Where to buy Beech Bonsai!

[Walter Pall]

I rarely wire beech. The bark is so smooth that marks will be seen forever. Guy wires are much better and also cut and grow. If wires are required a good time is April or then end of June, right after defoliation.

 

[Bonsaidoorguy]

NO, let grow new growth for six weeks then cut back to two buds. If the tree is very strong at the same time totally defoliate. If not strong do nothing. then a second flush will occur. let grow freely and cut back before middle of August again. Then wait until foliage is off. Around end of November or later do detailed editing of crown. Repeat for ten years and you will have a tree like this. If you follow the instructions and pinch new growth as soon as ii is out.you will never ever get there. Also only repot when absolutely necessary. Every repotting will weaken the tree considerably. Do NOT cut roots at repotting. So simply do exactly the contrary of what they tell you and you will get there. No kidding.

Methods can only be judged by repeated results. Even if it all sounds crazy. If the result can be repeated many times the method is working better than conventional wisdom. Warning: If you are not reading carefully what I write you might ruin or kill the tree. It seems that this is hard to get. I have written this for years now and still get these questions. For example folks will read this and still pinch! I cannot believe it. No pinching at all - ever - if your really want to get there!

Got a beech last year and it's just starting to break. Thanks for sharing the information, I'll be giving it a try.

 

[Aeast]

Walter, would all you information on this post be applicable to American Beech as well, or just the European variety?

 

[Walter Pall]

Walter, would all you information on this post be applicable to American Beech as well, or just the European variety?

I have never h<ad an American beech. But looking at them I can see that they are very closely related. I would not be surprised to hear that they can interbreed. So I think you might as well consider applying everything to them- --Carefully!

 

[August44]

Mr Pall, These guy wires that you use, how are they attached to the branch or whatever it is you are trying to train? What do you attach the other end to? What kind of wire is used?

 

[Walter Pall]

Mr Pall, These guy wires that you use, how are they attached to the branch or whatever it is you are trying to train? What do you attach the other end to? What kind of wire is used?

Guy wires are very simple! Just bind a wire to a branch that you want to move and attach the other end to an anchor that does not move. Anchor can be anything that is available., like another branch, a trunk a jin, a thick wire, a bonsai pot. Take thicker wire than you would like and take copper wire instead of aluminium wire if available. I usually use no protection. If the wire starts to bite in I just mover the guy wire sling a tiny bit and it is OK.
It is amazing to me how such a simple and most effective technique is quite often not really understood or used. I use it all the time. Just look at my results.

Guy wires are not beautiful, but they are very simple and very effective.
If you can fix your shoe laces you can do guy wires.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Guy wires have a place in styling Bonsai for sure, especially for compacting the structure and pulling everything in tighter. The downfall is that they only provide movement in one plane, and they can produce a bowed branch effect, rather than a sharp angle.

 

[August44]

Thanks for the reply Mr Pall. I look at your trees and the thin wires and just thought those wires would almost immediately bite into the branches. They actually don't look as bad as wired branches though. I also understand what Brian is saying.

 

[g-gioffs]

I live in an area where American beech is plentiful. I’ve found a few nice ones and trimmed some of the branches and dug around the base, cutting most of the roots . It was done in early spring before anything pushed out. I won’t retrieve them till next year, and at that point will keep them in a training pot for another year. I’ve never tried this, do you think this will work?

 

[August44]

Not sure I understand your pictures. Are some of those trees running along the ground and then shoot up? Wish I had some in my area.

 

[g-gioffs]

Not sure I understand your pictures. Are some of those trees running along the ground and then shoot up? Wish I had some in my area.

 

[g-gioffs]

Not sure I understand your pictures. Are some of those trees running along the ground and then shoot up? Wish I had some in my area.

Yes, I guess the two trees are running along the ground, not sure why. Pretty sure it’s not from a mother tree, but if they dig up cleanly will make an interesting trunk line.

 

[August44]

Ok...I personally would collect some type of upright tree verses the trunk running along the ground. They might make a nice raft bonsai though if you did it right although I'm not sure you can raft one of those.

You should edit your profile to let us know where you live, USDA zone, etc.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

(3) Leaf size tends to be large, but due to lack of secondary buds, trees cannot be defoliated to reduce leaf size. Instead, you need to trim leaves every other year to reduce leaf size.

I wanted to clarify this point - because it is based on what I have been taught over the years. In this thread @Walter Pall states how and when these trees can be successfully defoliated.