Beech semi

I have had this raft for a few years but last year thought about changing the design to make two trees. As you can see it was planted in a "Growbag tray" to accomadate the length, over 1.0m or a yard for the drinkers amongst us.
There were two reasons to alter the tree, 1 to make two smaller easily managed one's and 2 because i was bored.



I made the chop leaving plenty of trunk to carve later and planted the new tree in a suitable pot.





The tree was fed well and put on a lot of growth that year.



This year i did a first wireing to give the basic shape.





Now i will prepare myself for the cries of horror.

Very interesting, great realized. Bravo!

regards
Mario

Erm,.......I don't get it. where are you going with it Peter?

I'm assuming the one pictured here is being developed as some sort of cascade, Fuzzy. I'd be interested to know what the length of the piece is. I'm guessing that's a 10" turntable it's sitting on in the first two pics of it as an individual tree so that would make it, what, about 16" long.

Do you still have the other bit as a raft, Peter?

Fuzzy wrote:Erm,.......I don't get it. where are you going with it Peter?

Fuzzy, like Fiona says it is going to be a semi-cadcade. The design was based on the root system. They were already falling over so i made use of that to start this tree.





The trunk still has to be carved/hollowed to help with taper.

Fiona, the tree is 8" tall and 22" long including pot. I still have the other part .

I like your group planting here Peter. Seems to me you've made a good job (two of 'em indeed!) out of a tricky piece of material. Well done

I really like the new raft (assuming you can UNcross those small trunks to the left) -- and even if you can't; that happens all he time in he woods.

I THINK I like the new cascade tree, but the jury will hold its decision for a while.

JimLewis wrote:I really like the new raft (assuming you can UNcross those small trunks to the left) -- and even if you can't; that happens all he time in he woods.

I THINK I like the new cascade tree, but the jury will hold its decision for a while.

Common Jim. Stop sitting on the fence.

Hello Peter. The cascade doesn't work for me. It is fighting in two directions. I would lose the bottom branch, put the tree in a bigger training pot and develop a cascade branch from the rising branch.

Hi! Fuzzy,....

I really like the approuch of things here!
You have made a nice raft and a nice tree,...in a moon shell

Best of both worlds,....and no for me not everything has to be a bonsai in style!
Like the first picture! nice nebari,....

grtz m

Crap photo but the best you'll get this time of night.

will baddeley wrote:Crap photo but the best you'll get this time of night.

Now that would be a very nice way to go with this Beech. Nice artwork Will btw.

will baddeley wrote:Crap photo but the best you'll get this time of night.

I thought you were supposed to be working !

Will, in our dreams you drawing would be the result but , there's always one of them, there is no negative space between the trunk and the roots like you show.
That is why i planted it in the container it is in at present.
I understand your reluctance to SEE the design, and maybe the long branch does not help but in 5 years when the ramification has had a chance to help this will look SO much better. Trust me.

The next phase.
Still back budding nicely.
Trying a display for the tree.



All opionions welcombe.

Peter, I like your tree and the way its displayed; works for me! Another idea would be to find a stone similar to the one you have (stand), but with a pool for water in the lower part of the stone ... this would add more drama (another element) to the planting. Nice job!
Best,
Todd

hi Peter,

great work - i like having bored days where you wade in and do exciting stuff. I also like the way the effort is going into the unique bit - the cascade. What is your pruning method and timing ? it certainly is increasing the density.

cheers Marcus

Peter E. wrote:The next phase.
Still back budding nicely.
Trying a display for the tree.



All opionions welcombe.

I think a cascade or semicascade does not fit the image of a fagus sylvatica. Even if you find some in unusual shapes, 95% does not take that kind of shape naturally.

But, well, i love this one, did not expect it to look that good when i saw the first picture of it. Unnatural beech-image or not, i like it, very much. Original and VERY creative

regards

Very unique little tree. I think it's turning out well and I like the way it looks on that stone. I would guess there aren't too many beech cascades out there so I really like this tree.

Thank you all for the kind words.
Marcus, training for this one has been the same as i always do.
1st spring growth, pinch to 3 leaves when still soft ( very early ) but let the shoots that you need for new branches grow.
Feed well ( whatever your choice ) . Keep evenly damp especially in shallow pots. ( need an open soil mix to avoid water logging ).
Later when new growth has hardened you can wire gently.
Later in the year ( Autumn ) cut the first bud ( strong ) back to 2 leaves and leave the back buds to develop for the next year.
After a couple of years growth slows down and becomes much easier to control.

I would very much like to see this now.