American hornbeam

[Jcmmaple]

I collected this tree in February and others, but this is the only one that survived. Lesson learned, don’t collect until early spring much easier when you know it has buds. It has a decent base and movement, the only problem is the bulge in the middle in the blue circle. I’m thinking about chopping at the yellow line and carve a little, or cut a notch out red line. Any suggestions?

 

[Cable]

Very nice.

 

[Jcmmaple]

Thanks, I was hoping another would make it because it had a real good base. But I guess that’s the chance you take, although I didn’t like killing them. There are more nice ones to try next year in my friends woods, hoping for better luck next year. This one really took off and I plan on wiring soon, now I need to learn how to reduce the leaves.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Were you sure they didn't make it, one that I collected just woke up over the last couple of weeks. I think your chop idea looks good, however you may want to wait until next spring to complete that.

 

[Waldo Street Pottery]

Nice base! I would wait until spring as well and chop to the lowest branches, you will get more out of the nice base that way and eliminate the straight section between the lowest growth and the blue circle. They don’t heal well/fast so maybe make the cut a feature with carving. Also, they can die back a bit from the chop point (or pop from the exact point of the chop...) so maybe be conservative and leave a stub to carve later. I love this native species!

 

[Shibui]

+1 for the lower chop. High chop looks like it will actually make the straight section even longer and a large cut through that bulge will probably only heal up larger anyway. Those lower shoots are ideally placed to give a more compact tree with excellent taper and strong trunk movement.
If you decide to go ahead with a lower cut I would keep the upper branches trimmed short (probably remove most of the upper shoots completely?) the summer before cutting to divert as much flow as possible into those lower branches. Having good sap flow to those branches will reduce the chance of killing the far side of the tree after the cut. I'm not particularly familiar with hornbeam. Would it be better to give this another year to get properly established before making more drastic reductions?

 

[atlarsenal]

I would wait on the chop at least until next spring maybe even spring of 2021. If it was mine I would plan on chopping lower but if you wait until 2021 it’s going to pop more buds next year and give you more options.

That’s going to be a nice tree.

 

[Jcmmaple]

I’m pretty sure they are dead but I have one I am still watering and holding out hope for, I did the scratch test and it isn’t green plus it is nothing but a stump. As far as the cut thanks for the advice, I was planning on waiting another year before doing anything but now I know to wait. Japanese maples are my favorite, but hornbeam is #2 now. My plan from now on is to stick with natives and learn as much as I can. Thanks for all your advice.

 

[Shibui]

now I need to learn how to reduce the leaves.

Do not worry about reducing leaves until this is a well established bonsai with good branching and ramification. Any attempt to reduce leaf size now will set back development.
When you have well ramified branches with lots of shoots the leaves are usually smaller without resorting to special techniques.

I would wait on the chop at least until next spring maybe even spring of 2021. If it was mine I would plan on chopping lower but if you wait until 2021 it’s going to pop more buds next year and give you more options.

This sounds like excellent advice. Letting it grow for another year will allow better root establishment and renewed reserves to boost more new growth after the second chop. Good bonsai is a long race rather than a sprint to finish.

 

[rockm]

Do not worry about reducing leaves until this is a well established bonsai with good branching and ramification. Any attempt to reduce leaf size now will set back development.
When you have well ramified branches with lots of shoots the leaves are usually smaller without resorting to special techniques.


This sounds like excellent advice. Letting it grow for another year will allow better root establishment and renewed reserves to boost more new growth after the second chop. Good bonsai is a long race rather than a sprint to finish.

All this is not only good advice, it is life or death advice. You've already lost most of what you collected by rushing the collection season. Now you could kill this one by rushing the development process. If I were you, I wouldn't make ANY specific plans for this tree for this year and probably next. The goal for the next year at least is to keep it alive. Just because it has pushed growth DOES NOT mean its out of the danger zone yet. You have to get it through the winter. That will require it to be as strong as possible. Futzing around with wiring, leaf reduction (which is the LAST development step for a bonsai), will not only slow it down, but possibly weaken it.

Don't chop, don't wire, don't leaf prune, don't prune ANYTHING. this year and possibly next. let it be. learn how to care for it--overwatering is going to be an issue for you, I think, since you're WAAAAY too attentive to it at this point.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@rockm - has given you sage advice. I would wait 2 years. Just let it be.

If you are feeling the urge to work on a tree that needs to sit and grow, go out and buy more trees. You will know when you have enough trees when you have trouble keeping up with everything you need to do for your bonsai. At this point you have the right number of trees. Then it will be easy to set one ''on the back shelf'' and forget about it for a couple years. Have fun shopping.

 

[Jcmmaple]

Sounds good I will leave it alone and do nothing for now, and not over water. Thanks guys I appreciate it, just got excited one pushed growth.

 

[Jcmmaple]

Haven’t posted in awhile, been busy with work. Here is an summer and winter update on the hornbeam. It’s doing great, I have enjoyed watching it grow. So here are some pictures from collection till now, enjoy.

 

[just.wing.it]

I have one that I collected spring '19 as well.
I think I'm gonna leave it in its container for another year of growing before I do anything.....just to be safe.

I think if that tree were mine, I'd let it recover another year too, and later on chop at the first branch amd grow out a new leader.....
That long straight taperless section leading to inverse taper, has gotta go in the future.....imho.

 

[Jcmmaple]

That was my plan, I’m not doing anything to it this year except fertilize heavy. Also I thought about trying to airlayer the part that has inverse taper, do you know if they airlayer well. Next year I’m cutting to the lowest branches anyway just thought I would ask. I thought about putting it in a box this spring and maybe shortening the root in the front and cutting a V in it, still undecided on that.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

American hornbeam, Carpinus caroliniana do air layer, though they may take time. Usually they root within 6 month, but not always. If you start it in April or May, and don't see good roots by October, open up the package, re-carve the trunk to ensure no bridging of cambium had occurred, and score just the bottom edge of the callus that did form. Then re-wrap the air layer and leave it through the winter, check again late summer the following year. Most often, the air layer will root right away, but once in a while it will take longer, two years is not unheard of.

If you are going to air layer, do not repot. Do no other bonsai work. You want active growth both above and below the air layer point. Air layers do put the "bonsai process" on hold until the air layer has been removed.

 

[just.wing.it]

American hornbeam, Carpinus caroliniana do air layer, though they may take time. Usually they root within 6 month, but not always. If you start it in April or May, and don't see good roots by October, open up the package, re-carve the trunk to ensure no bridging of cambium had occurred, and score just the bottom edge of the callus that did form. Then re-wrap the air layer and leave it through the winter, check again late summer the following year. Most often, the air layer will root right away, but once in a while it will take longer, two years is not unheard of.

If you are going to air layer, do not repot. Do no other bonsai work. You want active growth both above and below the air layer point. Air layers do put the "bonsai process" on hold until the air layer has been removed.

Leo!
Do you suggest any extra protection of the air layer left over winter?.....wrap in a blanket or something......other than wind, I dunno if that would make much of a difference....

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Nope, The callus tissue is just as hardy as the cambium under the bark. I just leave mine where I winter the tree normally. In 6b, it would be on the ground in the back yard for me.

 

[Jcmmaple]

Thanks for the info, I guess I need to decide if it’s worth it or not. I can get Hornbeam anytime I want so I may be better off just getting my branch structure going down low for the chop in 2021.

 

[Jcmmaple]

Just an update on this hornbeam, it’s been growing good so I chopped it low and going for a shohin. I am still a noob but have learned a lot watching videos and reading, but I am basically learning on my own. I plan to start going to some classes with a professional just to get a better grasp on things but for now I think things are moving in the right direction. It probably would have been a whole lot further along but I haven’t really done anything, just started this year giving it fertilizer because I didn’t know any where to start. After watching a video of Andrew Robson on deciduous care I am pumped up, deciduous is where my heart is and American Hornbeam.