European Hornbeam Stalled

[LeftHandLuke]

My first time with a hornbeam but I found them interesting because of their legendary vigor. I picked up this nice pre-bonsai from a guy back in the early spring (this year) and it did precisely one thing: leafed out (as you can see), but nothing else. Meanwhile my other trees have been like fireworks. Any suggestions for what's going on? It was transferred to a different pot (in March) but roots were not touched. A few low suckers were snipped early on and wounds were sealed (see greasy smears on bark), but otherwise it's been stable. Routinely fertilized, high-to-moderate sunshine, watered routinely, standard fertilizer. Original soil had quite a bit of organic but I kept it the same. No sign of pests or disease. Seems like I'm doing something wrong, though. As we're approaching the height of the growing season, shouldn't this thing be taking off?

 

[ConorDash]

Nice little base on that and initial moment of the trunk. Very cool, a great starter tree. id have bought that too! Nice lower branch, on the outside of the trunk curve. Its got it all, to be honest.
Also already in a bonsai pot, so its root ball is more shallow.

Short answer? Patience.


We don't know the trees health. When were the roots last touched, or when that drastic pruning was done? The tree may still be recovering from work. Or perhaps it had a bad winter, care was not given to it. There are a lot of unknowns. But it has leaves, which is a positive, and they don't look in bad shape, some environment or pest damage but not big deal.

Keep up the care, watering, sun or shade (hornbeam should be happy in full sun), and give it time. It will do what it wants to do, don't force it. Make sure you keep up with watering. It doesnt have a lot of foliage so its transpiration shouldn't be a lot but it is in a smaller pot.

In terms of development, if it were mine, it needs some growth. That lower branch needs to thicken up and needs movement (maybe see if you can put some movement in it with wire? Currently you've got wire on it but its still straight, so I would try put movement in. I would probably pot it up, meaning put in to a bigger pot for more growth.

 

[Forsoothe!]

I think the OP is expecting a difference in the tree's appearance every year. It rarely happens. Mostly, it just plods along and 5 or 10 years down the line it will come of age, like a gawky young girl blossoms into a beauty, seemingly overnight. "Overnight" takes a bunch of years.

 

[leatherback]

if i look at the pictures I think i see a bunch of side branches starting up!?

 

[LeftHandLuke]

I think the OP is expecting a difference in the tree's appearance every year.

Not at all. This is just my first time with a HB of this size and it budded out very nicely at first. What I was expecting, now that I think about it, was more shoots stretching skyward. I like the way @ConorDash explained it, though. Don't fixate on what it's not doing. Work with what it is doing, which is actually quite a bit. I dig what you're saying, though. Patience is the key.

 

[LeftHandLuke]

give it time

All very well explained. Much appreciated!

 

[LeftHandLuke]

a bunch of side branches starting up

Not really... I mean they did start up 8-9 weeks ago and quickly pushed out those leaves, but very little since. I was expecting the new shoots to stretch but I'm going back to just being thankful that it's green on top!

 

[LeftHandLuke]

That lower branch needs to thicken up and needs movement (maybe see if you can put some movement in it with wire? Currently you've got wire on it but its still straight, so I would try put movement in. I would probably pot it up, meaning put in to a bigger pot for more growth.

Good catch on that lower limb. It's actually shorter than it looks in the pic, and therefore harder to wire (for me anyway!). But you're right. Now is the time to get more movement if possible. I'll need to rewire it.

As far as pot size, it actually arrived in a slightly smaller pot so I did step it up just a bit and also added a better draining soil mix. I did leave all or most of the organic that it came in to avoid root stress. I probably won't touch it next spring, even though all that mud is making me paranoid. It drains okay, but isn't so good about drying out.

A possible theory about the (perceived) slow growth could be a reaction to the larger container. That's happened to me before. I still think it was a good idea to pot it up.

 

[ConorDash]

Good catch on that lower limb. It's actually shorter than it looks in the pic, and therefore harder to wire (for me anyway!). But you're right. Now is the time to get more movement if possible. I'll need to rewire it.

As far as pot size, it actually arrived in a slightly smaller pot so I did step it up just a bit and also added a better draining soil mix. I did leave all or most of the organic that it came in to avoid root stress. I probably won't touch it next spring, even though all that mud is making me paranoid. It drains okay, but isn't so good about drying out.

A possible theory about the (perceived) slow growth could be a reaction to the larger container. That's happened to me before. I still think it was a good idea to pot it up.

Sure, do things at your own pace. As long as all goes well this year, I see no reason to not bare root or at least remove the mud and crap from it, at a repot time next year. Set it up well in good substrate and pot, then no need to mess with its roots for 2-3 years. WOrk on the branches.

Working roots is also important and should be done as frequently as you see fit but sometime one thing at a time is better, so you can learn it properly.
If you do too much at once, and health declines, you dont know if you made a mistake or not. If you did make a mistake, well you did 5 things in the last 6 months.. so what the hell is it? Learning = 0.

 

[LeftHandLuke]

So, a quick update on this, if only to share experience gained... First: I was incorrect in reporting that I potted it up. I had purchased a couple of great trees in late winter and did pot up one of them, but not this one. It actually remained exactly as received -- although I did inspect the soil as closely as I could. The gent I got it from knows his stuff so I won't disparage him, however I noticed the tree had an abundance of clay about the root ball. Mind you, it was clearly native soil... which happened to be clay. I mean, the kind you make pots out of. Straight-up, dense clay. Anyway, I will not fault that person's decisions but will say that, after noticing how it stalled in development, I took some time to surgically extract what amounted to two golf-ball sized clumps of literal clay from the tree's nether regions -- directly underneath. From what I could tell, the mass of clay was preventing new roots from forming. Some roots were progressing, but the central area ensconced in that thick mud did nothing. Again, I'm certain my friend chose to retain the native soil to benefit the tree, but the clay got to go. Will keep you posted if anyone cares for an update.

 

[LeftHandLuke]

An update... and plea for help! This tree had a nice summer and fall last year, dropped its leaves and was cared for nicely through the winter. Transitioned nicely in the spring and we rejoiced as the new leaves began to emerge, but then... Nothing.

Leaves essentially look half emerged and stayed that way. I kept an eye on it figuring it just needed patience, then (at the end of June) I thought I'd at least see what the roots were doing. The pot was draining just fine but the roots were very unhealthy (black, very little in the way of fine feeders). I did zero root work, other than to remove any small ones that seemed rotten, and carefully re-potted. I've kept it on the ground and protected from too much sun and heat. Nothing has changed all summer, except the death of the two lower limbs. Zero roots emerging from the drainage holes. It's dead, isn't it?

 

[treepirate]

Possibly the tree had been bare rooted, hornbeam like the soil under the trunk left alone when repotting.

 

[LeftHandLuke]

Possibly the tree had been bare rooted, hornbeam like the soil under the trunk left alone when repotting.

Thanks. Any chance of saving it at this point or is it a goner?

 

[Shogun610]

you mentioned cared for during winter. How did you winter it. I babied the shit of some nice pre bonsai stock my first winter I had gotten and half of them died. This past winter minutes a few in unheated garage, were all outside and I had no losses in winter, until this early summer w one pine due to fungal and a Doug fir that just was annihilated by last summers heat wave.

 

[LeftHandLuke]

How did you winter it.

Good question. I felt like I did a good job with winter but this was definitely my dunning-kruger year on so many damn levels. I kept it outside on the bench through fall and several light freezes and some snowfall. I brought into my unheated (attached) garage when outside temps got too risky. There's a chance my timing was off at some point and the roots were frost damaged going into or coming out of dormancy. That's my theory. I'll baby it the rest of the season but I suspect it's circling the drain.

 

[BobbyLane]

Hows this one getting on? I would have up potted this one for further development...

 

[LeftHandLuke]

Hows this one getting on? I would have up potted this one for further development...

Thanks for asking, @BobbyLane, and you would have been right on the money. This tree didn't make it and I think about it all the time... could've, would've, should've... We all know that trees die, and bonsai has that added risk, but this one made me so sad. I wish I had bought it when I knew more about keeping large trees small. I've been nuts about this particular type of tree since I was very young. I'm currently looking for a new hornbeam to replace what I intended for this one. Will approach the next one more cautiously.