Korean Hornbeam has me a little concerned

DanB

Hello all,
Just wanted some thoughts as I'm getting a little concerned.
I have a really nice Korean Hornbeam, good thick 2" trunk about 12" high always been healthy no issues.
Last year it was a little slow to send out the shoots as it has done in previous years.
I have put this down to being a bit potbound and I didn't feed it that much.

Back in early March I repotted and removed about a third of the roots.
It's been potted up in Kyodama (lots of other trees in this and they are really thriving).
We've had a miserable March and April here in the UK and even this week we've had some cold night almost down to zero.
We had some quite hot weather a week ago (28 degrees) for a few days.

Problem I've got is the tree only has about 3% of the buds beginning to open and they have hardly moved in a month.
There are lots of small buds all over the tree but they don't appear to be growing at all.
I've checked a tiny section of the tree and it's green under the bark with no die back.

Am I just being impatient after the repot?
Do Korean Hornbeams normally slow right down after a repot?
Do you think it will recover?
I'm getting a bit worried as it's always been a real burst into life in early May in the past and this month it still looks as it did in late March......
If it does eventually send out more leaves it might not have that long to strengthen before winter sets in, will it make it through the summer and winter?
I'll see if I can get some pictures up...


thanks
Dan

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Flaxe

Hi Dan. It is healing and becoming re-accustomed to its new space after realizing its bottom has been wiped, for lack of better phrasing. I wouldn't worry too much. That it continues to bud shows that the tree is on the right track and responding to proper light, temp and humidity conditions even though it may say nothing about root recovery specifically at this point. I have gone for a month with seeing no new growth after pruning about 1/3 of roots as well. 1/3 is a lot of removal.

If humans lost 1/3 of the volume of their blood at one go, it is likely to be fatal. Allow it some time to recuperate. If by the 6th week or middle of the following month there is still no sign, I would do some inspection. I would not tamper with anything right now but pay attention to your waterings. Do not water the same as you have been doing prior to root pruning. There are less roots to take up the water therefore water as is appropriate. If you see that the soil dries appropriately and the tree takes up water, it is a positive sign.

ficusfanatic

i don't think thats quite the proper analogy, but the stress of repotting the tree on top of it already being a late bloomer as you said. give it some time. i assume it looked pretty healthy during repot ie. it didn't seem dried up or dead?

best of luck and let us know when the buds pop!

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Flaxe

Goodness, proper or not, the point was that a significant portion of something natural and vital was lost.

DanB

Thanks for the reply.
It's beginning to recover, slowly. I think you are right it's had a shock and it's taking time to get over it.
I'm watering only when needed as it used to be quite thirsty but at present as expected not so much is needed.
There are now about 5% of the leaves open and the other buds are slowly swelling so hopefully it's going in the right direction.

Roots looked healthy when repotted, perhaps I just took off a little too much root in one go. I understand Hornbeams are slow trees..

cheers
Dan

hackberry

Hi Dan-
I've seen this happen on some trees after a late cold spell. Be patient.

soltan

I have never heard or had a tree start to bud and then die.
I would say the weather has it a little confused. I would lay bets the tree will be fine.
I don't believe it is any cause of root pruning.
Sounds like it is holding back being unsure of the weather the smart bugger.

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DanB

Thanks for the replies guys,

I'm feeling a lot more confident that it's going to recover.
I think it's going to look pretty ill this year but should hopefully put on a good show next year, fingers crossed!
Just needs to get it's strength back I think.
The weather is very odd at the moment and keeps going from hot 26 - 28 degrees down to 15 degrees in a week!

wicksy

hey dan make sure you dont water to much till it sprouts or you will get root rot hornbeams hate real wet feet. Also you could put a clear plastic bag over it for couple of weeks, cut a bit off corner of bag. The humidity helps heaps mist it a bit to.

glenn