Large Hornbeam

Hi

I thought I'd post a couple of photos of my large Hornbeam looking nice with its new spring foliage  









Truth be told the tree looks a lot better in leaf. It needs more ramification and better branch placement to create a good winter image. Same as all my trees really, I just haven't been doing bonsai long enough to have anything that's in an advanced stage of development.

Still, I don't think it's too bad considering that less than two and a half years ago it was an 8 ft tall, very root bound nursery tree.

Regards

Richard

Beautiful Richard!

I like it.
Must be nice with leafs to, seven months a year  

Greetings,
Cees.

Thanks guys.

Hopefully in a couple of years it'll be ready for a decent pot.

Regards

Richard

You are hiding the main trunk well.
Hornbeam are a very special specie, they have trunks like arms, with veins and muscles.
It is a very specie to grow but they need lots of vitality and can be capricious in pots, a bit like oaks, they need a healthy ground and are not so tolerant of drastic transplanting like elms or other sturdy deciduous. Reason I am saying this is that I killed quite many wonderful Hornbeams I collected and I wish that not to happen to you.
They need leaf mulch and not too much sun or water. Think of them as oak, decayed tree bark, they like and a healthy compost type soil, organic, with mushrooms wanting to tale over and not too much water but always moist soil, like in underbrush forest where bugs love to procreate (except with no bugs)

Richard S wrote:
Still, I don't think it's too bad considering that less than two and a half years ago it was an 8 ft tall, very root bound nursery tree.

Hi, do you have a before photo?

Thanks, I agree that Hornbeam are a great species.

This what it looked like in October 2011 when I got it.



Regards

Richard

Very nice plant! I wish i had a Hornbeam here in Brazil. The final result is imponent and magnificent!

About the 2011 photo: people here in brazil would think the tree was dying hahahah!

Hi Richard, What part of the UK are you from? I never see material like this in the garden centres in London!  

I live out in the wilds of East Anglia and I don't see material like this in garden centres myself very often!

This one came from a small independent nursery local to me that's unfortunately since closed down. It had obviously been there for a few years because when they tried to move it for me it wouldn't budge. It was so well rooted through the pot into the ground that they had to cut it free with a saw.

It cost £35. If they'd had any more I'd have bought them all. You just never get stuff like this in the big chain stores.

Cheers

Richard

Richard S wrote:
It cost £35. If they'd had any more I'd have bought them all. You just never get stuff like this in the big chain stores.

Indeed my friend.
Nice to see your tree developments.

This response is for Richard and Bobby. I know of a nursery here in Oxfordshire which stocks many sizes of Hornbeam in their hedging area. Last week I could have bought a dozen 6 footers in pots at £18.50 each, and some of them had lots of low branches. Others smaller and larger at varying prices. If you are prepared to travel, PM me and I'll give you the details. On the other hand if you look for hedging specialists they will almost certainly have them. (Only reason I did not buy was I'd spent out on other trees, but I'll be back!). Cheers.

Thanks Rick

I'd definitely be interested although I'm currently running out of space (need to build another bench or two) so just for future reference at the moment!

I agree that hedging stock is a good potential source but most I've seen are either quite young or very straight and lacking character. Still, searching them out is part of the fun. Sounds like you have found a good supplier there, make the most of it.

Regards

Richard

Richard S wrote:Hi

I thought I'd post a couple of photos of my large Hornbeam looking nice with its new spring foliage  









Truth be told the tree looks a lot better in leaf. It needs more ramification and better branch placement to create a good winter image. Same as all my trees really, I just haven't been doing bonsai long enough to have anything that's in an advanced stage of development.

Still, I don't think it's too bad considering that less than two and a half years ago it was an 8 ft tall, very root bound nursery tree.

Regards

Richard

I like your bonsai. very good

Thanks

Hopefully it will improve with age!

Regards

Richard

Hi folks

I was messing around in the garden today and noticed that my large hornbeam was starting to show a bit of autumn colour so I thought I'd update this post with a photo!



The tree grew well this year, especially early on and has been pruned back twice so hopefully ramification will have improved a bit.

Regards

Richard

Nice winter colours, nice tree

Quick update with photo.

My Hornbeam out of leaf with most of the wire removed. I'm going to let it grow fairly unmolested this year because there is some wire scaring that I hope will grow out. The buds are swelling nicely now so hopefully it'll be green in a week or two.



I'm quite pleased with the development so far but there are some serious branch placement issues on the right hand side where the first branch goes up. I could cut it back and the branch itself would still be fine but it would leave a big gap in the branch structure compared with the left hand side.

I'm wondering whether I could thread graft a new branch into the gap?

Any comments or advice welcome of course.

Regards

Richard

dont cut that branch your talking about, its a deciduous tree, it should have multiple leaders/subtrunks once you get up that high in the tree anyways. at least encourage some branches growing upwards. I know im beating a dead horse but dont style a deciduous like a pine, let that branch grow upwards

That straight section of trunk with no branches just above the first couple of branches really detracts I think. Oddly the effect seems more pronounced when the tree is leafed out. Thread grafting sounds like a good plan. Do hornbeams threadgraft easily?

The tree has a nice overall shape, but yeh one or two issues with the branching. if was mine i'd cut back that right side branch, but mainly because it lacks taper and cutting it back to that thinner shoot will improve it. and there are a few thicker bits you could cut out and bring the thinner branches into their space. id also concentrate on getting everything rising upwards and reducing thicker bits in the canopy. and i think the tree could do with some back branches for more depth, so that branch i see in the backround needs to grow out and ramify and you can maybe use that and grow part of it into the space that will be vacated from reducing the right branch.

Very nice tree, Richard.
I am sure you will solve those minor branch problems.

I have also one Carpinus (probably C. betulus) into a 50lt nursery pot ready to be repotted and root pruned for the first time. I have already chopped and pruned the tree late in December using cut paste.

orme de siberie wrote:... ... and can be capricious in pots, ... ... and are not so tolerant of drastic transplanting like elms or other sturdy deciduous... ...

I would be much obliged if you can give me any suggestions/advice regarding the transplant I have to do these coming days.
Thank you very much in advance.

Thanks for the comments folks. All really useful and greatly appreciated.

I didn't respond earlier because foolishly I posted the image and then promptly went away for the week on a bonsai field trip to the English Lake District studying deciduous dead wood styles in mountain trees (although don't tell the wife and kids that's what I was doing because they still think it was a family holiday .

Anyhow, Nellie, my experience with C. Betulus is that it's extremely robust. I have several (although the others are smaller) but this one in particular was extremely root bound when purchased. There was no way the root ball could be untangled so I just cut 2/3rds of it off with a saw. The tree didn't miss a beat in fact it seemed relieved and burst into new growth (above and below ground). It's grown strongly ever since. I would say that it is at least as tolerant of transplanting as Elm if not more so but that's only my experience. Hope that helps.

Bobby Lane, I take your point (although for obvious reasons the tree looks a lot more three dimensional in the flesh). The ability to focus the eye on defects which are easily overlooked is one of the advantages of photographing trees. Your suggestions are helpful and as the tree is usually very keen to throw out long shoots all round building depth over time shouldn't be too problematic.

Bottasegeta, yes that's pretty much what I though. Regards thread grafting I don't know myself (which is why I asked) although I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. If a convenient shoot emerges this spring that I can use I think I'll try. After all, there's very little to lose if it fails.

Bucknbonsai, I absolutely agree that deciduous trees should not be styled like a pine (unless that's what you like, it's a free world after all) but my concern was really the imbalance between branches going up and coming down on the same side of the tree. Hopefully if the gap can be filled with a thread grafted branch in a couple of seasons this won't be so pronounced anyway.

Thanks again for all comments.

Regards

Richard

Hello, Richard!
Thank you very much for sharing your experience.

Well it's been another year and I've had another go at sorting the branch structure on my tall Hornbeam. The gap on the right side is still there but overall I think it's improving. Might put it in a pot this year as well (if I can find one big enough).

I like this tree a lot but it's not so easy to find a coherent image while also keeping all the crazy branches that give it character. All of a sudden I can see the appeal of the "cookie cutter bonsai" approach

Anyway feel free to comment and as always constructive criticism is welcome.



Regards

Richard