MULTI-TRUNK JAPANESE BEECH

[coh]

I’m warning you... Bill V will dump a cup of his McDonald’s iced tea on your head if you don’t come!

Bill wouldn't waste a good iced tea like that! But beware if there's a bottle of superthrive nearby...

 

[Adair M]

Bill wouldn't waste a good iced tea like that! But beware if there's a bottle of superthrive nearby...

Ah ha!!! So THAT’S how Sergio keeps his hair so tidy! I expect a full article on that in the next issue of International Bonsai!

 

[MACH5]

Just wanted to share a sketch of what I am thinking for future direction on this bonsai.

 

[barrosinc]

LOL oh come on guys, I have them just like everyone else.

 

[leatherback]

LOL oh come on guys, I have them just like everyone else.

I will leave that up to the random visitor to your garden to decide.

 

[Lars Grimm]

The air layer being separated.

View attachment 239755

View attachment 239756




The air layer potted. The goal now is to let it grow and build up its vigor and encourage strong back budding. Next year I will focus on the roots in more detail.

View attachment 239757

I love the subtle elegance of this approach. I'm curious, did you tease the roots out at all when you repotted or are you just going to wait a year or two until it gets more vigorous?

 

[Nybonsai12]

Very cool Serg and awesome that they layer was successful. I remember standing with you at MABS that day talking to Julian about this tree. I recall you saying to me "this tree would have to be layered" as you were thinking about the purchase.

Impressive how the vision was instantaneous and a few years later it is on it's way to coming to fruition. Looking forward to updates.

 

[MACH5]

I love the subtle elegance of this approach. I'm curious, did you tease the roots out at all when you repotted or are you just going to wait a year or two until it gets more vigorous?

Yes I think it’s best to wait. The new root ball was extremely dense! I did not think it was the right time to mess with it. I will wait a year or two and then go from there.

 

[MACH5]

Very cool Serg and awesome that they layer was successful. I remember standing with you at MABS that day talking to Julian about this tree. I recall you saying to me "this tree would have to be layered" as you were thinking about the purchase.

Impressive how the vision was instantaneous and a few years later it is on it's way to coming to fruition. Looking forward to updates.

Yes, that’s right you were with me. I really debated because of the difficulty of air layering beech specially bigger trees like this one. Julian was kind enough to offer it to me for an unbeatable price. He txt me the other day to ask about my air layering process as I think he will try it with his own trees and see. If successful, is always a great way to improve a tree dramatically on any species.

By no means I am claiming victory just yet. I have to see how everything develops including the roots. I am careful managing my excitement and expectations. ? But at the moment it has leafed out well. I will post a pic soon.

 

[MACH5]

Air layer doing very well.






Tiny buds now starting to appear everywhere. It will now be a process of chasing back growth closer to the trunks.






Leaves are quite large at this point. In time they will be reduced at least in half.

 

[Giga]

hows this one doing? I love beech

 

[MACH5]

hows this one doing? I love beech

Gigs, I will post soon. It's almost ready for a cut back. Leaves are quite big but also a good sign.

 

[Giga]

Gigs, I will post soon. It's almost ready for a cut back. Leaves are quite big but also a good sign.

awesome, I just did cut back on my forest and massive clump - gonna do the others this weekend

 

[barrosinc]

updates?please don't say you sold it

 

[MACH5]

updates?please don't say you sold it

Unfortunately the main trunk died back after growing well for an entire season. Last fall I had noticed this and to no surprise it did not make through the winter. However all the other sub trunks are growing vigorously. Not sure now what to do with this material but perhaps I can think of a way to salvage it. Definitely diminished greatly my interest in it. We shall see.

 

[BobbyLane]

That sucks about the main trunk. Mach if you could do anything differently, would you? or have you put it down to bad luck. final thing, you said you had trouble loosening the root ball from the moss, common on air layers so i hear. do you chop up your S moss or do you just stuff it all in the layer bag as is? its naturally clumpy.

 

[MACH5]

That sucks about the main trunk. Mach if you could do anything differently, would you? or have you put it down to bad luck. final thing, you said you had trouble loosening the root ball from the moss, common on air layers so i hear. do you chop up your S moss or do you just stuff it all in the layer bag as is? its naturally clumpy.

Bobby, I would chuck that up to bad luck. It was very strange because the tree thrived all season long and then the main trunk completely died back. It happens and for me some of the most frustrating moments in bonsai is when you simply don't know the reason why something failed. That's playing with Mother Nature for ya!

In any case, I think I figured a creative way to salvage what survived instead of giving up on the material. Eventually I'll post some pics of what I did. I did clean out all the moss and although a bit tough it all eventually came loose. I did not want to be too aggressive initially with it since the roots were still tender after it was first separated. I typically just use the moss as it comes out of the bag and don't bother chopping it.

 

[fredtruck]

Sergio, you always make bold moves (tourniquet, air layering, etc.) seem so obvious and yet necessary. You clearly have an arsenal of methods worked out that also allows you to improvise as needed.

 

[JudyB]

Bobby, I would chuck that up to bad luck. It was very strange because the tree thrived all season long and then the main trunk completely died back. It happens and for me some of the most frustrating moments in bonsai is when you simply don't know the reason why something failed. That's playing with Mother Nature for ya!

In any case, I think I figured a creative way to salvage what survived instead of giving up on the material. Eventually I'll post some pics of what I did. I did clean out all the moss and although a bit tough it all eventually came loose. I did not want to be too aggressive initially with it since the roots were still tender after it was first separated. I typically just use the moss as it comes out of the bag and don't bother chopping it.

I had forgotten about this tree, sad to hear about the main trunk. But even if it's a smaller clump it's still going to be a better form than the original tree would have been for bonsai. Would love to see where you are going with this one. I'm still crossing all my fingers and toes for my air layer. It's leafed out strongly, so that's a good sign...

 

[BobbyLane]

Bobby, I would chuck that up to bad luck. It was very strange because the tree thrived all season long and then the main trunk completely died back. It happens and for me some of the most frustrating moments in bonsai is when you simply don't know the reason why something failed. That's playing with Mother Nature for ya!

In any case, I think I figured a creative way to salvage what survived instead of giving up on the material. Eventually I'll post some pics of what I did. I did clean out all the moss and although a bit tough it all eventually came loose. I did not want to be too aggressive initially with it since the roots were still tender after it was first separated. I typically just use the moss as it comes out of the bag and don't bother chopping it.

Thanks Mach, i went and did two today and followed what you did here so will wait and see, i didnt bother chopping up the moss.