Korean Hornbeam Tourniquet

[Beng]

I repotted a field grown Korean hornbeam today. It has a nice nebari on one side of the tree [about 5 inches deep on a straight root into the rootball...] The other side has a nice nebari at the surface of the soil. I scraped a little of the bark in a few spots further up the trunk on the below soil level root/nebari and applied rooting gel. But, I think a tourniquet using wire around the awkward root/trunk side just below the soil on that side may be a better option. Have any of you ever used the tourniquet method on Korean hornbeam? I thought about lowering the soil line to the lower nebari as that side of the trink is larger [about 4 inches] however since the other side of the tree has good nebari at soil level this would lead to severe reverse taper.

Thanks
Ben

 

[JudyB]

Do you have any other options, such as leaning the tree to utilize both sets of good roots? It's hard to see what you are talking about without pics... But if the base is larger lower, I might start there, if you can't lean it. Of course if you've already wounded the upper part, you might just want to wait and see what you get, as those might be permanent scars.

 

[Beng]

Can't post a pic of it as it's already repotted the nebari on the trouble side is now several inches deep in the anderson flat. the other sides is at the surface. I just scribbled a picture of it for you though.
View attachment 31575
I've exaggerated it slightly for the drawing, tilting it wouldn't work in this case they're too far apart, about 2-3 inches between the 2 nebari's. As you can see most of the roots are on the deeper side. But raising the tree would leave me with bad reverse taper and a long straight unbendable trunk. I was thinking about adding a Tourniquet on the top of the long right root to match the left side closer. But i'd hate to loose the tree, the upper taper and curves are are perfect.

The left side doesn't have enough roots to support the upper portion of the tree. It was field grown for years so it will be very vigorous this spring. The roots on the left side will grow a lot this year in the anderson flat but I think "vigor wise" it is stronger now as it was ground grown for years. This may be a better time to apply the technique as it was cut back significantly when collected?

 

[Beng]

I guess a root graft on all sides of the long root would be another option.

 

[JudyB]

I think I would be cautious, as they have a rep for not liking root disturbance. If you have some whips that you could approach graft, it would put them in the right places, but will be a long process before you can rid yourself of the lower roots I would think.
I would at least consider using the lower roots, and carving the reverse taper, but without seeing it for real, it may not be an option at all...

 

[Beng]

It's just a long straight trunk if I use the bottom roots, that's the main reason for wanting to use the top nebari. I'll leave it alone and give it a year to recover. Maybe order some whips for next year and graft them then. If i'm lucky the scrapes I put on the large root will turn into some good new roots and I can cut off the bottom section in a few years. Wish I had a second hornbeam I didn't like that much to experiment with a Toruniquet on...