Beech party

[MiguelMC]

Hey everyone!
hopefully everyone had a great weekend.
Yesterday Like I do every other saturday I went to a nursery/park near my workplace and to my surprise it had a bunch of baby beech for sale since each one was 1€ I decided to buy a few and give a go at creating a saikei.

I did a bit of root pruning since most of them had a fairly deep tap root and for now I was thinking about just let them grow for the rest of the year and maybe start pruning to create a better canopy line and ramification next year.

This is the first Time I tried to do such thing (being fairly new to bonsai in general I'm always doing something for the first time) and I was wondering what suggestions you'd have to improve it or moving it forward.

 

[bonsaidave]

I don't know anything about beech, but when my elms are that size I wire the trunks to get some bends in them. You should consider wiring them this year before they harden up too much.

 

[MiguelMC]

I don't know anything about beech, but when my elms are that size I wire the trunks to get some bends in them. You should consider wiring them this year before they harden up too much.

well tbh I don't think bending the trunks would really benefit the style of this, I think its a matter of personal taste but I've always enjoyed the forest plantings with straight trunks or naturally bend ones and since I think next year or so I migh end reducing the height any movement gained from the wire will be negated, but like i said a its a matter of personal taste and since i'm still a newbie I might quite off in my reasoning xD

 

[Mike Hennigan]

“Beech party” ? love the thread title. I think you need to rethink how you’re using the stones in this planting. They are HUGE in proportion to the trees, but more importantly they are all huge. I think you could definitely use one stone of this size, and then a number of smaller stones to compliment it. Right now they are overwhelming the trees. One larger stone would let us focus on the magnificence of this huge boulder. But when they are all that size it just doesn’t add perspective.

The other thing to keep in mind is that when stones are used in Saikei, the stone is usually partially buried in the soil. Up to half of the stone would typically be buried under the soil to give the look of a stable boulder in nature. Right now all the stones look like they’re sitting right on the surface and appear incredible unstable.

I grew up not too far from the Adirondack mountains and scattered around the forests of the adirondacks are giant boulders called “glacial erratics”. I do think the image of one very large stone in the planting could be very dramatic and cool! The use of smaller stones will make the largest stone look ever bigger. Here is an image of some “glacial erratics” I pulled from the web, notice that they all appear more “stable” in relation to the ground than your stones do. But they are incredibly large and relation to the trees which adds a lot of interest. Just don’t overload the planting with too many large stones or they lose their interest and become an eyesore.

 

[MiguelMC]

“Beech party” ? love the thread title. I think you need to rethink how you’re using the stones in this planting. They are HUGE in proportion to the trees, but more importantly they are all huge. I think you could definitely use one stone of this size, and then a number of smaller stones to compliment it. Right now they are overwhelming the trees. One larger stone would let us focus on the magnificence of this huge boulder. But when they are all that size it just doesn’t add perspective.

The other thing to keep in mind is that when stones are used in Saikei, the stone is usually partially buried in the soil. Up to half of the stone would typically be buried under the soil to give the look of a stable boulder in nature. Right now all the stones look like they’re sitting right on the surface and appear incredible unstable.

I grew up not too far from the Adirondack mountains and scattered around the forests of the adirondacks are giant boulders called “glacial erratics”. I do think the image of one very large stone in the planting could be very dramatic and cool! The use of smaller stones will make the largest stone look ever bigger. Here is an image of some “glacial erratics” I pulled from the web, notice that they all appear more “stable” in relation to the ground than your stones do. But they are incredibly large and relation to the trees which adds a lot of interest. Just don’t overload the planting with too many large stones or they lose their interest and become an eyesore.
View attachment 233834View attachment 233835View attachment 233836
View attachment 233837
View attachment 233834View attachment 233835View attachment 233836View attachment 233837

Ive put the stones there just to help the trees to sit straight since i wasnt able to secure them to the tray with wire, they will come off as soon as the tree can stay upright

 

[Mike Hennigan]

Ive put the stones there just to help the trees to sit straight since i wasnt able to secure them to the tray with wire, they will come off as soon as the tree can stay upright

Oh! Well that seems like overkill ?. I think it would be very interesting to keep one as part of he planting though. You said you were try to do Saikei, which typically have stones involved in the planting. Without stones it’s just a forest style.

 

[Leprous Garden]

I agree that the stones could be very cool, especially with beeches and their tentacle-roots.