Defoliating Korean Hornbeam

Brian Van Fleet

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Brian,
Would that be an indication that there was alot more energy lost than first thought? Maybe ramifying branch structure after the leaves fall off naturally is all that can be accomplished?
Regards,
Leonard
Maybe, some trees just don’t need to be defoliated I guess. This one was well ramified, had small leaves, and probably didn’t need any more work done than fall cleanup after the leaves fell. It was a good collected import with a scarred base.
 

garywood

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I'm not a big fan total defoliating. An effective pruning technique for building branch structure in KH is early to mid summer cut shoots back to 3 buds. Cut the outer leaf completely off leaving the bud. Cut the second leaf in half and leave the 3rd leaf untouched. That gives a good bud response and doesn't slow the tree down as much.
 

Dav4

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Mine too...the year I defoliated it was the death knell.
Do you think the defoliation led to weakening and the ultimate demise of the tree? Or was something else going on. I haven't tried defoliating mine yet.
My guess is that the single defoliation didn't help, but was not the deciding a factor in my hornbeam's decline. My best guess is that a shallow pot combined with turface based soil kept the roots too moist.
 

LeonardB

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Maybe, some trees just don’t need to be defoliated I guess. This one was well ramified, had small leaves, and probably didn’t need any more work done than fall cleanup after the leaves fell. It was a good collected import with a scarred base.
Brian,
I think I will hold off on the leaves then ( to be on the safe side ). I haven't lost any leaves yet this fall and it isn't even showing any color change yet ( see photo ). Once the leaves fall off is the time I will check branch structure again and prune.
Thanks for your input.
Leonard
 

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Bonsai Nut

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Korean hornbeams are very weak for me down here. I do not completely defoliate them, though I did cut back new growth to two buds after it had hardened off. I am now giving hornbeams shadecloth protection in the summer.

And if you think Koren hornbeams are weak... hoo boy you should try Japanese hornbeam.
 

Brian Van Fleet

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Brian,
I think I will hold off on the leaves then ( to be on the safe side ). I haven't lost any leaves yet this fall and it isn't even showing any color change yet ( see photo ). Once the leaves fall off is the time I will check branch structure again and prune.
Thanks for your input.
Leonard
Good plan; defoliating them now makes no sense anyway. You’d miss the fall color that they’re famous for, and gain none of the benefits associated with mid-summer defoliation. Here, the right course of action is to take no action.
 

Ryan H

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Korean hornbeams are very weak for me down here. I do not completely defoliate them, though I did cut back new growth to two buds after it had hardened off. I am now giving hornbeams shadecloth protection in the summer.

And if you think Koren hornbeams are weak... hoo boy you should try Japanese hornbeam.
Hey Admin, you have a fairly similar climate to mine (relatively speaking) as I am in Phoenix. We are just starting to dip into the 50's and my khbs' leaves are starting to change. They are still pushing some new growth though which I found a bit odd. Some of them will be spending their first "winter" here compared to a PA winter were I bought them from. Do you defoliate anything that doesn't drop in the spring? Should I try to trim/discourage new growth at this time? The one I had last year I just left alone completely and it did pretty well but was wondering if you had anything that worked well. Not trying to reduce leaf size much really just focusing on establishing a correct season for them.
 
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