leatherback
The Treedeemer
Keep in mind.. Sun-sensitive bark!
EUROPEAN HORNBEAM
- Thread starter MACH5
- Start date
MACH5
Imperial Masterpiece
Good point Jelle. @Tidal Bonsai remember the dead spots I showed you on my tree and I said those were from sunburn? Care must be taken when sudden exposure of the bark to direct sunlight happens as when trees get defoliated. I am going to guess that on mine it happened when they chopped the tree back in the growing field to keep it down in size.
MACH5
Imperial Masterpiece
If it's rotated it gets a little better but not by much. That's issue 1. Issue 2 again, it's the massive (more than double the thickness of the left one) of the trunk farthest away from us. Problematic as it doesn't help establish a proper sense of perspective. Tough to tell in the photo. I feel that different parts of the tree are not quite jelling together from this front.
PiñonJ
Omono
Front #2 has a far stronger base. Does the opposite side have a possible front, or can this side be rotated enough to mitigate the effect of the inverse taper on the left trunk?
Edit: I think your last post answers my second question.
john blanch
Yamadori
Why not put it into a round pot and develop the two best sides to be the main front views for 10 years or so?
I think the best base should be taken advantage of, the tree's crown can be slowly developed, chopped and changed over the years to suit.
I think the best base should be taken advantage of, the tree's crown can be slowly developed, chopped and changed over the years to suit.
hemi71cuda
Sapling
So what are you thinking? 2’x3 oval? I’d take a stab at it.It's a biggie Chris. And HEAVY as hell! I do not want to know how much it will be to order a custom pot for it. Won't worry about it for now. For a sense of scale/size, the tub it's in is exactly 3 feet wide! I think I need to steal Ryan's dingo!
MACH5
Imperial Masterpiece
Shogun610
Masterpiece
Who is this Stickroot you speak of , and do they still grow / sell Hornbeams… asking for a Hornbeam head.Here is a Europen hornbeam (carpinus betulus) I purchased from Adam (stickroot). The material offered for sale has outstanding potential with a powerful nine inch trunk and wonderful flaring nebari. The tree was shipped very nicely packed inside a wooden crate. Here is the photo where I circled the tree I wanted in red for Adam. In the field the tree did not look that big!
Due to a shipping mishap, instead of the three or four day delivery timeframe, it took a total of eleven days to arrive. When it finally did, I was very surprised it was not only alive, but leaves were green and perky save a few. It spent eleven days in a completely enclosed crate, with no water, no air and most likely from one hot warehouse to the next.
When the tree finally made it home, the crate was lowered with the help of a hydraulic lift gate onto the driveway weighing close to 600 lbs!! I immediately opened the top expecting a dead tree inside. Much to my surprise and delight the tree was alive!! Below are pics of when it first arrived at my house last year June 23rd.
Here is the tree a few weeks later inside a newly built raised bed waiting to be filled up with soil. It will spend the entire winter in there.
Mid winter under a blanket of snow. The cold, no matter how bitter never seemed to bother this monster. The dead leaves tend to hang on, much like beech, until spring.
As spring approached and buds started to swell, it was time to dig it out and get it into a wooden box. I had spent much time during the winter thinking about this moment. I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I enlisted the help of a good friend in order to be able to get the job done.
Here is the hornbeam as it was dug out of the raised bed waiting to go into the wooden box seen behind. The rootball measured three feet in diameter and about sixteen inches deep.
Let the repot begin! The huge rootball was dealt with a combination of a small pick and an electric hand saw. We hacked away at the heavy clay soil by taking whole chunks at a time off of it. A few very large roots were also sawed across. I decided not to bare root it this time and instead loosened whatever was left of the original soil. Next time I plan on washing all the soil off.
Finally we were able to reduce the rootball quite a bit. We had to keep cutting back at different points to be able to fit it into the box.
Me driving a metal stake through the remaining rootball in order to aerate the soil and improve percolation.
The tree was now ready to be lifted and placed into the growing box. Almost four bags of straight pumice were used.
Super cool guy, one of the only 2 B-Nuts that I have met. He is also a potter and I am very glad to have a pot he made. Unfortunately, he doesn't post here anymore.
