Small Beech

BobbyLane

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I picked up this beech back in may, think it was £8 or something
20180531_132526 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

it has a really good base and radial root spread

20180531_165805 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180531_172619 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

20180607_094746 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180615_221023 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180615_220958 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180615_221111 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

Today
20180720_121635 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180720_121705 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

its about 10in tall from soil level, nice small leaf size

Some inspiration
 

Aeast

Shohin
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Beautiful little tree! Seems like you have good access to material like this over there.
 

EPM

Mame
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I picked up this beech back in may, think it was £8 or something
20180531_132526 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

it has a really good base and radial root spread

20180531_165805 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180531_172619 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

20180607_094746 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180615_221023 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180615_220958 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180615_221111 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

Today
20180720_121635 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
20180720_121705 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

its about 10in tall from soil level, nice small leaf size

Some inspiration

Nice little tree. Actually after seeing this you've given me confidence that I can make something nice out of a few European beech I have that I wasn't sure what to do with. Have you ever tried air layering them?
 

BobbyLane

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Nice little tree. Actually after seeing this you've given me confidence that I can make something nice out of a few European beech I have that I wasn't sure what to do with. Have you ever tried air layering them?

ive not tried air layering them no, funnily enough, this was going to be the plan with this one, i was going to try and do a twin trunk with an air layer higher up, but just decided to chop it and begin developing the tree right away.



@Aeast there's quite a few hedging nurseries i visit where this material is readily available.
 

EPM

Mame
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ive not tried air layering them no, funnily enough, this was going to be the plan with this one, i was going to try and do a twin trunk with an air layer higher up, but just decided to chop it and begin developing the tree right away.



@Aeast there's quite a few hedging nurseries i visit where this material is readily available.

That's basically what I want to do with the two I have. Up higher is more and finer branching which could make a nice tree. Down below could be the start of a larger tree with thicker trunk. The middle I'll probably discard. So you trunk chopped and bare rooted this tree in May?
 

BobbyLane

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That's basically what I want to do with the two I have. Up higher is more and finer branching which could make a nice tree. Down below could be the start of a larger tree with thicker trunk. The middle I'll probably discard. So you trunk chopped and bare rooted this tree in May?

yes. the old soil is removed by hand and the root ball misted with water/rhizotonic solution so as not to dry out during. i dont use a hose or anything like that. so there is still some residue of the old soil left on the roots.
 

EPM

Mame
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yes. the old soil is removed by hand and the root ball misted with water/rhizotonic solution so as not to dry out during. i dont use a hose or anything like that. so there is still some residue of the old soil left on the roots.

Thanks for the information. I'm a little surprised simply because so many others would say it's inadvisable to bare root a tree after its leafed out. I suppose you also reduced follower transpiration quite a bit by removing such a large amount of foliage when you chopped it. You also seem to be pretty focused on aftercare. What do you like to use for soil for beech? Sorry for all the questions. I'm trying to get up to speed on beech and what is possible with the species. Thanks again.
 

BobbyLane

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Thanks for the information. I'm a little surprised simply because so many others would say it's inadvisable to bare root a tree after its leafed out. I suppose you also reduced follower transpiration quite a bit by removing such a large amount of foliage when you chopped it. You also seem to be pretty focused on aftercare. What do you like to use for soil for beech? Sorry for all the questions. I'm trying to get up to speed on beech and what is possible with the species. Thanks again.

the tree was somewhat established in the previous nursery pot and most of what i removed were root ends that were circling the pot. mix varies but if i were to make a specific mix for all my trees, pumice, lava rock, cat litter, john innes compost in equal amounts with a little pine bark chips thrown in. i also top dress with chopped spag moss and encourage green moss to form around the root base, i think this has also helped my trees in the current UK heat wave.
 

BobbyLane

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some change with this small beech.i decided to do another chop for movement and trunk taper....
i have a few of these cheapo beech nursery projects, what excites me about this tree, it has a very good nebari all around, good taper and dynamic movement, it also has a small leaf size naturally. this one is a keeper and will be developed on my balcony in this container for a while..
 

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