Beech hedge, 60+ years old

Shogun610

Masterpiece
Messages
3,618
Reaction score
6,237
Location
Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania
USDA Zone
6B
Apologies for the delay if anyone's been waiting to see these, Bnut wasn't allowing me to upload files.

May look like an odd chop location for this one but there's a childhood favourite of mine this will be taking inspiration from (provided it survives my brutalization)
View attachment 428690
This one will be going to my father, not a bonsai man but loved the look of itView attachment 428691
And these 4 have gone straight back into the ground. Long roots with feeders at the ends, half reduced for now and other half will be in a a few years View attachment 428692
Left most has some fantastic movement. Unfortunately it was also brutalised by the digger: View attachment 428695
Split up from the base, crack is a good 6-8" long and the entire width of the trunkView attachment 428696

Now if only this fuckin rain will stop so I can get the cut paste on
Nice work M8 , awesome use of your surroundings
 

FinnLakk

Yamadori
Messages
94
Reaction score
123
Location
North East Scotland
USDA Zone
8Ab
Entirely forgot about this thread, will get some updates up over the weekend of what's left.
 

BobbyLane

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,058
Reaction score
17,659
Location
London, England
you got some big lumps there! this one has massive potential if you can get it healthy first then try layering at either of the two points
IMG_20220317_185004.jpg
 
Last edited:

FinnLakk

Yamadori
Messages
94
Reaction score
123
Location
North East Scotland
USDA Zone
8Ab
I've had one hell of a year and it's not been a great one for my trees, especially not these beech.

I've not had nearly enough time to properly look after any of my trees let alone freshly collected ones. I have learned a lot about the layout of my new property and just how unprotected the majority of it is from the wind and how damaging that can be, nothing has been fertilized as much as it should have been which i'm sure is a large factor in how badly these trees have fared.

Unfortunately there are only two left, and I am not convinced they are going to make it through the winter.

IMG_20220906_171209.jpg
The long branches were left as a sap flow, had lovely green leaves on it for most of the year but in the past month or so the heat and the wind has been savage and all leaves left for sap flow have crisped up and as you can maybe tell by the colour of them, seemed to have died right back to the main trunk, very small amount of green left on it and no sign of next seasons buds being formed, and no lignification.

IMG_20220906_171206.jpg
This one has done which I was surprised about as it was one of two that was left with entirely no sap flow. I don't believe that is a "healthy" amount of leaves for a collected beech to have this late in the season, no signs of lignification yet however there are signs of next seasons buds forming. I am unsure when in the season beech switch to working on vascular growth but there is not much sign of root growth in the basket, if it was not tied to the side of the garage it would most certainly cowp over.

For reference all of the beech trees and hedges in the local area have already lignified this years growth and next seasons bud are firmly in place.

It is a disappointing result that is for sure but as mentioned initially this hedgerow was destined for a bonfire as my brother would rather have a driveway than a hedgerow for some reason. I did my best but life did sure fuckin throw me some curveballs this year. It saddens me that I haven't managed to keep them going as I have since found out that my grandfather first planted these as young saplings in 1955.

What do we think nutters? Do I have any hope to get these through the winter?
 

leatherback

The Treedeemer
Messages
13,940
Reaction score
26,884
Location
Northern Germany
USDA Zone
7
Absolutely a chance. BUUUT, for next time, make sure you use a somewhat larger pot. This is really too small to provide enough water in the pot. These pond baskets dry out way to quick. Now, for this winter, I would avoid letting it get deep frost.
 

BobbyLane

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,058
Reaction score
17,659
Location
London, England
Its definitely not a fert issue. as with many of these collection threads, hardly anyone ever shows how much roots the trees were lifted with, so hard to put a finger on exactly, it can be a combo of things. likely not enough roots and drying out very quickly in the air baskets. air baskets are a bad choice if youre not gonna be around to keep them from drying out. I lost a privet once in an air basket, never used them again.
 

FinnLakk

Yamadori
Messages
94
Reaction score
123
Location
North East Scotland
USDA Zone
8Ab
Its definitely not a fert issue. as with many of these collection threads, hardly anyone ever shows how much roots the trees were lifted with, so hard to put a finger on exactly, it can be a combo of things. likely not enough roots and drying out very quickly in the air baskets. air baskets are a bad choice if youre not gonna be around to keep them from drying out. I lost a privet once in an air basket, never used them again.
There was very little root, I can't recall exactly with these two that are left but i know out of the 18 i dug these two had less feeder roots than most of them. My watering is the one thing I have been able to keep on top of this year, they did get a feed a month after collect and maybe somewhere in June.

I get on quite well with the pond baskets as we do get a lot of rain here, I've lost more trees to "overwatering" just due to the amount of rain. however if I had more time to prep before collecting these I would have gone with a larger container.

Touch wood everythings a lot more settled in my life again now and I am currently studying horticulture which i'm hoping will also give me a better understanding of everything I am doing. Next year will be a better year for all of my trees, and these two aswell fingers crossed
 

leatherback

The Treedeemer
Messages
13,940
Reaction score
26,884
Location
Northern Germany
USDA Zone
7
Touch wood everythings a lot more settled in my life again now and I am currently studying horticulture which i'm hoping will also give me a better understanding of everything I am doing. Next year will be a better year for all of my trees, and these two aswell fingers crossed
I am learning more and more every day. And this type of media is unlike regular communication. It is about grabbing attention in the first 10-30 seconds, evoking emotion. And building an audience that will watch whatever content you push out. And as soon as you have something (Like my maple cuttings video) that is just outside the core of your audience and goes viral, you need a looong time to get YT to understand which part of the viewers they should serve your video to. Really odd way of doing videos!
 

BobbyLane

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,058
Reaction score
17,659
Location
London, England
I am learning more and more every day. And this type of media is unlike regular communication. It is about grabbing attention in the first 10-30 seconds, evoking emotion. And building an audience that will watch whatever content you push out. And as soon as you have something (Like my maple cuttings video) that is just outside the core of your audience and goes viral, you need a looong time to get YT to understand which part of the viewers they should serve your video to. Really odd way of doing videos!
I was like hold on a min, whut😂
Guessing this was meant for your YT thread mate!;)
 

Potawatomi13

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,168
Reaction score
4,403
Location
Eugene, OR
USDA Zone
8
I find it very hard to find any information when it comes to collecting material. It must have been related to the general transplanting of younger trees.

Going to attempt this throughout next week as i can do most of it sitting on my ass and shouldn't cause my knee too much grief. Any recommendations on tools? I have a fair amount of general gardening stuff, and a root slayer spade on order.
Some nice starter trees here however seriously doubt these 60 years old. Tools needed: two sturdy FRIENDS, Sharp shovel, Two very sharp pruning saws for roots and upper trees, plastic garbage bags, non alcoholic hydration for trees and humans Would highly recommend friends doing ALL back work or you may be handicapped/paralyzed for life🧐.
 

FinnLakk

Yamadori
Messages
94
Reaction score
123
Location
North East Scotland
USDA Zone
8Ab
Some nice starter trees here however seriously doubt these 60 years old. Tools needed: two sturdy FRIENDS, Sharp shovel, Two very sharp pruning saws for roots and upper trees, plastic garbage bags, non alcoholic hydration for trees and humans Would highly recommend friends doing ALL back work or you may be handicapped/paralyzed for life🧐.
Definitely a lot of things I would do differently given the opportunity to do them again, but hey, that's what lifes about you live and you learn.

As mentioned in my most recent post I have since found out that my grandfather planted this hedgerow when they first moved into that property in 1955, so they are actually closer to 70 now than 60.
 
Top Bottom