My European Beech

t_fareal

t_fareal

Sapling
Messages
31
Reaction score
24
Location
Upper Marlboro, MD
USDA Zone
7B
This is my European Beech...
20191218_192845.jpg

I got it in February but i just wanted to watch how it grows, how it likes to eat, what type of light/wind does it like before i started hacking and chopping at it..
I feel comfortable enough now to begin moving forward but i have a few questions (to start)...

1. There are a couple mature branches that i am concerned will cause a reverse taper, can branches be removed while its dormant?

2. Best time to re-pot; after buds break or after first growth hardens?

3. Per "Queen Judy" Kanuma is recommended, pure Kanuma or can i mix with a little Peat Moss? "My Azalea seems to love the added Peat"

4. Need help trying to figure out where to chop... I had 3 different ideas and a plain one for additional suggestions...

Chop 1:
chop 1.jpg

Chop 2:
chop 2_LI.jpg

Chop 3:
chop 3.jpg

If you have an idea, chop away...
chop where.jpg

Thanks in Advance...
 
The rule of, "when you have a choice between two branches, keep the smallest one. Not always, but...
274852
 
t_fareal said:
4. Need help trying to figure out where to chop... I had 3 different ideas and a plain one for additional suggestions...
Click to expand...
Do you have pictures of the other 3 sides? Just to make sure you have indeed what is the best front?

Curious what recommendations are re. timing of larger cuts. I think there is a difference in the amount of bulging of the callus between winter and summer cuts, but cannot remember what it was :)
 
you should remove all the leaves so you can see clearly what youre doing.
for a balanced structure i tend to keep thicker branches in the lower part of the tree and these decrease in length and thickness as you go up the tree and into the grown, it also 'depends'
i chop or prune beech anytime i want.
i repot them anytime i want, but if unsure a good time is spring as the buds are swelling and opening.
i just did this one
 

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they callus slowly, i dont think it matters much when you chop them, this one was chopped in jan and that first season it didnt callus much but the chop was out of view so didnt bother me much.i think you have enough branches to do an obscure chop on this. i try to do angled chops between two points of growth which to reduce dieback and prompts faster healing. here in the UK with our hot dry summers i prefer a moisture retentive mix because the slightest drought results in unsightly brown leaf edges.

European Copper Beech

Fagus sylvatica purpurea Hi folks, this is a tree i acquired in jan from a bare root nursery, its only early days, but its already been through a root reduction, to get it into a training pot and also a little wire here and there....its responded well and im quite happy and confident its going...
www.bonsainut.com www.bonsainut.com
 
Last edited:
I started to think about this attachment but the shadows on the wall so close to the tree create a mess. Confusing. And I couldn’t see as clear as I wanted to see. Then, I wondered. are you hoping, or planning, to plant this to grow a thicker trunk?

I started thinking like my attachment. When You replace the soil with substrate, consider removing that root that crosses over. Looks like there’s a better root below. I just didn’t like the trio of roots reaching out to the right nearly parallel.

I have a European Beech in the ground now, partial sun partial shade however you want to call it. I’m about to dig it up and box it. In the current site it has hardly grown at all in 3-4 years. Very little. I know the tree is a slow grower...but I dug expect some growth. I might as well grow-box it and see what happens. I will dig it out when the buds begin to get glossy but not breaking. My other Beeches did fine with this timing. I’ve also shovel dug out Beeches in the Autumn, kept nearly all the roots the shovel left and they did perfectly fine in the Spring....but this was also soil to same-soil. That’s what I’ve done...not much help really. But...I did learn through experience to always leave a live bud out on a branch when cutting back....and I wait for that bud-gloss to tell me the bud is alive.

I use a coarse substrate...but add pine bark chips. I don’t have or use peat ever.

I sort of liked this view but I would add separation between those two trunk like growths. I indicated the two in green. Leaving the back one to continue growth as dominant. It feels quite natural to me...but you have the tree without shadows in front of you so you might see it differently. I like a branch separating up on a tree like that.
7FA69420-95B2-40AC-A580-5597AD546611.jpeg
 
I like the continuous curve created by keeping the right branch of the trident at the crown, personally. Though I can see a way forward with any of them. Unless you keep the middle one the other two have to go IMO.
 
@Tieball
Yeah, not proud of the pic quality *face palm* but I like the cuts you propose.
And yeah there are 2 decent roots under that crossover root, I exposed them this year hoping they would harden off, but I need to cut that one definitely...

I've never used pine bark, might be a good organic to mix with Kanuma...
 
in the last few years our summers have become hotter and drier, sometimes we've not had any or very little rain in 2-3 weeks.

callus times can vary depending on many factors.
 
you might get faster callus times in a vigorous field grown beech.but generally beech in pots arent as vigorous as hornbeam usually only offering one flush or a second weaker flush.
 
BobbyLane said:
in the last few years our summers have become hotter and drier, sometimes we've not had any or very little rain in 2-3 weeks.

callus times can vary depending on many factors.
Click to expand...
Didn’t have a drop of rain for 2 months where we were last year along with record temps. This is the wettest year we’ve had in 5, but I think it’s somewhat of an anomaly. Hot dry summers is right moving forward, unfortunately.
 
Woocash said:
Didn’t have a drop of rain for 2 months where we were last year along with record temps. This is the wettest year we’ve had in 5, but I think it’s somewhat of an anomaly. Hot dry summers is right moving forward, unfortunately.
Click to expand...

i thought i was being kind when i said 3 weeks with barely a drop of rain! record temps each summer seems the norm in recent years

to follow up with what i said about having mine in moisture retentive soil. even with record temps i can water twice every second day and not worry too much. my balcony is a hot box in summer so these methods work for me in my micro climate.
 
BobbyLane said:
i thought i was being kind when i said 3 weeks with barely a drop of rain! record temps each summer seems the norm in recent years
Click to expand...
Is just I have lived in Abbingdon for 2 years and I do not think I ever saw a day where temps reached 30C / 86F. I have never know the UK to be hot.
But it is getting warmer. Reaching the 40C last summer was absolutely the warmest on record for my town.
 
I thought England was the wet capitol of the world. You guys sound like the interior of California.
 
t_fareal said:
@Tieball
I've never used pine bark, might be a good organic to mix with Kanuma...
Click to expand...
Some like organic mixed in....some don’t. I do. Pine Bark Chips...about 1cm to 1.25cm in size...size varies....actually whatever is in the bag works for me. I just eliminate the dust particles. I’m passing along my experience. It’s not an “I read that” commentary. I use it in all my mixes along with a good substrate. Draining is perfectly fine and some moisture is held in the bark. The trees are all healthy summer and winter...rain or dry. It might not work for everyone, but it does work for me in my environment. I’m sure you’ll create a growing formula that works for you with the weather you have.
 
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