American beech

This is a beech I collected about a year and a half ago. I'm not quite sure what I want to do about the stump and the large extending roots quite yet. I was planning on maybe hollowing the stump a bit and cutting the long roots and blending the two together in the process next year. All suggestions welcome

Lawrence

also just today I noticed some very small, pin point sized black little bugs on the back of the tree and I'm not sure what they are[img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]

I'd certainly keep the stump after some carving (and perhaps some shortening)

It's hard to develop the foliage in the American beech since it only breaks leaves once a year, but I'd keep cutting the branches back to 2 or 3 new leaves every year.

Lnatural wrote:This is a beech I collected about a year and a half ago. I'm not quite sure what I want to do about the stump and the large extending roots quite yet. I was planning on maybe hollowing the stump a bit and cutting the long roots and blending the two together in the process next year. All suggestions welcome

Lawrence

also just today I noticed some very small, pin point sized black little bugs on the back of the tree and I'm not sure what they are

If this were my tree I'd plant it in the ground and let it grow for a few years, wiring the shoot against the chopped trunk to encourage it to straighten it a bit. If you decide to go this route, wait till next winter to set it out.

Zach

I like it. I see a tree that was cut for lumber and then resprouted from the stump. It tells a story. To make it look a bit older the stump could be cut carved a bit to make it look decayed. The long heavy roots could be tapered into the soil a bit more, but they help tell the story of a big tree that was harvested and then regrew.

Lawrence,

Are you sure the big roots on the stump side are even alive? Just a thought.

R

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, I'm pretty sure that the extending roots are still alive because last year new shoots were growing off of them. I kind of want to use the back for the front after thinking about it. It might be cool to slowly pull the tree back and around using the foliage to disguise the stump and show off the hollow that is there, and still do the work I planned originally.

Russell makes a very good point. If by chance the big roots are alive, I don't think they will be for long. They are not feeding anything and as there is nothing to draw sap, they will die. Have you tried scratching them to see if they're green?

Glad you brought that up, I just scratched some bark away and it's all dead it's all gonna get chopped off and carved out for sure.
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Lnatural wrote:Glad you brought that up, I just scratched some bark away and it's all dead it's all gonna get chopped off and carved out for sure.

All the more reason to plant it out and let it grow for a few years. You have a tree in distress, as shown by the dieback in part of the root system. In order to overcome this problem, strong growth is needed. In time you'll be able to do the carving that will ultimately make for a nice hollow base, but that time is not now.

Good luck with your project.

Zach

Zach Smith wrote:

Lnatural wrote:Glad you brought that up, I just scratched some bark away and it's all dead it's all gonna get chopped off and carved out for sure.

All the more reason to plant it out and let it grow for a few years. You have a tree in distress, as shown by the dieback in part of the root system. In order to overcome this problem, strong growth is needed. In time you'll be able to do the carving that will ultimately make for a nice hollow base, but that time is not now.

Good luck with your project.

Zach

That's what I suspected. American beech don't make easy bonsai, and make terrible small bonsai. I think Zach's suggestion is right on target.

Thank you very much for the advice, I'll try to find a place to put it in the ground. I have some friends with a garden in their back yard, hopefully I can plant it there. Living in Brooklyn leaves little room for such endeavors, but I'll do my best. Thanks again for the advice guys.

Lawrence