Shohin birch development

TomB

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There seems to be some interest in birch at the moment, so I thought I'd share this work-in-progress shohin Betula pubescens, downy birch.

It was collected (legally) in November 2017. I dug it because of the dense twiggy growth (it was from a moorland area where it had been grazed by animals). The lower trunk and roots were poor though. I immediately ground layered it, using the pot-on-top-of-pot method.





It grew strongly over the next year. I regularly cut back new growth and got lots of budding.



The old root system was severed in late summer, but left in the plastic pot until spring. In March 2019, it was potted up. Nice radial root system. It wasn't reduced much - I'll do that next spring. The trunk is screwed to the plastic pot with a wooden ’washer’ under the trunk base to adjust the angle and allow some substrate underneath.



The tree has continued to grow strongly this year. I've cut back regularly, including removal of some heavy branches (sealing all cuts). It's starting to move towards the shape I had in mind for it. The long-ish extensions you see at the moment are developing new primary branching in important areas. I plan to keep lots of branches on it, in anticipation of it dropping some in future. A couple of the leaves are looking a little chlorotic, although it's been fertilised well - might need to fiddle with its diet a bit.



I'll repot into a smaller pot in spring 2020 - probably this little Erin rectangle - and continue work on the branching.



It's not ready for a 'show pot' yet, but by that point all the major growth will be over and I'll be working on finer twigging. I like to do that stage of development in a smaller pot, so the root system can develop in parallel. I think this will eventually be a 'winter image' tree, as I like the 'wild' looking branching.
 
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Paulpash

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Looking good. The ground layer seems to have worked out really well. It's strange it looks a little chlorotic despite being fed - maybe a teaspoon or two of Epsom Salts might green it up a bit?
 

TomB

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Looking good. The ground layer seems to have worked out really well. It's strange it looks a little chlorotic despite being fed - maybe a teaspoon or two of Epsom Salts might green it up a bit?
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. To be honest I think it might just be due to a bit of overwatering (due to recalibrating my sprinkler system); that sometimes seems to have that effect. Tree seems healthy enough otherwise.
 

Paulpash

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Yeah, that's what I was thinking. To be honest I think it might just be due to a bit of overwatering (due to recalibrating my sprinkler system); that sometimes seems to have that effect. Tree seems healthy enough otherwise.
What's it planted in - LAP? Birch usually enjoy damp feet.
 

TomB

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What's it planted in - LAP?
Similar - akadama, small-grain moler, and Kaizen S-Te. It’s only showing on a few of the newer leaves, most of them are a nice dark green so I’m not particularly worried.
 

defra

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Nice work so far!

Actually I need to thank you for sharing the airlayer part, a birch seedling popped up in my front garden last year I dicided to just let it grow there for bonsai purpose, roots look horrible tough so was thinking of ground layer next season to still let it grow and fatten but also start working on the nebari in the early stages now I have seen layering works with this species so thank you

Since you are aiming at a shohin,
do you have any idea how well it will reduce its leave size?
 

TomB

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Since you are aiming at a shohin,
do you have any idea how well it will reduce its leave size?
The smaller leaves are about fingernail sized.
 
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