Birch from seed

[Giga]

This is a river birch that just popped up in my yard when I first bought my house and though people say that it doesn't do well as bonsai, I can't help myself and gave it a go. I wired it fully early spring and kept and eye on it to make sure nothing was biting in. It grew wonderfully and It was mostly allowed to grow. From what I read you only want to cut when it's growing and from what I can tell this is true.

I tried giving it a trim in late summer and it didn't' like it at all. It defoliated itself and I thought it died but it grew a fresh set of leaves-very small too.



It grew a lot thats why it look all fine twiggy. But come spring again it'll get wired and move tward you not away, and cut back. So far I don't see why there are not more birch- but then again it's not a cedar they'll live 1000 years lol


Base- That crack is nothing to worry about it's just a cut in the tree and is healing over. If you look at the top picture I'm using a sucker that grew on the right of the tree. I then wired it under the soil to grow roots. I saw this on a Han's blog so I'd figure I'd give it a try.

 

[music~maker]

You don't see more birch because they're short-lived and kind of a pain in the ass to work with. They will brutally kill off branches if you prune them incorrectly, or if they just don't like you. I personally like them, and will probably always keep one around, but it takes a long time to develop them.

They do have some positives - the leaves reduce, the bark looks really cool, they can produce nice tight internodes, and they do back-bud, but generally only on strongly growing branches.

I find when pruning, the best way to ensure success is to cut back to a strongly growing branch that is likely to survive after the pruning. Do not prune the branch you left behind at all until it's taken over as the new leader for that branch and is growing strongly again.

They are extremely apically dominant, so if you ever want any chance at growing lower branches, you'll probably need to chop back to the first branch and let it grow back out from there. If you then let it grow out, but keep the strongest growth pruned back each year, you'll probably get some lower branches than what you have. You may need to let it get strong again over a couple seasons, and then repeat the process. But left to it's own devices, you may never get any lower branches than what you have, which may or may not work for whatever design you have in mind.

They're definitely an interesting species to play around with.

Good luck!

 

[sorce]

Damn Gigs!

People are leaving your threads as ghost as mine!

F that!

I'm with you on this Birch too!

Sorce

 

[jeanluc83]

It looks like a fun project. Good looking bark starting to form.

I have a birch stump that I collected in the spring. I got lots of growth and very little dieback. I haven't done anything but water and fertilize. I may start working on it in the spring.

 

[Giga]

Thanks! For the price I couldn't refuse what nature gave me and it'll be a kind changed that something can be made from less than ideal material. Maybe I'm a rebel becuSe I have 4 red maples too lol

 

[Giga]

The Ramification is going well on this one

 

[Giga]

Defoliated and wire out

 

[ConorDash]

I really like this tree.
It's not too tall right?

 

[just.wing.it]

That's just plain cool dude!
Looking great!
Defoliation seems kinda sketchy with a birch...have you done that before?

 

[Giga]

I really like this tree.
It's not too tall right?

About 22" tall

That's just plain cool dude!
Looking great!
Defoliation seems kinda sketchy with a birch...have you done that before?

Normally I don't defoliate trees at all, but I do this tree for two reasons.

One its growing too strong, this tree is going to be feminine and it's putting out crazy extentions so I'm slowing it down as well as getting ramification up.

Two is a birch will some times defoliate itself after pruning it back hard. This way it saves the tree time from dropping all it leaves then putting out new growth. About 4.5 years in and thats what this tree has told me and I've adapted to its growing style. Very important to listen to each tree

 

[ConorDash]

About 22" tall




Normally I don't defoliate trees at all, but I do this tree for two reasons.

One its growing too strong, this tree is going to be feminine and it's putting out crazy extentions so I'm slowing it down as well as getting ramification up.

Two is a birch will some times defoliate itself after pruning it back hard. This way it saves the tree time from dropping all it leaves then putting out new growth. About 4.5 years in and thats what this tree has told me and I've adapted to its growing style. Very important to listen to each tree

I meant too tall for bonsai proportions. Matching its trunk size to its height.

 

[Giga]

I meant too tall for bonsai proportions. Matching its trunk size to its height.

Your thinking to much in the box

 

[ConorDash]

Your thinking to much in the box

You might be right. I have issues looking at the bigger picture.

 

[Giga]

I mean this tree is so strong, 4 days after defoliate its pushing new growth

 

[Giga]

Some winter images

 

[defra]

Real nice!
Got a birch seedling that popped up in front of the house in the end of the street there are three weeping kind birches guess its one of those but not the kind with the white bark tough
gonna dig it up in spring to spread the roots and cut off the tap root and put it back and let it do its thing for a couple of years thnx for sharing this!

 

[Giga]

Real nice!
Got a birch seedling that popped up in front of the house in the end of the street there are three weeping kind birches guess its one of those but not the kind with the white bark tough
gonna dig it up in spring to spread the roots and cut off the tap root and put it back and let it do its thing for a couple of years thnx for sharing this!

no problem, its a very fast growing species and so far I'm really liking it - might even pot it up this year. Depends on how the roots looks.

 

[Aaronkslater]

great ramification, can't wait to see that mature river birch bark start creeping up from the base.

 

[Giga]

great ramification, can't wait to see that mature river birch bark start creeping up from the base.

Thanks! it's slowly creeping up from the base. This is where I see this going in 2-3 years

 

[theta]

Man, I like it. Who cares if it's "not good for bonsai". looks like fun to work on and you're enjoying it.