Aiki_Joker
Shohin
Don't mean to be a drag but you made three mistakes here.
First the tree has a decent nebari but that's about it. There is literally no taper to the trunk so that should be an indicator that this tree should be left where it was and moved onto the next. Granted this is a minor issue as it can be hollowed and taper added this way but that's going to take a long time before you can do this. Beech grow super slow and as bonsai even slower! So taper and thickness take a crazy amount of time compared to an elm or maple.
Second issue is you should have waited to collect the tree. Beech are usually the last to leaf out so there is more time allowed to collect these. If you still have frost in your area, then this tree should not be allowed to get below 40F degree's let alone 23F. Your just just exposing your tree to damage for frost damage and trunk dieback/ or death. There bark is very think and can damage ez'ly so this should be protected.
Third and most likely that biggest issue I see is two fold. When collecting beech you really need to be aware of the species and how difficult this species can be or ez if you know what to look for. When collecting beech you really need to have branches with buds on the tree/ or branches low already on the tree. New spring buds are formed the previous fall and are set ready to unfurl that coming spring. There are dormant buds BUT beech are not like other deciduous trees, they are the white pine of Deciduous tree's. The tree is going to have to really did into it's reserves to form new buds and open them up. It can be done the way you did this, but the rate of success with branches/buds on the tree and no branches/buds at all, are night and day. The second part of this is you just dramatically reduced your chances of success but chopping the tree again. They get there strength from there vascular system and you just reduced it by a lot and messed with the roots but cutting it again. It would have better to keep it tall and let the tree recover for 2 years then cut it down to height to a lower branches. That is just the nature of the beast that is beech.
I only mean to educate and apologies if this comes across as harsh. I have 7 beech and two of them are bigger then this tree, plus beech are one of my favorite species. Also if the tree does survive it will need to be protected from sunburn. They are under-story trees and can take full sun but ONLY after they are established and have a good root and canopy system.
Great advice @Giga and thanks for sharing. I thought it may need more sugar supplies and erred conservative. Will wait and see and leave the poor baastuud alone for a few years if it survives :0/.
Also great advice on the sun burn and artistic interest. In hind sight it was propably not one to pull but learned a lot already on my first dig so happy with that. It will make a good garden tree for my new place if all else fails
![Smile :) :)](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png)
This is situated in an orientation where evidence of scald is present elsewhere in this garden (on one of the ornamental apples and also another tree I can't I.D). Though it is sheltered in comparison to these trees, is there anything besides white paint that you can recommend? I doubt my old folks would be up for screens (even if they are temporary).
Many thanks.