mentally designed and redesigned lots of my trees without having actually touched them, and grateful that I didn’t rush into things plenty of times.

 

[rockm]

Thanks for the advice! Do you recommend a year just to let it settle in, or to learn to care for it? I did care for a Korean hornbeam prebonsai for the last year just to learn how to care for them, and feel like I have a decent grasp.

It wasn’t THIS tree though. There’s a difference in soil type and needs. More developed trees don’t necessarily have the same fertilization requirements as a younger tree in fast growth. It depends on what you want to do with it.

At this point learn to keep it healthy not necessarily growing like a weed.

 

[dtkabardin]

First fall color I’ve ever witnessed from my own trees. So nice!

 

[BartelBe]

Quite nice. Loving the foot and the current state. This is one to watch
I'm not experienced enough to advise anything. So I leave it to follow your own insights.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Lets see it when the leaves are gone (or forcefully removed for hornbeam lol).

That may give us some better idea of where to start, what might be definitely reduced or kept.... I like looking at my deciduous without leaves before making drastic decisions.

 

[JudyB]

Very nice!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Thank you all! What would you personally do with this next season?

Right now I would wonder if I didn't have two trees in one. A nice nebari and trunk flair down low, with lots of low branches, and then an awkward transition point with a big trunk pruning scar, and then an upper trunk with a line and branching completely inconsistent with the lower half of the tree. If you go with the current trunk (in its entirety) you have to eliminate those low branches and solve that trunk knob.

 

[dtkabardin]

Right now I would wonder if I didn't have two trees in one. A nice nebari and trunk flair down low, with lots of low branches, and then an awkward transition point with a big trunk pruning scar, and then an upper trunk with a line and branching completely inconsistent with the lower half of the tree. If you go with the current trunk (in its entirety) you have to eliminate those low branches and solve that trunk knob.

Several folks have mentioned air layering this tree for that same reason, plus there is no taper in the whole middle section of the tree below the chop. I’d love to keep the existing tree whole but this seems like something I’d regret not doing earlier.

 

[dtkabardin]

Plucked off the old leaves.


Thinned some of the growth.



Here’s my thoughts on where/if to airlayer/chop. Long term, I think it’ll lead to better taper. I also think lots of the branches are too leggy and need heavy cutback, but it’s outside of my experience level, so I’ll have to ask at next club workshop.

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

You can even go lower than that and build the tree with the first left branch.

 

[MrBonsai19]

Im going to offer some different advice so probably worth pointing out I dont have the same amount of experience others do.

I love the trunk line and don't see any reason to reset the tree's development timeline so heavily with a drastic reduction. You dont have any major bulges or inverse taper and you have branches in pretty great positions. The taper that you have here is not necessarily remarkable but its also not problematic and to me it does feel consistent with a deciduous tree. It's not the most hornbeam-esque trunkline but it still works very well as a general deciduous form and it will be very presentable when fully ramified. Building out the lower branches will over time create subtle taper from the bottom up as you develop most of your tree the areas with the most foliage mass will add more thickness from that point downward.

I would take what the tree is giving you and build what you can with the structure and primary branches you have. This will allow you to dive directly into the question of "how do I build secondary and tertiary branch ramification" which in my opinion it's harder to find material that is worth the time to learn how to answer that question. You can also start learning "how do i build an apex" which is also a very important and challenging skill and opportunity to dive right into that with this tree.



edit - i meant to show the angle leaning even more into the direction of the trunk line and had the wrong angle at first