Score on some Korean Hornbeams

I had a great day traveling to Meehans today.The whole trip from start to finish took 7.5 hours round.It really is quite beautiful along I-70 in Maryland.Forest everywhere.Everything was mostly still in poly-tunnels,but I was pointed in the direction of the Korean Hornbeams in 7" bulb pots and was delighted to see they had many to choose from.They were weeding the pots.I had to really get down and sift through them all ,but had a blast.They also had some Carolina Hornbeams too that looked just as good.I was shown some freshly dug Korean Hornbeam from the field,but they will not be ready till' later this season,and that might be a bit too advanced technique for me anyway.Well the Hornbeam look very robust as usual and I am very pleased with my purchase.These are all headed for a slip pot into 13" colanders next week.I like these Hornbeams cause' I discovered this past winter how hardy they are as I left some out all winter on my back porch in 4 gallon pots and they did not skip a beat.Even after a root pruning.I am going to let these grow out.They all have 1" trunks above the root-base.I love the look of the trunks on these when they start to swell and put on some girth.

Nice score. Congrats!

Here is one I bought in autumn 2011.It was off to a slow start cause' I put it into a bonsai pot that was too small and started plucking it way too early in the season.It survived 2012 and I potted it this spring in the 13" colander.I definately leave that first flush in the spring go now cause' the trees need it.

I have one korean hornbeam in the ground that is an absolute freak. It is 3 years from seed with a 3"+ trunk a foot from the soil. Really interested to see what it does this season. Korean hornbeams are crazy expensive for me to acquire. The seed is like $200 a pound, and no one in my club has one. Luckily, I was able to collect some seed from a tree off the campus of PSU. This particular tree will be the propogator for all my future K. hornbeam stock. Great deciduous tree. I wish more specimens were being displayed! You might have a few 5 years down the road.

Just thought I would post the pictures of the Hornbeams potted up and also photos of the rest that I have.I am getting a collection of these goin'.They are planted in 13" colanders.

And where I am keeping them ,along with the other two I have.I like keeping these out in the open in full sun.The one in the big flower pot ,I gave to my mother to keep on the patio.It survived the whole winter in that flower pot on the deck.I thought for sure it would succumb to the cold temps.

I know,not much to really discuss.I obviously like to post photos and update my threads.Gotta' love the Coreana's when they are growing freely.My personal forest.

Thanks for giving us the chance to watch these grow. It's interesting to watch

Had to trim the forest

Well I was having a great time letting the Coreana's grow,but I started to have concerns about some strong leaders acting as sap drawers and weakening other branches,particularly the lower branches.To remedy the issue I trimmed the trees into a rough triangle.I didn't even touch the bottom branches.just the mid and upper.I feel better about the energy distribution now.I remember reading in an old Peter Adams book to do so,say every six weeks or so during the growing season when growing trees out.I definately want some thicker bottom branches.

pwk5017 said:

I have one korean hornbeam in the ground that is an absolute freak. It is 3 years from seed with a 3"+ trunk a foot from the soil. Really interested to see what it does this season. Korean hornbeams are crazy expensive for me to acquire. The seed is like $200 a pound, and no one in my club has one. Luckily, I was able to collect some seed from a tree off the campus of PSU. This particular tree will be the propogator for all my future K. hornbeam stock. Great deciduous tree. I wish more specimens were being displayed! You might have a few 5 years down the road.

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If you can get your hands on one they are quite easy to grow from cuttings, you can make yourself a little spending money with a couple of good ones you use for cutting stocks.

Getting ready for another trim

Well, the Coreana's are getting bushy again.Probably another couple weeks and I will shear to a triangle shape again.It has been around four weeks since I did it last.I will probably have to prune again after leaf fall so they fit under my mobile home.Have been using insecticide to control Japanese beetle.I have found if I do not water the foliage as often as usual, the spray defends the trees longer.Beetles will be about done soon in around a month anyway.Then I can get back to misting the foliage with every watering like I usually do.

Goin' in the ground

I can't handle it anymore.The organic fert with every watering is quite the routine in the morning and evening.The Coreana's are goin' in the ground.One of them is taking a little moisture stress cause' it just sucks up the water like crazy.It is not dry ,but it could stand to be moister.It shows in the tips of new growth.I went out and bought some 12"x12" tiles to plant them on.I am waiting for the woven weed barrier to come in the mail so I can finish and plant them.It will be fenced in too.I got the brunt of the hard work done.The plan is to let grow for the long term and root prune every 2 or 3 years.I hope they grow well,it will be very fun.There is a very nice article on field growing in Bonsai Focus may/June 2013 that gave me some confidence.I also got some very nice air-pruning with just the couple months that they have been in the 13" colanders

Great thread thanks for sharing.

All done.I will have to make sure I do not over-water these trees.They are sitting on the tiles about 6" down in the earth.There is several inches around the 12" tiles though for drainage.I may put tree rings around them in the winter.Hopefully everything goes well and they survive the winter,I imagine they will.We will see how often I root prune.I do not want to wait too long cause' I will have to mess up my mulch.At least they are sitting on the marble tiles and should lift right out with just a bit of root shearing around the edges.That is my hopes anyway.Hopefully the roots will be fibrous since they were in the 13" colanders for a couple months.The colanders really did an awesome job in that respect.No circling roots what-so-ever,and a few of the pots were quite dense.That is one thing you have to watch out for with colanders.The roots get so dense,so quick, that the tree becomes a water pipeline of transporation through the leaves.I was dumping water all over them during that heat wave this month.

Pretty good growth for 2.5 months.May 1st - July 17th.

cmeg1 said:

I can't handle it anymore.The organic fert with every watering is quite the routine in the morning and evening.The Coreana's are goin' in the ground.One of them is taking a little moisture stress cause' it just sucks up the water like crazy.It is not dry ,but it could stand to be moister.It shows in the tips of new growth.I went out and bought some 12"x12" tiles to plant them on.I am waiting for the woven weed barrier to come in the mail so I can finish and plant them.It will be fenced in too.I got the brunt of the hard work done.The plan is to let grow for the long term and root prune every 2 or 3 years.I hope they grow well,it will be very fun.There is a very nice article on field growing in Bonsai Focus may/June 2013 that gave me some confidence.I also got some very nice air-pruning with just the couple months that they have been in the 13" colanders

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What kind of container are those in the ground? Thanks for the updates.

"What kind of container"
They are actually just some plastic landscape boarder on the ground.

cmeg1 said:

I can't handle it anymore.The organic fert with every watering is quite the routine in the morning and evening.The Coreana's are goin' in the ground.One of them is taking a little moisture stress cause' it just sucks up the water like crazy.It is not dry ,but it could stand to be moister.It shows in the tips of new growth.I went out and bought some 12"x12" tiles to plant them on.I am waiting for the woven weed barrier to come in the mail so I can finish and plant them.It will be fenced in too.I got the brunt of the hard work done.The plan is to let grow for the long term and root prune every 2 or 3 years.I hope they grow well,it will be very fun.There is a very nice article on field growing in Bonsai Focus may/June 2013 that gave me some confidence.I also got some very nice air-pruning with just the couple months that they have been in the 13" colanders

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One of mine is in one of my dish pan and it is not showing any stress though it is under full TX sun with our mostly high 90*F-104*F temps. I am pleasantly surprised since everyone told me KH cannot take this type of sun and heat directly.

The other that I purchased through here stayed in its tiny pot and it showed stress and leaf damage though it stayed under shade. I just slip potted it into one of the dish pans and defoliated 2 weeks ago due to damaged leaves (my only one this year). Buds are forming now and we'll see if they perform any better.

I love hornbeams - but can't seem to find any in Southern Cal. I don't know if that is due to some market quirk, or if they just don't do well here. Fun thread - thanks for sharing! Love the photos of the trees in the ground

Poink88 said:

One of mine is in one of my dish pan and it is not showing any stress though it is under full TX sun with our mostly high 90*F-104*F temps. I am pleasantly surprised since everyone told me KH cannot take this type of sun and heat directly.

The other that I purchased through here stayed in its tiny pot and it showed stress and leaf damage though it stayed under shade. I just slip potted it into one of the dish pans and defoliated 2 weeks ago due to damaged leaves (my only one this year). Buds are forming now and we'll see if they perform any better.

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Yea,they seem to like water.Peter Chan sais' Korean Hornbeams do best out in the open in full sun.There are two of them that I thought would be too wet,they turned out having the nicest leaves and secondary shoots(now keep in mind these were in colanders and never waterlogged).They definately benefit from extended shoot growth before pruning back.I have one that is not acting right also.I planted it in the ground with this bunch.something with the roots I think from drying to much in winter or something.