Help needed with Birch seedlings

August44

Omono
Messages
1,899
Reaction score
1,366
Location
NE Oregon
USDA Zone
5-6
I received these Betula lenta, sweet birch (also known as black birch, cherry birch, mahogany birch, or spice birch) seedings yesterday. They are from 14-36" long. I was going to put some of them in a shallower oval for a forest planting, but the roots are 4-7" long with those tape roots. They do have good feeder roots in addition to the tap roots. Can I root prune these a little, a lot or not at all to get them into shallower pots. They are dormant not and are being kept between 35-43 degrees in a controlled environment so roots will not freeze. I also have some JM seedlings that I wanted to do the same with. They are smaller. Same question on root pruning them before planting please. Thanks for help. Peter
 

Attachments

  • birch 6.JPG
    birch 6.JPG
    124.3 KB · Views: 22
  • birch 11.JPG
    birch 11.JPG
    108.7 KB · Views: 23
  • birch 12.JPG
    birch 12.JPG
    124.1 KB · Views: 16
  • birch 14.JPG
    birch 14.JPG
    134.5 KB · Views: 14
  • birch13.JPG
    birch13.JPG
    97.6 KB · Views: 40
Last edited:

August44

Omono
Messages
1,899
Reaction score
1,366
Location
NE Oregon
USDA Zone
5-6
Ok....got the roots pruned and the forest planted in a oval, HD plastic pot, 13" X 10" X 2" pot. There are 7 trees in the pot, two have a small shoot/trunk also. When planted they were 25" tall and I knocked them down accordingly to 17" for the tallest one with biggest trunk. They are being kept dormant in a temp controlled room. Sorry about poor quality pictures. I could not take them outside as it was 9 degrees F. Many thanks for help and advice from Atlarsenal and Leo. Peter
 

Attachments

  • Betula lenta post chop 2.jpg
    Betula lenta post chop 2.jpg
    134.3 KB · Views: 42
  • Betula lenta pre chop.jpg
    Betula lenta pre chop.jpg
    224.2 KB · Views: 38

Leo in N E Illinois

The Professor
Messages
11,339
Reaction score
23,280
Location
on the IL-WI border, a mile from ''da Lake''
USDA Zone
5b
Looking good. Great for a first attempt. I would just leave the arrangement for at least 2 years just as it is.

Tips
The 2 little ones in back, right spot for them, they should slant slightly toward the back even more, to extend the sense of depth.

The little one right next to or sprouting from the front left birch, is great, it slants to the left, out toward the edge of the pot, gives some sense of movement - good.

You have the thinnest trunks in back. This is good.
So you have done most of the ''checklist'' correct. Visually it looks good.

I know you probably have not adjusted heights much, these are very young whips, and need a few years of growing.

This year mostly just grow it out. About a week or two before the summer solstice (a good marker for those outside the USA) or sometime around Father's Day (for in the USA), I would do my first pruning to shape the trees, get rid of totally out of place branches, If any branches have overly long internodes, cut them back to the last short internode. Think of the placement of branches as if this were one big tree, at least in terms of fitting branches together. If branches jam up against each other, keep one, eliminate the other.

Allow the thickest trunk tree to have more branches and leaves than any of the others. Keep the thinnest trunks sparse, with few leaves. This will speed the growth of the thickest one, and slow the thickening of the thinnest one. In time, it will exaggerate the differences in trunk diameters.

Consider to continue to pick up more seedlings of the same type of birch, maybe every other year. For example I have seedlings of Dawn redwood mixed into a forest that are about 8 years, 5 years, 4 years and 2 years. This way trunk diameters are more varied. When you repot, 2 or more years down the road, you can pick and choose between the seedlings of different ages to switch in and or out of your forest.

So all in all, a very good start. Please post an update around the end of June, and at the end of the year.
 

penumbra

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
9,421
Reaction score
16,032
Location
Front Royal, VA
USDA Zone
6
Hey Peter, loved the idea so much I just bought a dozen seedlings on Etsy.
 

CWTurner

Omono
Messages
1,266
Reaction score
1,732
Location
Philadelphia PA
USDA Zone
7a
I have some sweet birch myself. Fast growers, and when cut, they emit a wintergreen-like smell. Can't beat that.
CW
 

August44

Omono
Messages
1,899
Reaction score
1,366
Location
NE Oregon
USDA Zone
5-6
My forest is doing well and is growing fast. Not sure it is the right tree to work with though. I would probably be better off spending my time and energy on a proven species that develops easier. I think someone told me that a long time ago.
 

penumbra

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
9,421
Reaction score
16,032
Location
Front Royal, VA
USDA Zone
6
My forest is doing well and is growing fast. Not sure it is the right tree to work with though. I would probably be better off spending my time and energy on a proven species that develops easier. I think someone told me that a long time ago.
No sense in looking for easy. You picked these trees for a reason. Mine will be here in a few days and I am excited about it.
 

August44

Omono
Messages
1,899
Reaction score
1,366
Location
NE Oregon
USDA Zone
5-6
"Easier" was the wrong word, what I meant was will work and be better suited for bonsai. I will surely keep mine and see what happens.
 

penumbra

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
9,421
Reaction score
16,032
Location
Front Royal, VA
USDA Zone
6
I know you really didn'y mean easier Peter. I am just playing devil's advocate. I know there are a lot of reasons that birch of any kind are not ideal for bonsai. But considering a forest planting allows for greater leniency in plant selection IMHO.
 
Top Bottom