Pinching beech / hornbeam?

[badatusernames]

I thought that in terms of early spring maintenance, maples in refinement were the only ones that needed their middle bud pinched. But I was poking around today, and halfway down this page, they show a beech being pinched:

Bonsai maintenance calendar

Timing your Bonsai maintenance It is common sense to work on a tree at a time when it is possible to obtain the best result, while interfering as little as poss...

www.bonsaiempire.com

So now I'm curious - for trees in refinement, are you also pinching hornbeam / beech? I thought since they were alternating pattern leaves, the answer would be no...

 

[19Mateo83]

@leatherback has a good video on this. Jelle is the man

 

[Wood]

Bonsai Today has an incredibly in-depth article on Iemitsu Ooishi's handling of beech:

In the blink of an eye… – Bonsai Today

The world of beech (Fagus) by master craftsman, Iemitsu Ooishi.

bonsaitoday.com

A big part of the difficulty is that they can frequently behave like white pines. Usually one flush of growth per year and if you cut off all foliage, there's a good chance the branch will die

I don't think hornbeams get the same pinching in refinement, because they typically () respond to pruning with a new flush of growth. The American and Japanese hornbeams might be the exception. I haven't had my C japonica long enough to know. In my garden, C caroliniana give me multiple flushes, though I've heard some people only get one flush

 

[badatusernames]

Thank you! I don't know how I've missed Jelle's channel, that's great.

 

[bwaynef]

I remember an article in old Int'l Bonsai magazines about pinching beech, but couldn't get close to pointing you to the exact one.

 

[Gabler]

Pinching can elicit a second flush of growth in the same season from the new leaves. Leaving the shoots for the summer and pruning in the fall to remove all active buds will prompt the tree to develop more densely spaced epicormic buds on old branches.

 

[bwaynef]

I remember an article in old Int'l Bonsai magazines about pinching beech, but couldn't get close to pointing you to the exact one.

Int'l Bonsai 1992/1. Found it.

 

[RKatzin]

Pinching can elicit a second flush of growth in the same season from the new leaves. Leaving the shoots for the summer and pruning in the fall to remove all active buds will prompt the tree to develop more densely spaced epicormic buds on old branches.

Thanks for that clarification. I pinch my beech regularly in the spring, reducing all buds to two leaves. I do get a light second flush of smaller leaves.
Do you let just the buds in the areas you want to build extend, or just occasionally let the whole tree flush out?

 

[RoadManDenDron]

Advanced Pruning Techniques for Fagus sylvatica/European Beech Bonsai – Bonsai4Me

bonsai4me.com

Here is a great article and explanation from Harry Harrington

 

[Gabler]

Pinching can elicit a second flush of growth in the same season from the new leaves. Leaving the shoots for the summer and pruning in the fall to remove all active buds will prompt the tree to develop more densely spaced epicormic buds on old branches.

I should clarify that I'm talking about American beech, and you should not remove active buds unless the tree has tons of energy.

 

[JudyB]

In regards to hornbeams (Korean) you can defoliate them if they are in good health. Just make sure to do it in the window after hardening, and before the solstice. If you do it later, they may not leaf out until the following spring. I never defoliate Beech, I use the Harrington article technique.

 

[badatusernames]

Int'l Bonsai 1992/1. Found it.

Thank you, will take a look!

 

[badatusernames]

In regards to hornbeams (Korean) you can defoliate them if they are in good health. Just make sure to do it in the window after hardening, and before the solstice. If you do it later, they may not leaf out until the following spring. I never defoliate Beech, I use the Harrington article technique.

Awesome, thank you! I’ve stayed away from defoliating Korean hornbeam due to all the warnings…. I figure I’d rather it take longer to develop than risking it, but know folks who say it’s OK and I bet this is why!

 

[fredman]

I used to be all over the place with my European beech....pinching and cutting back while it was trying to grow and gather strength.
I now follow the advice Walter Pall gave me.
I let it be for the spring...and cut back mid summer. I defoliate every 2nd year....if the tree is healthy.
I like this approach better as i'm working with the tree.
I also leave it in its pot for at least 5 years.

 

[badatusernames]

I wanted to raise this thread instead of starting a new one:

Do you leaf thin Korean hornbeam? I know you can leaf CUT to make them smaller, but given that they’re alternate pattern leaves, do you thin at all?

Distant memory makes me seem to remember that cutting the first two leaves off the interior of a branch may help with ramification, but that’s a foggy memory if anyone happens to know about that as well. I can’t remember if that’s quite right but I recall Bjorn saying something like that about Chinese quince…

 

[Wood]

are you sure he wasn’t talking about susoba, or the small pseudo budless leaves? I’ve heard about removing them for more air circulation and light.

I haven’t heard about people removing interior leaves. I thought that you removed exterior leaves so that interior leaves didn’t die back

 

[badatusernames]

are you sure he wasn’t talking about susoba, or the small pseudo budless leaves? I’ve heard about removing them for more air circulation and light.

I haven’t heard about people removing interior leaves. I thought that you removed exterior leaves so that interior leaves didn’t die back

Not susuba to my memory. Pseudocydonia like to push growth from where you trim them, so if you just trim it may not back bud the way you want (I’ve had luck with it so maybe this is apocryphal). After hearing this, I sort of assumed that removing the first leaf or two on the interior encouraged new growth closer in and aided ramification, which I’ve heard can be hit or miss on quince.

I’ve had a few quince for a few years and haven’t found at least secondary branching to be too difficult to achieve, but I’m not quite at tertiary. This may be where it gets tricky.

This one is a bit wild at the moment as I’m letting it run a bit after not seeing great growth last year. The growth is coarse enough that I’m not even sure how tertiary will fit…. But I love this one. It’s growing a bit uneven so I may need to prune to redirect energy.

That said, it only really started throwing strong growth recently and I’ve been adjusting its position in relation to the sun to see if I can get the weaker parts to perk up.

Not hornbeam related, but I really like pseudocydonia and am always looking for more info.