Five Year Native Tree Challenge: Gabler's American Beech #6

[Gabler]

Another dwarfed Fagus grandifolia that I spotted while collecting my mountain laurel entry. This one came with the best mycelium I have ever seen in person.

 

[leatherback]

nice little tree! No big cuts needed it seems!?

 

[Gabler]

nice little tree! No big cuts needed it seems!?

Correct. There was a little nub on the bottom of the root ball that kept it from fitting in a pot, but otherwise, I just removed a few branches.

 

[HorseloverFat]

Nice’n! (I REALLY appreciate this tree’s “personality”)

Is that lowest branch a temporary illusion.. or just mid-“bud-chaseback”?

 

[Gabler]

Nice’n! (I REALLY appreciate this tree’s “personality”)

Is that lowest branch a temporary illusion.. or just mid-“bud-chaseback”?

I'm not sure what you mean by illusion, but it was more than twice as long as it is currently, and I chopped it back leaving a long stub with dormant buds on it. I'm also not really sure how I'll eventually handle the overall structure. For now, I've kept the usable branches in proportion to the overall tree and pruned off the stuff I definitely couldn't use. I'm hoping to get a couple new branches from the trunk to give the tree more 3D development, since the current branches are close to being in a single plane (hence the wire to move them apart). I'll let any new branches I get elongate until they're the right thickness, and then I'll chase them back to the right length. I'll just have to see what the tree gives me in the next year or three. If I'm not getting what I want, I might eventually try grafting a branch. All of that is assuming the tree handles the transplant and lives through next spring. I've got my fingers crossed. I'm excited to have found a real naturally-dwarfed yamadori, rather than an ordinary wild-collected sapling.

 

[HorseloverFat]

I mean “there to stay”.. i got my answer.

 

[Gabler]

Finally awake.

 

[Gabler]

 

[Gabler]

I forgot to snap a picture today of the tree fully leafed out.

 

[leatherback]

I forgot to snap a picture today of the tree fully leafed out.

Thank you for letting us know.

Will you fix your mistake?

 

[Gabler]

Thank you for letting us know.

Will you fix your mistake?

Note to self. Don’t go on the forum when I’m dead tired from studying for finals. I end up posting unfiltered thoughts.

 

[Gabler]

I did remember to snap some pics today, though. Here’s the tree from the current front.



When I first potted the tree, I had actually thought to make this the front.



I kinda like this angle at the moment.





And just because, here’s the tree from the left.

 

[leatherback]

Note to self. Don’t go on the forum when I’m dead tired from studying for finals. I end up posting unfiltered thoughts.

excuses excuses. Show us the tree!

 

[leatherback]

excuses excuses. Show us the tree!

its maaagic! You hit submit, page loads and there are not three, nt four, no, five tree pictures. And a happy looking one for that!

 

[Gabler]

The edges of the leaves scorched on a hot day in July, when I set the tree on a black metal table. In hindsight, not the best idea. The tree rebounded, and it’s growing next spring’s buds.

 

[HorseloverFat]

I uh... did that EXACT same thing to a few trees this summer...Killed 2..

Pretty much “stalled” the others out this season... But they are “on the mend”

 

[Gabler]

Supple, springy twigs. We’ll see in April or May how the tree looks fully leafed out.

 

[Gabler]

I removed the wire as it had started to bite into the bark just a bit. I take that as a sign of health that the branches added some girth, so I figured the tree could handle just a bit of further pruning and wiring.

 

[Gabler]

i chopped the apex at this bud:

 

[rockm]

You do know that to increase ramification on American beech, it's common practice to remove the terminal (last) bud on each branch...that can stimulate resting buds farther back on the branch.