European Copper Beech

[BobbyLane]

Fagus sylvatica purpurea

Hi folks,
this is a tree i acquired in jan from a bare root nursery, its only early days, but its already been through a root reduction, to get it into a training pot and also a little wire here and there....its responded well and im quite happy and confident its going to go from strength to strength, its currently ahead of all my other Beech and Hornbeams in terms of growth, funnily enough it was re potted before bud break in jan....
2017-01-31_07-38-39 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

i wanted to get it out of the muggy field soil, that was the reason for the jan re pot
2017-01-31_07-41-37 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

luckily the tree had a lot of low branches to work with and two leaders that gave me further options to chop back to
2017-01-31_07-42-52 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

First styling, i tried a little chopped spag moss in the soil mix this time and the tree seems to have responded to this
2017-03-19_09-18-53 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2017-04-06_07-22-48 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2017-04-06_07-25-54 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

surface roots will be tidied up over a few pottings, ive covered them with spag moss to aid in root growth and establishment
2017-04-09_04-31-21 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2017-04-12_09-36-38 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_4196 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

 

[BobbyLane]

Today
IMG_4252 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_4250 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_4246 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_4244 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_4237 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_4223 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_4221 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_4220 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_4217 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

after the chop i decided i'd leave every single branch available on the tree, to aid in strengthening the roots system again..


ive done some minor pinching in the apex, a large leaf here n there, mainly to let light into the low branches, but the tree will be left until around july, where ill slightly prune and thin the crown while leaving the low branches until next autumn or spring
IMG_4218 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

 

[Giga]

looks great - I love beech


You live in a flat??

 

[BobbyLane]

Hi Giga, yes mate, they're all kept on a first floor balcony

 

[TomB]

Nice 'muscles' on the trunk. That little bud at the bottom of the chop looks very useful

 

[BobbyLane]

Hi Tom, yep there's a few popping up around there and on the other side. after leaf drop i was going to do something like this with the chop

im not sure now, ill wait a bit longer. with that bud there, i could use it to aid healing of the callus, or grow it up as another leader?

guess i can still make a little hollow/uro there and leave the bud intact, wont matter too much if the uro is a ovalish shape. the Uro will only be visible from the back anyway. should see the edges begin rolling in this season with all the growth around there. will take a long time to heal completely though, which is why the uro would be handy and add character at the back.

 

[BobbyLane]

The wire came off this one and most of the branches had set in place, ive not done any type of pruning or pinching on this tree, it was sort of left to own devices. its slowed down now, i dont think ill get any more growth out of it this season. but in the winter or spring ill thin the crown, one or two thicker bits could go, for the most part i'd like to leave it alone and just let it go again next season to get some girth in all the branches, cut back hard in june 2018

may
IMG_4284 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

Today
IMG_4987 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_4998 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

 

[Ryan H]

Looks awesome great progression post mate

 

[Paradox]

Very nice find. That is going to be a really nice tree someday.

 

[BobbyLane]

Thanks for the comment folks

 

[discusmike]

Nice progression!!

 

[sp1tf1re]

Really nice tree, I think after that cut heals and it grows in it will be an absolutely stunning tree.

 

[BobbyLane]

So, ive decided to make some changes to this tree. for a while the taper on the tree has bothered me and from some angles the trunk was just very straight and boring. if i have an opportunity i like my tree to be pleasing from multiple angles. i also felt there was a great opportunity to develop considerable taper and movement in the tree with the first right branch. its a very vigorous branch and has some decent development and i can literally build a new canopy with this branch alone....i think it will thicken rather quickly, ive decided not to put it in the ground, i want full control, i want to enjoy watching it develop...

chopped!
2018-01-24_12-07-30 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

and styled, the new angles make better use of the very good nebari
IMG_6426 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

From this angle the nebari is very good, this chop will be made into a slightly extended hollow
IMG_6428 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

There are some dormant nodes on the low trunk which will be developed and be part of the design but they will also aid development
IMG_6429 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_6432 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

may seem harsh to some, but im much happier with the outcome, the tree will be a higher quality tree in the future...

 

[Giga]

I can't say I would have gone this route but you seem to like shohin size tree's and that's all that matters! Still looks greats, but now that you did this your going to need to even out the transition a bit. What I would recommend is planting is in a shallow very wide container, like an Anderson flat, then letting a couple of the very bottom branches run for a few years while keeping the top mostly in check. This will thicken your nebari, and help the transition of the new cut point. On those that you let run make sure you keep a few buds close to be the new branches if that makes sense.

 

[BobbyLane]

i dont like shohin trees at all. i like chuhin trees, this will grow to be a chuhin sized or just under tree, definitely not a shohin.

 

[Giga]

i dont like shohin trees at all. i like chuhin trees, this will grow to be a chuhin sized or just under tree, definitely not a shohin.

chuhin then lol

 

[BobbyLane]

Its in a wide oval for the time being, i think its suitable until the roots fill the pot at least
2018-01-24_01-19-21 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

 

[RobertB]

I also liked it before the chop. I do think it will be a very nice tree in years to come. I just think it was already a pretty decent tree and you could have achieved some taper just with escape branches.

 

[Vin]

I always look forward to your updates. I see where you're going with it using Graham's tree for direction. Keep us posted.

 

[BobbyLane]

Thanks, it will indeed be a better tree and it will be credible from different angles with great taper, movement and ramification. the plan will be to guide everything where i want it in the pot and then it could go into the ground for a year or two. its doesnt take as long as some people think to fatten a vigorous leader on a beech.

here's one i tried before

2015
IMAG3662 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

2016
2016-10-27_08-42-57 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

2017
2017-01-17_04-52-14 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr