I Hate This Tree...

Jonny D

Well hopefully thats got your attention! but alass its true...

This is only the second ever bonsai that I did and at the time I thought wow look at the material I have to work with three years down the line and I can't help but dispise it sitting on my bench looking as though it belongs in a skip... All I see is problems: No taper, a horrible base that looks like a pair of legs (see picture below), poor ramification, increadably tall compared to the thickness of the trunk to name but a few faults... I'm sure there are many more. On the plus side its healthy (thats a short list!).

So what to do with it... At this point i'm open to all suggestions from the rediculous to the sound i don't care, I personallty have thought about the bin several times or planting it in the garden in a corner so that I can't see it ever again.

The only idea that I have is to make it literati - shed the bottom few branches, create a new leader 2/3 of the way up and jin off the current leader and some of the top of the trunk bringing the new leader through the jinned area. Any unsuitable branches on the way up will also be jinned off but be left quite long instead of stubby jins so that they stick out of the foliage mass, to air layer the horrible base and to cut back the existing branch work hard to create better ramification and a more compact foliage mass. A question here: does anyone know if hornbeam wood will hold as deadwood - will it last?

Althuogh this is my idea as I said earlier I am open to anything - and I mean anything as I currently HATE THIS TREE!

I also apologise for the quality of pictures (I'm reviewing this at the moment) they are probably not good enough for virtual work but I would still appreciate any descriptive text.

Have at it...

Cheers Jonny.

Summer 2003...

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hornbeam (i hate this tree) summer 2003, no. 1.jpg (52.3 KB, 278 views)

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Jonny D

Winter 2003...

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hornbeam (i hate this tree) winter 2003, no. 2.jpg (53.6 KB, 260 views)

Jonny D

That horrible base... As I said I will listen to anything...

Cheers Jonny.

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hornbeam horrible base, no. 3.jpg (47.6 KB, 263 views)

Larry

maybe chop it and make a broom?
but making it a literati sounds good, but then I'm biased!

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FredL

I have a number of Hophornbeams and am thinking in a ten year time frame in working with them. I collected them 2 1/2 years ago, so they have a way to go. They were all collected as one or two year old seedlings. I'm very pleased at their progress at this point.

What I decided at the outset was that things would be done in order with them. First, I'd try to develop the roots, nebari and trunk. Up to now and for the next 3 or 4 years, I'm not paying much attention to the branches. I have already chopped the trunk and changed leaders a couple of times on all of them and am alternating gowing them in pots and in a grow bed. On about half of them, the nebari are developing nicely. About half will require lots of effort to improve the nebari which have not developed well, left to themselves. All of them are developing excellent taper. Growing them in grow boxes results in pretty good root systems. A year in my gow bed is enough to cause the root systems to get very rank and unruly, even with the tap roots cut pretty shallow. A year back in a growbox and they are a joy to behold.

If I had your tree, I'd cut it way back at an angle, perhaps to 4 inches or so. I'd then plant it at a slant and try to develop a good nebari and lower trunk. I'd be thinking about what I wanted it to look like in 4 or 5 years rather than in 6 months. I'd put it into a growbox or large clay pot for a year, then into a growbed for the next year. Then back into a growbox. I'd concentrate on developing the root system and lower trunk. After three years, minimum, I'd start to think about the branches and the style I wanted to try to train it in.

I don't think there's anything wrong with this tree except for it bring very immature and too young to try to force into a mature bonsai style.

Now, what are my credentials for all this advice? None. Just many years of looking at pictures and reading bonsai books. Two or three years of experience repeated 4 times. Nonetheless. these are my opinions and since I'm not charging anything for them, I'd say they are a bargain!

Best of luck, Fred

Jonny D

Hi larry, thanks for the idea, however thats still not going to solve the 'walking base' thats i dislike and would rather get rid of.

Fred, thanks for the coments and ideas (Very interesting to hear about others projects as always). I think your statement:

I don't think there's anything wrong with this tree except for it bring very immature and too young to try to force into a mature bonsai style.

is very interesting and you may be right, certainly something to think about - perhaps i'm being to harsh with the tree. Your idea about developing the nebari is sound, however i repotted this this year as i wanted to see what was below the soil and get it into my own mix, and I discovered mostly thick roots which is one of the resons that i'm keen on airlayer at the 'walking point' to create better sufrace roots and a more fiberous root system. But maybe you are right that a severe chop after this maybe a good idea - certainly an interesting thoought. Thanks again.

Jonny.

Carl_Bergstrom

Larry and Fred,

I don't get it. Chopping this tree seems to be exactly the wrong thing to do, given that the problem is with the bottom half, not with the top half. If you chop it, you'll be throwing away the good part and keeping the bad part. Seems to me, you want to do the opposite!

That is, this one seems like an obvious candidate for an airlayer. That way you can develop a nice nebari starting from a good set of radial roots (assuming that the layer is successful) instead of this walking-legs base that you've got here. (And once you've separated your layer, then you've can always keep the bottom section if you really want to try Fred's radical chop suggestion.)

Best regards,
Carl

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FredL

Carl, I think you've made a very interesting suggestion. Airlayering just isn't part of my current "Bonsai Development Mental Model" - and probably should be. I made a feeble stab at it a couple of times and just made a big mess of it. Mostly, I've been trying to develop seedlings into good material and my thought processes reflect it. I like very much your thought that two trees could be developed from this one.

Fred

DavidN

I think you might have a chance with a couple of airlayers actually. Air layer the top third to give you a nice smally tree. And air-layer from above the "legs" to create the other tree. I haven't tried air-layers on Hornbeams and so don't know the success rate or the time needed for the layer to develop roots.

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