American Hornbeam Forest

[Shogun610]

Hello, starting a new thread on the journey for this 25+ tree American hornbeam forest. It’s in leftover pumice , lava , akadama , top soil and peat moss , no wire just picked them all in tightly , wired and top dressed w sphagnum and moss. 2-4 years it will be ready for a pot . Gonna just feed the hell out of it for this year , and let roots escape into ground , cut back branches ever so often eventually
I have a long Nao forest pot for it already

 

[Shogun610]

Terrible pictures ugh, I feel my 95 year old grandma w my phone sometimes lol

 

[Shogun610]

Most of these are opening or about to open it’s so big I can’t even use my foam board back drop .. but it will be great forest one day..

oh yeah and this 5 tree forest I put together last year.

These will sit on the ground on top of pea gravel. What happens is the roots escape from the bottom , and it will help with the tree growth but also root cohesion.

 

[Shogun610]

 

[Shogun610]

Trimmed this back a couple weeks ago to get light on interior trees. Last prune of the year. It’s on the ground and some roots have started to escape .. this is what I want because I would really love to have this as a forest in a couple years and I need the roots to mesh together

 

[Shogun610]

My secret sauce of soil seems to be doing the trick.. I got roots meshed together in a matter of one growing season, roots are escaped all over. And back budding galore.

 

[Shogun610]

One more growing season before it goes into this..


but I think I need to find a principle tree unless I just grow the tallest out more

 

[Cmd5235]

I love that pot. That's a perfect match for the bark and foliage color, especially the fall bronze,

 

[Shogun610]

I love that pot. That's a perfect match for the bark and foliage color, especially the fall bronze,

Me too and made by our very own , Nao which makes it even more special

 

[bonsailevel:master]

I'm a huge fan of American hornbeams and I'm a huge fan of your forest. If it looks that good for 1 years growth you are well on your way!

 

[Dabbler]

Honestly you need to let a few of those grow in the ground, chop, grow, chop and so forth. They are all basically a bunch of saplings in a tub. You really should consider a pot at this point as it's not ready really. you need some really thick trunks mixed with thin to create a dynamic forest. If it was me I would ground grow a bunch of those to thicken them up.

 

[Shogun610]

Honestly you need to let a few of those grow in the ground, chop, grow, chop and so forth. They are all basically a bunch of saplings in a tub. You really should consider a pot at this point as it's not ready really. you need some really thick trunks mixed with thin to create a dynamic forest. If it was me I would ground grow a bunch of those to thicken them up.

I have it growing on an Anderson flat so roots escape really easy without losing the shallow roots in container , and also allowing the roots to commingle together. I picked the pot out already because I wanted an American hornbeam forest. And no I’m not cutting back and chopping as this Is a Hornbeam forest and not a Japanese maple

 

[Piedmont Bonsai]

Love the pot choice! American hornbeam is one of my favorite species. Looking forward to the development on this one.

 

[Dabbler]

I have it growing on an Anderson flat so roots escape really easy without losing the shallow roots in container , and also allowing the roots to commingle together. I picked the pot out already because I wanted an American hornbeam forest. And no I’m not cutting back and chopping as this Is a Hornbeam forest and not a Japanese maple

What I meant is some of them need thickness to create a sense age and depth - all the trunks are very thin and to similar. I didn't meant creating super fat trunk but creating a few with depth, sorry if I was unclear. Also many tree's use trunk chop technique to create taper - not just J. maples. Either way it will look nice in that pot.

 

[Shogun610]

What I meant is some of them need thickness to create a sense age and depth - all the trunks are very thin and to similar. I didn't meant creating super fat trunk but creating a few with depth, sorry if I was unclear. Also many tree's use trunk chop technique to create taper - not just J. maples. Either way it will look nice in that pot.

Yes I will be able to develop different trunk thickness in the Anderson flat