European Hornbeam-Old Stumpy

[BobbyLane]

Early stages, from hedging stock, i picked up this tree in spring, chopped down from a much larger tree....no styling yet, its naturally grew into a dome shape
i know many would of air layered the hell out of this, but i think the material is pretty straight and i already have a lot of hornbeam material and its cheap and very easily attainable

2017-03-27_10-30-36 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20170323_162454 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

20170325_151147 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

this was the first stage, but wasnt happy that it didnt look great from the side where was chopped, so took it down to a powerful stump, its credible from most sides now, but will be far better after some styling over winter
2017-03-27_12-05-50 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

took a while to recover but grew strongly eventually with some TLC
IMG_5073 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_5078 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

IMG_5084 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_5087 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_5089 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr


the live vein around the hollow is already forming, this will add character in time as it fattens
IMG_5090 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

 

[BobbyLane]

i did some further branch selection recently and starting to get in some early movement and shape into the basic structure...all the tips have been wired up and out towards the light to encourage stronger, quicker growth...its beginning to look ok from a few angles but long way to go as many branches will need to be cut back for taper, some have been cut back to lower shoots already...the leader is already visible as the thickest upward growing branch on the tree and you can see the taper this will give from base to apex...

IMG_5143 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

even a stump can have a leader, its more visible here
IMG_5146 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

IMG_5149 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

i actually regret making these uro here, but the deed is done, such is the great healing capacity of hornbeam its already rolling in but this area will be improved for sure
IMG_5151 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

IMG_5168 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_5170 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

update later in season

i got a lot of inspiration from this vid

 

[Giga]

I doubt I would have gone so low as I'm not a huge fan of sumo but it still will be a great tree

 

[BobbyLane]

Hi Giga thanks, well sumo isnt really the vision i have, more of a broom with a visible leader, more like an ancient pollard. but i can see how it can look sumo from the second angle.

 

[Giga]

Then carry on

 

[BobbyLane]

After plucking away the remaining brown leaves i de wired and re wired this tree....the basic primary lines are set for the future now
will let it romp away next season to allow branch thickening, get some girth in the leader, rinse and repeat...

the live vein around the hollow is beginning to fatten nicely....
you'll note it runs right down to the base and back up the other side, this is part of the design. i love Kyonel!

IMG_5604 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_5613 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_5618 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_5658 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_5654 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

 

[klosi]

I like it. I also wouldn't go so low with the chop, but then again I have no quality bonsais.
Do you find hornbeam hardy species? I tried to collect 2 as yamadori but none survived No idea why...

 

[BobbyLane]

I find them hardy yes...but a vigorous nursery tree is a little different from a collected yamadori. As long as you get a decent rootball you should be ok...they are resilient to hard rootwork.

 

[just.wing.it]

Cool! I like it!
What tool are you using for your carving?
Dremel?
Die Grinder?
Hammer and chisel?
Lasers?

 

[BobbyLane]

Cool! I like it!
What tool are you using for your carving?
Dremel?
Die Grinder?
Hammer and chisel?
Lasers?

dremel for lighter work, makita for heavier work

 

[BobbyLane]

Btw folks the reason i went so low and maybe didnt go with this height
2017-03-27_12-05-50 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

is because the scar looked terrible and the tree didnt look great from more than one angle, nor was the nebari that great from this view

shortening the tree as can be see above with the tree in leaf, gave me more options and a tree that could be credible from different angles. i fall out of love quickly with trees that i can't rotate and enjoy from different views. for me personally, at the very least, a tree should be good from two angles.

ps going higher than the above image just gives you a boring and straight piece of wood.
anyway, just to give an idea of the thought process, thanks for opinions guys