Japanese Beech Forest

[Don Blackmond]

Looking good M5. Beech look so pleasing with no leaves. One thing that appeals to me is the very natural look of the trunk angles. The grouping does not look contrived. Plus I love the bark on the thick trunk just right of center.

 

[MACH5]

I think this could be one of my favorite forest plantings- specifically because it is such a great mix of naturalistic styling and refined training.

Another thing that sets this one so high is the difference in trunk calipers; the 'main' tree isn't disproportionally huge while the rest are twigs (I see this often and am not a fan) yet all the trees still have varying calipers. I also like that the trees all have movement in different directions than each other (again I often see forest plantings with all of the trees bean pole straight).

The only thing that would set this composition over the top is some major leave reduction.

With your virt I think making the silhouette so perfectly round detracts from the natural look that the previous owner was trying to achieve. I like the sort of 'jagged' silhouette although it's not particularly appreciated in bonsai. It may just be my newb opinion but eh I thought I'd bring it up.

I hope to make a forest with some wild blueberries on my property as well this spring. Nice small leaves and naturally fine branching. Getting antsy waiting for spring...

Thanks Joe for the comment. Much appreciated! As far as leaf reduction goes it is marginal at best with beech. You can achieve some but never to the degree of say an elm. As beech goes, the Japanese one is probably the best fagus specie for bonsai precisely due to its fine foliage. Personally it does not bother me as its leaves are reasonably small (some are quite tiny) and the image, in this case of a forest, is believable. Their copper coloring against the white bark in Autumn is fantastic! Still though, like many other deciduous trees, I think they are best appreciated in winter.

Have fun and keep us posted with your blueberry forest! One of my first bonsai was a cascade blueberry that I enjoyed greatly!

 

[MACH5]

One thing to keep in mind is time. It's almost 2 years til the next National Exhibition. In preparing a bonsai for a show, that's not a lot of time. Go for it by all means, but have other options in the mix.

Yes I agree Fred! I will try and have other options whatever those may be.

 

[MACH5]

Looking good M5. Beech look so pleasing with no leaves. One thing that appeals to me is the very natural look of the trunk angles. The grouping does not look contrived. Plus I love the bark on the thick trunk just right of center.

Thanks Don! Again a lot of credit goes to whomever set this one up initially. It's my job now to try and bring it home! Yes I also was wondering about that tree! I love what the bark is doing since it brings textural variety to the grouping. But... do you know why this is?? It almost looks like a birch!

 

[JoeR]

Thanks Joe for the comment. Much appreciated! As far as leaf reduction goes it is marginal at best with beech. You can achieve some but never to the degree of say an elm. As beech goes, the Japanese one is probably the best fagus specie for bonsai precisely due to its fine foliage. Personally it does not bother me as its leaves are reasonably small (some are quite tiny) and the image, in this case of a forest, is believable. Their copper coloring against the white bark in Autumn is fantastic! Still though, like many other deciduous trees, I think they are best appreciated in winter.

Have fun and keep us posted with your blueberry forest! One of my first bonsai was a cascade blueberry that I enjoyed greatly!

Never worked with the species so I hadn't know about leaf size. Still looks great but you can never have too small of leaves.

Learn something new everyday.

 

[sorce]

The flow of the low right branches with the movement of the mound to the right of the slab makes this whole thing just dandy!

Gotta love a really great forest!
Gotta love this one!

Sorce

 

[MACH5]

Thanks Sorce! For me the key branches here are the two lower ones at each end of the forest. I grew and wired these in place as if they were two open arms embracing the forest within. I think these branches help set the tone for the entire composition.

 

[MACH5]

I took a couple of pics tonight as I was bringing all my maples in. The weather forecast is predicting 28F tonight. It is waiting for a repotting which will happen in a week or two. I plan to add several dwarf azaleas alongside the bottom to complement it and also I'd like to lower it a bit on the slab.

Yes, sorry I am aware that photos on this thread have been deleted. I am trying to get this fixed.

 

[sorce]

Looks good and creepy in the dark!

Sorce

 

[JudyB]

That's a beautiful photo.

 

[Maros]

Nice composition, I like that. I can imagine hill can be lower, but I believe you are going to sort it out during repotting in future.

 

[Vin]

..and let's see that pine to the left and the juni on the right while you're at it.

 

[Giga]

Really nice! Beech is such a unique tree species-I just got my first one this year but it's no where near the awesomeness that is your forest.

 

[MACH5]

Nice composition, I like that. I can imagine hill can be lower, but I believe you are going to sort it out during repotting in future.

Thanks Maros. Funny you posted here. I was just checking your blog a few days ago for the first time. Very nice work and trees! Keep it up!!


Did you mean you can or can't see the forest lower on the slab? If I end up lowering it, it will probably be slight (1/2"). It is perhaps planted a bit too high for my taste but as you mentioned I will have to sort it out at the time of reporting.

 

[MACH5]

..and let's see that pine to the left and the juni on the right while you're at it.

Vin the juni is an RMJ and I have a thread on it. Here is the link for it: http://www.bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/rocky-mt-juniper-first-styling.5562/


The "pine" is actually a large 200 year old collected Colorado blue spruce. Once I get to it, I will create a thread.

 

[GrimLore]

Nice one My eyes don't see the mound as to high - I see the slab as to small. Stretched out a bit further with a more gradual slope would be very pleasing "to me".

Grimmy

 

[erb.75]

dangit, i love this one too

 

[erb.75]

i need to road trip out to NJ sometime i think...lol

 

[Maros]

Thanks Maros. Funny you posted here. I was just checking your blog a few days ago for the first time. Very nice work and trees! Keep it up!!


Did you mean you can or can't see the forest lower on the slab? If I end up lowering it, it will probably be slight (1/2"). It is perhaps planted a bit too high for my taste but as you mentioned I will have to sort it out at the time of reporting.

M5, sorry for not being clear on hill size. I have feeling hill is optically heavy compared to size of the crown of the trees. You can help it by enlarging slab like Grimmy is suggesting, I agree it can work to some extent. Half inch smaller hill could be sufficient, but I see only picture. Obviously in reality it could look differently.
I do not have experience with this particular species but looking on web it can be plated in relatively small amounts of soil. As I wrote earlier, I understand it is in your possession shortly so you cant rush it too much.
Thanks for viewing my blog, a appreciate your feedback.

 

[MACH5]

M5, sorry for not being clear on hill size. I have feeling hill is optically heavy compared to size of the crown of the trees. You can help it by enlarging slab like Grimmy is suggesting, I agree it can work to some extent. Half inch smaller hill could be sufficient, but I see only picture. Obviously in reality it could look differently.
I do not have experience with this particular species but looking on web it can be plated in relatively small amounts of soil. As I wrote earlier, I understand it is in your possession shortly so you cant rush it too much.
Thanks for viewing my blog, a appreciate your feedback.

Thanks again Maros. In person I think the slab is well proportioned with the trees. I do think that the soil is mounded just a bit too high in places. Right now it has a black plastic netting that was applied by the former owner to hold the soil in place. It may be that this is adding additional volume to the soil mass and could look very different once removed. Most likely next weekend it will be time to repot. Japanese beech needs to be approached with care as far as my understanding goes. For example, when cut back, you should always leave at least one bud otherwise it will likely kill the branch. Also they are slow healing scars. Beautiful trees they are and unfortunately very hard to find older specimens in the US.