What should a hornbeam look like?

[Shibui]

Horn beam are not native down here. Mature trees are rare so I have no idea what the natural growth habit of hornbeam is.

Was told this should be American Hornbeam - Carpinus caroliniana but could be one of the other Carpinus species. I guess I've just been developing it as a generic 'bonsai' shape but I've never been happy with the style. It just doesn't speak to me the way good bonsai should.

I know it's way too tall for the trunk diameter - an unintended consequence of fast trunk growth - and not thee doesn't seem to be any natural spot to chop back to.

Any comments from those who know Carpinus on what constitutes natural shape for the genus or species? What should we be trying to achieve with Carpinus bonsai?

Any suggestions on improvements to the overall style of my hornbeam bonsai?

Any ideas on key differences between Carpinus species that might help to confirm the ID?

 

[rockm]

The natural shape for Carolina hornbeam is pretty much what you have. Most are tall and a bit scraggly. They are understory trees that push for sunlight

They don’t naturally push shelves of foliage on layered branching in the wood but in more open conditions they can

These are at the North Carolina Arboretums bonsai collection. Most of the trees in that collection strive to be natural native forms. These trees are good examples of older Carolina hornbeam

American Hornbeam — The Curator's Journal

American hornbeam lacks the gaudy gene. It is an admirable tree species with four seasons of visual interest, but its appeal is understated and its virtues are so soft spoken that they are easily overlooked. I can't say I took much notice of American hornbeam either, until bonsai gave me reason to f

curatorsjournal.net

 

[Wood]

The bark and buds certainly seem like the American hornbeams I've seen but I don't think I can definitively say that

They have rather similar forms to wild Japanese maple. They frequently can be found as multi trunk trees, will sucker freely, and most branches start off moving more strongly upward when in the wild. The way the branches are flat on your tree is suggesting (to me) an overstory tree like a beech.

Something like this might be more typical of an AH in the woods:


I don't hate the overstory/large tree feeling. Removing the two lower branches might help lean into the feeling a little more. It reminds me of this tree:

Thread 'A Japanese maple'

Mar 6, 2022

I figured today was as good a day as any to start a thread on this tree... it was almost 60 F and the maples in the cold room are bound to wake up sooner or later and this one was on the list of re-pots this year. It originally came from Kennett Bonsai and fell off the back of Tyler Sherrod's truck late one spring afternoon after a great day of working trees... Tyler absolutely knew when to make his pitch. Anyway, I always wanted a big palmatum and this one had a trunk with movement, taper, minimal scarring and a great root spread. The back of the root spread was wanting, but the...

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[Shibui]

Thank you both for the pointers.
As you have probably gathered from the original request, I'm all for making bonsai look like the trees they are so it is great to find that American hornbeam does have a specific, recognisable, growth pattern. The comparison with Japanese maple is one I can understand.
I'll take another look and see if any of those lower branches might be encouraged to rise a little more than they are currently.

 

[Wood]

They have a similar tendency to KHs to bud at the base of a branch, so outright replacing any of those branches shouldn't be an issue. Also I found this photo that feels rather indicative of mature AHs:

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/american-hornbeam-trees-carpinus-caroliniana-arching-2076441193

 

[Betula1]

Here is a mature Hornbeam- Carpinus betulus in a park in England

 

[SeanS]

Here’s a European hornbeam in a local botanical garden

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Horn beam are not native down here. Mature trees are rare so I have no idea what the natural growth habit of hornbeam is.

Their natural growth habit is almost indistinguishable from an elm tree. Perhaps a little shorter and chunkier, depending on the elm you are comparing it to. Broom style is a natural. I've seen some smaller ones that are multi-trunk / clump style.

 

[Betula1]

Here’s a European hornbeam in a local botanical garden

View attachment 612273

If Im not mistaken that looks a lot like a mature fastigiate European Hornbeam Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata' which has that symmetrical upswept branching stucture. This cultivar is a cloned variety often planted as a street tree because of its neat upright growth habit , but it tends to splay out as it gets older into a 'goblet' shape.

 

[Blksmth88]

Im at work but when i get home in the morning ill take pics of the ones by my house. 1 has the muscle wood look and the other grew straight up ward and is quite huge. it looks so strange to be so big with smooth bark. ill post them when i get home

 

[chance]

While mature, all the above images are from open field grown hornbeams, which is not where they grow in nature. American hornbeam is an understory species found in stream bottoms and along banks, so when it grows in the woods it tends to be long and lanky, and reaching out to the side for pockets of light or out over a stream. Because of where they live they are frequently flood damaged- broken and re sprouted, heavily leaning, exposed roots if they are on a bank, etc.. All that to say, unless you are trying to imitate a beech or another species, a naturalistic hornbeam would not be a broom style like the examples above, but closer to like a literati or windswept (flood swept in this case) or even a clump style.

I think in nature they do often have more upright branching like you sketched, but they also tend to have long enough extensions as young shoots to go past horizontal on the pads and droop some. Another option to consider would be adjusting the planting angel to something more aggressive and re-working the pads from there.

Here is an article with a few pictures of them in the woods and potentially some other inspiration as well:
https://curatorsjournal.net/arthur-joura-journal/american-hornbeam

 

[rockm]

While mature, all the above images are from open field grown hornbeams, which is not where they grow in nature. American hornbeam is an understory species found in stream bottoms and along banks, so when it grows in the woods it tends to be long and lanky, and reaching out to the side for pockets of light or out over a stream. Because of where they live they are frequently flood damaged- broken and re sprouted, heavily leaning, exposed roots if they are on a bank, etc.. All that to say, unless you are trying to imitate a beech or another species, a naturalistic hornbeam would not be a broom style like the examples above, but closer to like a literati or windswept (flood swept in this case) or even a clump style.

I think in nature they do often have more upright branching like you sketched, but they also tend to have long enough extensions as young shoots to go past horizontal on the pads and droop some. Another option to consider would be adjusting the planting angel to something more aggressive and re-working the pads from there.

Here is an article with a few pictures of them in the woods and potentially some other inspiration as well:
https://curatorsjournal.net/arthur-joura-journal/american-hornbeam

Posted that link already and you’re right. Most all hornbeam growing near me are long lanky sometimes busted. There is an eastern hophornbeam ias a landscape tree in my neighborhood that is more similar to the open field grow hornbeam in pics above.

 

[Blksmth88]

Well I have some pics for you of Two right behind my house that are completely opposite of each other. 1 is a multi trunk tree with the muscly features to the trunk and a lower wide canopy like a full grown Japanese maple.
The other tree is pencil straight and a massive single trunk. It's lower branches are quite strange though it's like the tree began growing them then it stopped sending them energy and over took them yet didn't let them die off. It's a cool looking site to see and I'll try and reduce the size of the pics so it'll let me post or link them if I must

 

[Blksmth88]

Bear with me here from my phone I can post my Dropbox link. These 3 are the multi trunk hornbeam. It's trunk has a lot of fluting to it but it's hard to tell in these
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6wbn...ey=920zdq24cj4828m0tokjazd3x&st=x4c5u1kg&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kopz...ey=wmn6wkw6szlmo5p7n977gkbph&st=7qo6gmmr&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/072j...ey=z3gxgyyway1xigovi02pj9oxz&st=6xn2tuny&dl=0

These next ones are of the straight tall one. It's so big I couldn't tell the shape of the top

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/uvue...ey=v9o5o57xxg86vohizxkc7h36o&st=eh4hju0w&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/sx8t...ey=wabhxpzocws27kgcto0z1rede&st=0z6iwydv&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fiez...ey=3aasi2a5ap8pax33e9h4u4dag&st=ujcy3485&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6yi3...ey=vtniqqas9iuyatc2u2jad3bs7&st=4bs1ed4d&dl=0

 

[rockm]

Bear with me here from my phone I can post my Dropbox link. These 3 are the multi trunk hornbeam. It's trunk has a lot of fluting to it but it's hard to tell in these
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6wbn...ey=920zdq24cj4828m0tokjazd3x&st=x4c5u1kg&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kopz...ey=wmn6wkw6szlmo5p7n977gkbph&st=7qo6gmmr&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/072j...ey=z3gxgyyway1xigovi02pj9oxz&st=6xn2tuny&dl=0

These next ones are of the straight tall one. It's so big I couldn't tell the shape of the top

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/uvue...ey=v9o5o57xxg86vohizxkc7h36o&st=eh4hju0w&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/sx8t...ey=wabhxpzocws27kgcto0z1rede&st=0z6iwydv&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fiez...ey=3aasi2a5ap8pax33e9h4u4dag&st=ujcy3485&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6yi3...ey=vtniqqas9iuyatc2u2jad3bs7&st=4bs1ed4d&dl=0

The straight ones are American Beech.

 

[LeftHandLuke]

Carpinus caroliniana is by far my favorite tree, although I strangely don't own one (yet!). Here's one of my favorite videos of a tree that is included in the North Carolina Arboretum collection that @rockm shared.

.

 

[Jetson1950]

Baby hornbeam I collected in Pennsylvania back in the spring. It’s got a lot of growing to do.

 

[BobbyLane]

European Hornbeam primary branches tend to be up n out, the secondaries will often dip to horizontal, tertiary branches curling up to the light. You can likewise find secondary limbs rising up.
You will get some primary branches that might emerge from the trunk more horizontal than upwards too. You can probably mix it up or go with a desired pattern.