Larch forest

Hi, I made last week a larch forest from European and Japanese larch species together
The first photo is the front and the second the back,I like the back off the forest also.
But on the first photo from the front you can see the little tree's behind the large one's and create depth in it.
This tree's are in training by me for 12 years now,and they are 40 years off age
This is just the first styling,and in the next couple of years it become even better.
I hope you like it.
Greetings Ed

very nice. I'm curious though - some of the trees on the edge of the group are leaning outwards. Is this a recognised approach or a personal choice? I've seen groups like this and others all straight.

littlebobby wrote:very nice. I'm curious though - some of the trees on the edge of the group are leaning outwards. Is this a recognised approach or a personal choice? I've seen groups like this and others all straight.

Actually that's a recognized approach, all trees must leen away from the main highest tree in the forest. But I made one where all face upwards, because I like it that way better. So it's allso a matter of personal choice.

I like your forest a lot Ed. Cant wait to se it live.

*Sigh*

I've got my heart set on having a larch forest. Thing is, I don't really want to go down the route of making one from scratch from a load of hedging plants. I need to start 'acquiring' some mature trees from somewhere.

Anybody got any excess larch?

Hi Harleyrider,
Try Chris Thomas,
chris.thomas1@sky.com
He has larch of all sizes suitable for group plantings, plus many already mature groups.

Harleyrider wrote: I need to start 'acquiring' some mature trees from somewhere.

Ah well now. As it happens (Oh Lord, I just turned into Jimmy Saville ) I'm doing a demo this very afternoon in which I'm creating a larch forest with some older plants. They're not very tall (tallest is about 2 feet) but they're about 1 inch thick and have decent bark rather than the greeny stuff you get with whips and younger trees.

But son't be put off by younger trees. Larch grow quickly to a point where they make a decent forest. I've also got a bundle coming through in my garden (open soil) that I planted as seeds 3 years ago and already they are thickening to about 1 inch. I've topped, trimmed and put an embryonic styling into them each year to try and get it to the point where they will be lifted out of the ground virtually as an intact forest. Dunno what happens then as I do not have any space left to keep it! It's the challenge of it all!

Nik Rozman wrote:
(...) Actually that's a recognized approach, all trees must leen away from the main highest tree in the forest. (...)

Can there be a "recommended approach" that fits all species? With deciduous trees for instance, the direction of the branches of the trees outside allow to correct a little what is a trick of perspective (a bit like placing smaller trees at the back to suggest distance, to give depth to the design).

Also, I find that the trees are slanting way too much, as if they were about to fall outward. It gives the impression of a fan-shaped plantation, not of a natural forest in my opinion.

Here is another example of a larch forest (Noelanders Trophy), the trees on the outside are slightly slanting outward, but it gives the impression of an old path in a forest:

http://www.penjing-bonsai.com/images/ffb/noel/Foret_melezes.jpg

And this one too:

http://www.penjing-bonsai.com/images/aufil/aufil3/f_meleze4.jpg

Even more convincing to me:

http://jgar.neuf.fr/images/arbres/bonsai1.gif

In the last example, the trees do slant outward, but not so much that they give a feeling of being about to fall, because the angle is not so wide and the trunks are slightly curved so that the apex is pointing up like a tree in nature would.

But this my my view, and to quote Sri Rick Moquin "Whatever floats your boat..."

good god. they are bloody marvellous. this site is starting to depress me. the more I see people's work, the more I realise what a putz I am.

@ Uro. Thanks man, I'll give him a shout.

@ Fionnghal. Wait just a Goddamn minute here. You've got a bunch of Larch in your garden that you don't have room for, right? And they're at a stage where they're 'useable', right? Ooh, you are a tease!

Harleyrider wrote: You've got a bunch of Larch in your garden that you don't have room for, right? And they're at a stage where they're 'useable', right? Ooh, you are a tease!

yeah I know. It's a wumman thing!

Anyway, if you can fit them on the bike....

I've got a batch of larch in the ground with three more to plant that I want to make a group planting with. One is a quite mature tree which was collected by a herbert off Ebay, but the rest are just young pups. My plan was to give them two years in the ground then pot them. Is it better to let them mature in the ground or can I get a decent result as per my plan?

Steve... if you are considering larch make sure you have a good selection of material, different heights and trunk thicknesses... I would build the forest first in one of your 'new' growing boxes... then when mature transfer to a pot, this way you will have a far better survival rate... better still still once the root ball has 'matted' together you could transfer to a slab/slate and it would be more natural and convincing... AND CHEAPER TOO

Cheers Tony. I'd already thought about the different height/thickness issue. If the worst comes to the worst, I'll order some 1, 2 and 3 yr old hedging stock and take my chances that they're suitable. My eventual aim is to use a slab, I find the image it presents very pleasing and 'rugged'.

@ fionnghal. You'd be suprised just what I can fit on my bike!

Nice start. If you are going to angle the trees on the side, you need to use wire to make the foliage pads on those trees at least parallel to the ground or even better dropping toward the ground. Otherwise the slanted trees look unstable.
I'd also consider thinning out the interior facing branches on all trees.

Hi,I changed the forest a little bit.
It will stay for now like this,thank you all for the useful info
And Rob,I will thin out the tree's in the winter.
Greetings Ed

I love larch, but only have one that I have not yet started work on.

Your forest should look really cool in fall, please remember to get and post a picture when they are all gold!

Thanks for the nice forest examples.

Larch grow like weeds here in Michigan, I collect them often and have a couple dozen of various sizes in nursery pots that I have been pruning back and waiting until I get the bug to finally set down and create a forest. I have forest pots but I would like to find a nice slab, unfortunately they do not grow wild here.....



Will

Will Heath wrote:Larch grow like weeds here in Michigan, I collect them often and have a couple dozen of various sizes in nursery pots that I have been pruning back and waiting until I get the bug to finally set down and create a forest. I have forest pots but I would like to find a nice slab, unfortunately they do not grow wild here.....

Landscapers and garden centers sell stone slabs for paving & stepping stones, don't know how much they charge but it can't hurt to check them out.
Or you can make your own slab out of concrete. If you're any good at carving or sculpting you can make it look like real rock. There was an article somewhere by Colin Lewis on making concrete containers for bonsai, but I can't find a working link at the moment, I think it may have been on BonsaiTalk.

The forest is new styled, and I put it in a pot from William van Vlaanderen
Greetings Ed

Much better, Ed. Now it really looks like a natural forest.

Here one similar to the first approach.Hope you like it
Chokkan

Thanks Nik,and chokkan great first styling,well done.
Greetings Ed

Update

Hi Ed,

Looking great and very healthy. What time of year do you do your pruning / thinning out ?

I really like the trunk placement, its a very natural looking scene.

Looks great in that pot too !

Hello Ed. I like the strength and the natural way this planting has been put together. I do have a couple of problems with it though. The foliage is too strong at the tops of your trees, while the lower branches are the same length and weaker. A stronger pruning of the top and a season or two of growth on the lower branches will address this. The pot in my eyes, moves from left to right. The group moves in the opposite direction.