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.