Collected American Beech

[The Barber]

Collected this American beech today, figured I'd start a thread so I can document as I progress with this one.

The woods I am collecting from here in Kentucky the trees tend to root in the thin topsoil and stop when it gets to the clay.

The roots are so dense, it is the closest I've ever seen to being rootbound in the wild. Root ball is around 6 inches thick, 24 inches across. Barely any dirt came loose carrying it all the way home (probably 200 yards from home) from the property across the road from my house.

I spent about 2 hours digging her up after chopping the trunk (this tree was easily 15 ft tall). All but a couple of the large roots were from other trees, this one had very few large roots, other than that beautiful nebari (15 years of combing on it during repots and I don't know if it could have had any better "spokes"). It has the most dense feeder root system I've run into in a yamadori so far.

Me taking a break and taking in the fall scenery, the weather was absolutely perfect today. Take note of the cart behind the tree, it is a large bucket with wheels, the root ball was dense enough it sat on top and rode home just fine and lost maybe half a quart of soil total.
Here it is detached from its former home.

Just to show you how shallow these roots were.


Bagged up for the 200ish yard haul home.
Set it on these 2 tables so I could get underneath and clean out the large roots which ended up all being from other trees other than 2.

I crafted up a box to house her till she is ready to pot.

All potted up.

 

[The Barber]

Keep in mind I have been in bonsai for half a year, I have binge watched about every video I can get ahold of...and read a lot of material. If anyone has any advice they think I need, please feel free to add

 

[BobbyLane]

I think it has a great chance, you've collected it with a pretty decent root pad, almost as if it was sliced from a nursery container. And have kept it mostly intact in the box. Most I've seen collecting American beech on here, don't get nowhere near that amount of root mass.
Try not to let it stay too wet, bearing in mind you left field soil In there that will hold a lot of moisture.

Good collection overall

 

[GGB]

so many feeder roots on that one. I think it should be fine, but i'd keep it pretty well protected this winter. Not so warm it breaks dormancy but I wouldn't let it get too far below the upper 20s. simply my two cents. Looks like a good start

 

[AshleyMammal]

(coming from a a non-expert in beech, and a non expert in bonsai in general): This looks like a textbook collection - great work!

Collecting in fall is a great time for deciduous with leaves on, but if I was being super critical, I may have waited until spring and chopped a lot lower. I also may have teased out a bit more field soil as roots can have a hard time going from compacted field soil into bonsai mix, and vice-versa for the water - it can free drain into the bonsai soil without ever fully wetting the field soil (or conversely as Bobby says, can hold too much water).

You will get many years of enjoyment developing this one.

 

[johng]

Personally with deciduous trees I remove all of the field soil at collection time. But, I do far less collecting in Fall... at some point, maybe spring of 2025, you will need to remove all of the dirt in rootball.

 

[rockm]

Having collected American beech, I'm not as optimistic as I would be for an early spring collection.

If you have the capability, I'd overwinter this as frost-free as possible-- ideally around 35-40 F--at least in an enclosed garage or other unheated structure.

Continued freeze/thaw cycles, or extreme cold (below 20 F) are not good. The field soil and lack of growth activity for months are going to be issues. Too much rain or moisture on all that field soil, enclosed in all that dissimilar bonsai soil may keep things way too soggy.

 

[BobbyLane]

Just stick it under a bench or table over the winter to stop it getting too saturated.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Nice find. Nebari is pretty good. Root ball is excellent. NOW, I'll give you some advice after having collected 150 trees. As much as it hurts, I'd suggest you chop that tree at about 3-5 times the diameter measured from soil level. I'm guessing that would be about 7-9" tall ...... or LOWER. Let a leader grow wild the first year or two............as much as 10 feet tall and about 1/3 to 1/2 of the diameter of the trunk at the top of the chop. Chop IT at about 3 times the diameter of the leader at its chop. Rinse and repeat. It will not look even remotely like a bonsai for 2-3 years. You will have a much better specimen at 3 years and you will have learned the most important lesson in bonsai.............patience.

 

[AshleyMammal]

Nice find. Nebari is pretty good. Root ball is excellent. NOW, I'll give you some advice after having collected 150 trees. As much as it hurts, I'd suggest you chop that tree at about 3-5 times the diameter measured from soil level. I'm guessing that would be about 7-9" tall ...... or LOWER. Let a leader grow wild the first year or two............as much as 10 feet tall and about 1/3 to 1/2 of the diameter of the trunk at the top of the chop. Chop IT at about 3 times the diameter of the leader at its chop. Rinse and repeat. It will not look even remotely like a bonsai for 2-3 years. You will have a much better specimen at 3 years and you will have learned the most important lesson in bonsai.............patience.

I’d agree that it definitely needs a chop but not sure now would be the right time, with it being newly collected, already chopped (not sure when that was done) and in the fall. I’d go as far to say it needs at least a good year of growth before chopping again?

 

[Stormwater]

I'll be watching this, have had 0% luck collecting AB so far.

 

[Gabler]

I'll be watching this, have had 0% luck collecting AB so far.

The key is to get lots of fine roots and keep the tree in a shaded but bright location. Their leaves are bad at retaining water, so they need protection from drying conditions, and their roots are slow to regrow, so they're bad at supplying that water right after collection. Small saplings and seedlings, as you might expect, are easy enough to collect. Bigger saplings with fatter trunks are tricky to keep alive.

One other consideration is the number of active buds left on the tree. Beech trees seem to put a lot of resources into their large buds. When you cut off all the fine branching at collection, they won't backbud very profusely, and where they do, it tends to be from dormant buds.

 

[rockm]

Just stick it under a bench or table over the winter to stop it getting too saturated.

Nope. I would definitely NOT do this.

A newly-collected tree outside under a bench in USDA zone 6 could be a death sentence. Kentucky is mostly USDA Zone 6. Zone 6 (a-b) has -10 F- to 0 F minimums. It's an El nino year, so those extremes probably aren't in the cards, but Zone 6 is cold--the only zone 6 equivalent I can find in the UK is in the Northern Scottish highlands and then only a small area.

Protection is mandatory for this one this winter.

 

[The Barber]

I have a shed, shouldn't be a problem, already planned on it

 

[The Barber]

Beech like this are a dime a dozen near me, so if it croaks I at least gain some knowledge. These photos are just a few I saw this week in the woods.

 

[Gabler]

Beech like this are a dime a dozen near me, so if it croaks I at least gain some knowledge. These photos are just a few I saw this week in the woods.
View attachment 514982


View attachment 514983View attachment 514984View attachment 514986

That's great you have so many, but if you kill this one, that'll set you back another year in your journey to a refined tree. You might as well take at least the minor precautions you already discussed.

 

[BobbyLane]

Collected this American beech today, figured I'd start a thread so I can document as I progress with this one.

The woods I am collecting from here in Kentucky the trees tend to root in the thin topsoil and stop when it gets to the clay.

The roots are so dense, it is the closest I've ever seen to being rootbound in the wild. Root ball is around 6 inches thick, 24 inches across. Barely any dirt came loose carrying it all the way home (probably 200 yards from home) from the property across the road from my house.

I spent about 2 hours digging her up after chopping the trunk (this tree was easily 15 ft tall). All but a couple of the large roots were from other trees, this one had very few large roots, other than that beautiful nebari (15 years of combing on it during repots and I don't know if it could have had any better "spokes"). It has the most dense feeder root system I've run into in a yamadori so far.
View attachment 514544
Me taking a break and taking in the fall scenery, the weather was absolutely perfect today. Take note of the cart behind the tree, it is a large bucket with wheels, the root ball was dense enough it sat on top and rode home just fine and lost maybe half a quart of soil total.View attachment 514545
Here it is detached from its former home.
View attachment 514546
Just to show you how shallow these roots were.
View attachment 514547
View attachment 514548
Bagged up for the 200ish yard haul home.View attachment 514549 View attachment 514550
Set it on these 2 tables so I could get underneath and clean out the large roots which ended up all being from other trees other than 2.
View attachment 514551
I crafted up a box to house her till she is ready to pot.
View attachment 514552
All potted up.
View attachment 514553

Nice location, the soil make-up seems to be producing some nice radial root flares. I wonder if there is anything more interesting around, I suppose you've searched pretty extensively already.
I like the twin trunk

 

[The Barber]

That's great you have so many, but if you kill this one, that'll set you back another year in your journey to a refined tree. You might as well take at least the minor precautions you already discussed.

I will, prefer to keep it alive, I really like it. Plus it isn't the only one I've collected. Rather like to see them all survive, and will do everything possible to accommodate them.

 

[The Barber]

Nice location, the soil make-up seems to be producing some nice radial root flares. I wonder if there is anything more interesting around, I suppose you've searched pretty extensively already.
I like the twin trunk

Mainly sassafras, maples, beech, smaller Hawthorne, oak, chestnuts etc, but the beech are the best material I'm finding

 

[The Barber]

Here's another beech I collected as well. Pretty sure a treetop had fallen and smacked him at some point, as you can see, almost all of the trees have a nice shallow/dense rootball.