European hornbeam small seedling yamadori

It seems that I haven't put here any of my two hornbeams
I digged this one in spring last year (march 2020). When I brought it home, I realized that this is quite problematic tree, because it was broken in the past and it developed three brunches growing from the same place in almost the same direction So OK, I let it grow and this year I made a cut - I think that this was the only possibility: to leave only the lowest brunch and remove everything else.

I did nothing with the rootball, it is in 6l container, so there is plenty of space. Possibly I could also let the roots grow from the bottom into the ground.
I will check the roots next year.
As the leaves will develop, I will feed it and let it grow.

After one year in container. It is hornbeam, so it should be OK to be hurry.  



Problematic nod:



Brunches from top was removed, wound is sealed, it should be OK. Now I'm hoping for budback. I scratched the bark in several places, so I will see if the new buds will appear or not.

That is a great start on a tree with lots of movement and taper. It is hard to make such major cuts, but often they are the best ones for the long term development of the tree.

Additionally here is a detail of a cut.
It is quite big, but I have already seen much bigger
Also I heard that if you make the cut in 90° angle, it heals faster, because diameter of the wound is smaller. However I made something like 45° cut, because it will help to make nice taper (hopefully  ).

Leaving a stub when making a large cut is often safer. The tree will then die back as it reroutes nutrients to the remaining branches and you can trim it back to make it look better. Sometimes when you cut back flush you cause the tree to die back too far and you lose the branch you want to keep. Not always, but often enough that I am now taking the slower route to leave a stub and then clean it up in a few months. This is really only necessary on larger cuts. A larger cut depends upon the species and what is being left behind.

Marty agree with you. More likely next sezon the stub is dry and you can remove it. Better be safe than sorry.

I know what you mean.
But with hormbeam it should be OK and quite safe. Also it helps when the wound is sealed.
Usually what I saw in the forest, hornbeams budback just from the place where the wound was made (usually hard wounds caused by logging in the forest).

Maples for example dieback a lot (information not from my experience, but people always say it), so if it would be a maple, I would choose different approach.

But - we will see
I could find out that you were totally right with the hornbeam as well. Well, this is the life

I do agree with Marty & vlad. Better to be safe than sorry. Bonsai is a long trail. You know what my bonsai guru J.A. Komensky said about "kvaltování". Fingers crossed your carpinus will make it but I would take slower approach next time anyway. Good luck and happy repotting.

Vlad wrote:I do agree with Marty & vlad.   Better to be safe than sorry.   Bonsai is a long trail.  You know what my bonsai guru J.A. Komensky said about "kvaltování".    Fingers crossed your carpinus will make it but I would take slower approach next time anyway.  Good luck and happy repotting.

Vlad you can't deny your origin.....

It is doing well. It got burned from the sun, but it just happens. The wound on the trunk is sealing itself, I am happy with that
I am wondering if I should trim the brunches next spring or if I should wait a bit more. I would like to make it bud back, so I would keep the main leader and trim the rest, so it could help.
Also I am going to check the roots next year and possibly plant it into the grow box.

What size tree do you want? If you want a bigger tree repot it into a somewhat larger pot (larger breadth and and a bit less depth) and let it grow. If you want to a small tree then put it in a smaller pot (quite a bit less depth and similar breadth) and cut back. You have nice movement up to the point where your finger touches the trunk and then it straightens out. Cutting a bit above that will create some additional movement - large tree after the first flush hardens off next year in the larger container, small tree later this fall before repotting in the early spring.

@ Marty Weiser
Well, I want a small tree (up to 35cm). However I should let it get a bit thicker anyway, so I will let it grow. In spring I will repot it into larger but shallower container and continue with growing. After some time I will choose the brunch which will form the top trunk and and then I will cut it back (in two years maybe - I know I am quite hurry  ).

Here are some photos without leaves.

It has definitely progressed from the first pictures. I would probably cut the heavy side branch back since it is starting to compete with the trunk. It is probably big enough that you can start to develop some ramification on it.

Marty Weiser wrote:It has definitely progressed from the first pictures. I would probably cut the heavy side branch back since it is starting to compete with the trunk. It is probably big enough that you can start to develop some ramification on it.

OK, so I will cut back the heavy side branch which is approx in the middle of the tree height. Then the main trunk should have more support and should grow more (and get thicken more than the side branch).
What about that low branch? It is quite long so I would like to make it bud back closer to the trunk. However it is still quite thin. I'm not sure if cutting it back is good idea in this stage. I could wait until the next year when it will be stronger. On the other hand - it is the hornbeam    It could be OK. What is you opinion?

I would cut the one on the right this late winter after the worst of the freezes are over. I would leave the one of the left to thicken, but cut back the new shoots to 1 or 2 leaves after they harden to encourage back budding along the stem.

Hello everyone,
I'm back with update. Unfortunately there is not much positive to say, because the tree has got almost no development. In spring 2022 I cut back that thick brunch on the right and I decided to put it in the ground.
I checked the root ball and removed long tap root. There was a lot of feeder roots remaining, so nothing to worry about. The european hornbeam, no hard pruning (one thick brunch, one thick root), so what could go wrong.
Well, 2022 spring was a bit dry. Then it was also quite hot and the spot where I planted the tree has not any cover from the sun. I was watering it regularly and thought that it will be OK. Also I could say that there will be no fungal leaf disease that slowed the development of the tree in the past.
So because of this wise decision it got sunburned in summer.

Now - I donť think that it would be safe to keep the tree where it is. I'm also not happy with the soil in which it grows. Actually I didn't like it from the very beggining, so I mixed some garden substrate when I was planting the tree. It seems it just wasn't enough.
Now there are two options. The first, leave it where it is, fertilize it and put some covering stuff next to it that would block the sun during the noon, but the soil there just sucks.
The second - dig it out and put it in large container (I've got some 12l volume) with better soil and some spangham moss around the roots and move it in better spot. I will go for the second option.

I know that keeping the tree in the ground should be the best. But if you donť have a good spot, or if the siol is not good, it won't make good progress anyway.
So    I will do my best again. I'm still learning new things so I'm getting better understanding of the whole growing process. I quite like it and just hope the tree is strong enough to withstand all my attempts.

Cutting the taproot was necessary, but probably set the tree back a fair bit even though it had other good roots. The tree had stored quite a bit of energy in the heavy taproot so it had to rebuild energy in order to push growth. Even a normal repot without cutting big roots will set the tree back for a season.

I would put the tree in a pot or grow box that is a little bigger than current rootball. Using too big a pot will keep it cold and wet. I like to use a mix of about 40% aged bark, 40% pumice, and 20% aged manure that has been screened to 3-9 mm (1-9 mm for the manure). I use it for both grow boxes and the grow bags for trees in the ground. This mix promotes fast growth, but will come off the roots better than the all bark and manure mix favored by nurseries.

The first growing season after almost all major work is slow, -recovery rather than "growth".  The best growth, if that's what you really want, is two years in a pot in the ground.  The first year is slow, the second year profuse with lots of roots, IN THE POT.  The third year will be even heavier growth, but all the roots will have found the drain holes in the pot, escaped, and the result is excessive long roots outside the pot, all the feeders outside the pot, giant, long anchor roots outside the pot with feeders far away from the crown.  This is very counter-productive because you have to make major cuts to all the wrong parts of the roots and are left with the crown of the roots being too big to be useful as bonsai.  So, one year, meager growth, two years peak useful growth, three years everything wrong, go back and start over.  

That's the first half of the equation.  Tweaking is much, much better than "cut & grow" as most people do it.  Left to their own devices trees return to nature, -the way they grow in the wild with just a few long branches pointed at the sun, too apical for bonsai, long internodes, only as many leaves as necessary to have some number of square feet of sun collectors, so natural size and bigger leaves.  None of this is bonsai, much less good bonsai.  Choosing a pot which is in your favor for bonsai to grow it in forever is the first step.  What size tree do you want?  That tells you what the pot size of the finished tree should be.  Sink that pot in the ground for the two year cycle, and cycle that over and over two years at a time, and stop when it's as big as you want it.  Every year, take the pot to the bench and tweak the branches and buds to your design in autumn when the growth has stopped.  Trim hard for structure and remove tips on branches that are long enough, to get more interior twigs & leaves.  Leave tip buds to get longer branches where you want them.  Otherwise, cut back to a bud pointed in the direction that you want the branch to grow.  Close all wounds greater than 1/2" in diameter with Elmer's wood glue (any generic will do), it will erode over time and leave a natural appearance with less die-back in the immediate area.  In ~mid to late June of the second growing season, after new growth has stopped, remove all leaves by cutting them off at the base of the leaf, leaving the petiole in place which guards the bud in its axil.  This will force the tree to refoliate all at once giving you smaller leaves.  You must remove all tip buds to insure that the growth is not all just at the ends of branches.  You will have enough time left in the growing season to replace the buds for next year that you used up.  Repot in the third spring when you see buds swelling.  Leave the top alone and trim the roots by removing as much of big anchor roots as possible leaving as many tiny feeder roots as possible in good soil.  I dust open cuts on roots with hormone.  Rocks are good drainage, not good soil.  If the pot is not sunk in hardpan clay you don't need excessive drainage.

Pots in the ground never get anywhere near the ambient temperature of the air.  Roots on most trees should never get hotter than 70°F.  Pots on benches are cooled with evaporation only until the pot gets dry.  That makes growing conditions on the bench stop go stop go stop go almost every day for you poor slobs that work for a living.  Lazy retired bums can water every day at 2 pm and grow most trees in full sun.  The trade off is we can hear footsteps and know that we don't have forever to grow things.

I don't use any rocks in my soil mix, only good garden loam with equal parts by weight (or twice volume) Pine Bark Soil Conditioner, all augmented with 1% Bone Char, 1% Leonardite, 1% Kelp Meal, and .1% Jersey Green Sand.  It is a moisture retaining very high organic media that I fertilize only when I want growth.  I Never fertilize before leaves emerge and harden off, -I don't want big leaves, I want good growth of wood and buds for next year.  Mostly, I use 6-4-0 Milorganite which is what the Milwaukee, Wisconsin sewage department has been making since the mid 1950's.  It is concentrated sewage sludge in the form of neat little non-smelly pellets.  Low assay and slow working, just a little to insure just a little food for growth.  Healthy growth, not sudden bursts of rampant growth.  The Green Sand is ground-up ancient sea bottom concentrated minor trace elements to insure nothing is absent.  Leonardite is soft brown coal by its official name.  It is the concentrated humus that would become coal if buried deeper for a couple million years.  Bone Char is what they do with the bones people won't eat.  It is used industrially to filter stuff.  The molecule has more surface area than any other, thus presenting more available carbon for use in oxidizing with elements into compounds that are useable by plants.  Plants cannot use any element by itself alone, they must be in a compound form with oxygen, and the presence of available carbon enhances the ability of minerals in the soil to be compounded thence to be processed (consumed) by soil-borne-microbes to become plant food.  The small amount of Bone Char makes for a continuing supply of carbon for a long time.  Charcoal from your grill will also do in a pinch.  Charcoal from most sources has very high pH, so the Leonardite's low pH offsets that, nicely. The wood chips carry all the microbes that the soil can use, if and only if there is enough food for them. Your pot is a closed system, so if you don't put something in there, something ain't gonna be there when needed. This formula covers all the bases.

Bonsai is forever, we on the other hand are just passing through...  Enjoy!

Hello everyone,
thank you very much for your tips. I will have to do a lot of improvements.

First - I was searching on the Youtube for more information in general and I found out there that it is possible to grow it in the ground without any excessive root grow. Basically you plant the tree in the ground, leave it there for two years, then you dig it up, trim the roots and put it back in the ground. So similar as Michigander mentioned (but without the pot). At least for deciduos trees it should work well.
That soil temperature seems to be really important and in the sloped garden with full sun all day it can be an issue.
(I have also problems with my larches, so I must really change my approach. Hopefully these will make it through.)

Second – I have to deal with the sun. I thought this year - even if I leave the tree where it is - there will be some cover from the plants growing around. Well, that notion was a bit misleading. The sun rises high in the sky in summer, so again there is no cover from it. I realized this a bit late, so it got sunburned again. I'll make some shading for this tree this weekend. That's the only solution because there's no place where there would be appropriate cover (except under the cherry tree and I can't have all the trees under the cherry tree... ).
I think that when I reduce the noon sun, it will be OK.

So this year I will let it recover. If the tree will be in good condition, I can check the roots next spring.
But - I will see.

I'm actually surprised that I'm struggling with a hornbeam.
Thank you for the patience you have with me. It helps a lot.

Here is the actual state. It is kinda OK, but it could (and should) be much better.
@Michigander - Thank you for the information. I must read it again and I'm looking forward to trying it. Your description is perfect, actually it is just what I need. Eventually I will use the pot anyway because I can put better soil in it. I have a lot of things to think about.

Full sun trees like Hornbeam & Larch need to be watered as much or as often as necessary. It that means 3 times a day, so be it. The growth will be accordingly higher when the tree uses that much water because water is the vehicle which transports stuff in the soil to the leaf surfaces. More water = more stuff; more stuff = more growth. They do not have a dial that can be switched from high use back to proportional use when the moisture supply begins to run out. When grown in a nursery they are in sunrise to sunset full sun and the pots are buried in wood chips. That is intended to keep the roots cool and supplied with as much moisture (not standing water) as the trees will use until the next scheduled watering. The price the nurseryman gets for his stock has a linear relationship with size. He competes with lots of people that are selling the same product. So, he has trees in high organic mineral soil with woodchip mulch and surrounded with woodchips which hold lots of moisture without being soggy. He feeds NPK at moderate levels as often as necessary and never shocks with high levels because he wants even growth that can be retained instead of pruned off in autumn.

A picture is worth a thousand words: what I see is lousy clay soil with lots of mud cracks from super drying. GIGO. When seeking good, if not maximum growth you need good, well-drained soil, space for air flow and no interference with lateral growth of lower limbs, lots of highly organic mulch (turned-into the soil next season), sun & water. A south slope is a big plus, if and only if, you water as much as it needs to maximize the conditions which inform the plant that growing season is now. That will get a jump on everyone else with earlier springs and and later autumns when buds are building for next year.

Your mission Jan, should you choose to accept it is to use the accompanying soil formula to guide possible new thinking about growth in bonsai.



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