Inverse taper on large European Beech

[CaptainJackDaniels]

Hi everybody.

It’s my first post here, so I’ll start with the formality of apologising if this is in the wrong area of the forum. Secondly I’ll say hello and thanks in advance for any help offered.

I’m asking for some advice on a large Beech that came into my collection a few years ago. The tree has a few technical issues such as thinner branches below thicker and some bullseye scars. The main bothering me at the moment though is the taper of the leader/upper canopy. The tree was created with quite a drastic chop and the leader was left to create the entire upper canopy (without any further pruning being made to increase the taper).

The obvious answer is to cut back and grow a new leader. I’m no expert though and others may point out that this is drastic, not as bad as it seems or offer other solutions. Any advice is very welcome.

 

[rockm]

Hi everybody.

It’s my first post here, so I’ll start with the formality of apologising if this is in the wrong area of the forum. Secondly I’ll say hello and thanks in advance for any help offered.

I’m asking for some advice on a large Beech that came into my collection a few years ago. The tree has a few technical issues such as thinner branches below thicker and some bullseye scars. The main bothering me at the moment though is the taper of the leader/upper canopy. The tree was created with quite a drastic chop and the leader was left to create the entire upper canopy (without any further pruning being made to increase the taper).

The obvious answer is to cut back and grow a new leader. I’m no expert though and others may point out that this is drastic, not as bad as it seems or offer other solutions. Any advice is very welcome.

This a very nice beech. The taper at the top isn’t outstanding but it’s decent. You can minimize the noticeable “shoulder” of the chop by cutting a new one that is more in line with the trunk below. That secondary chop should have been done years ago. What wouldn’t do is eliminate the existing top in favor of a new primary chop

 

[Cadillactaste]

Quite frankly...that is a nice tree. It doesn't bother me. It looks quite natural.

All trees have flaws. Kokufo had inverse taper in their trees. It's actually quite natural. Depending on the extreme.

Now... how do you go about thickening those lower branches... I'm in the process myself of thickening my first branch with removing the left branch to change my direction.

 

[Gabler]

The trunk chop doesn't bother me. It's the root chop that bugs me. It's out of place on such a nice tree.

 

[Wood]

That's a great tree. I don't see the inverse taper issue you're talking about above the main chop.

If I had to criticize it, I think the (relative) lack of taper from the base to the main chop is a bigger issue. If it were my tree, I'd get it into a bigger pot, then let some a leader extend on the two lowest branches

 

[Contact]

The trunk chop doesn't bother me. It's the root chop that bugs me. It's out of place on such a nice tree.

View attachment 587551

Totally agree

 

[JudyB]

I'm with everyone else about that trunk line, it's a natural looking thing, so I wouldn't fight it. Maybe a slight turn would even it out just a bit. I would put this in a wider pot and you can bury that one root and see if you can get some smaller roots to grow off the end of it, and all the other roots, so it can develop a better nebari.

 

[fredman]

I to am with everyone. Actually I don't see it as "inverse taper"....its more of a shoulder...as Rock said.
European beeches are slooow, but fun and can be very rewarding to the patient ones.

 

[Brain Treez]

This a very nice beech. The taper at the top isn’t outstanding but it’s decent. You can minimize the noticeable “shoulder” of the chop by cutting a new one that is more in line with the trunk below. That secondary chop should have been done years ago. What wouldn’t do is eliminate the existing top in favor of a new primary chop

Would this new chop be taking the corner off the "shoulder" or shaving a concave slice out of the "armpit" on the opposite side?

 

[rockm]

Would this new chop be taking the corner off the "shoulder" or shaving a concave slice out of the "armpit" on the opposite side?

Taking the corner off the shoulder

 

[CaptainJackDaniels]

thanks for the input everybody! The thickening of the lower branches is something I can easily allow for the coming seasons and I’ll be implementing it once the new buds start extending.

The roots are a mystery at the moment as I’ve not repotted the tree yet. I will be though once the buds start to swell in a few weeks. I have a few beech seedlings that I’ve had set aside with the idea to potentially do some roots grafts if the opportunity is right. Otherwise I’ll play it passively for another year or two and see what comes of potting it deeper into some fresh soil.

As for the shoulder you pointed out rock. It’s something I’d thought about early on when I first had the tree, but I eventually chalked it up to being a character of the tree. The large chop still hasn’t healed fully and cutting the shoulder down would definitely lengthen that wound. I’m considering it though now. After editing a photo and looking at it, it really would help with the taper of the tree as a whole.

I’m not afraid of making trees worse to make them better in a few years. I suppose it just chalks up to if the end tree is worth the trouble.

What does everybody think?

 

[Gabler]

I don't think you would actually get the result you're hoping to see. Enlarging wounds tends to make problems worse, not better.

 

[Wood]

Would grafting a branch into the chop area help distract from that transition? It currently seems like a bit of gap in the canopy

Also are you sure the chop site is actively healing? An early photo caught an angle and it seemed like the exposed heartwood might be a little punky, which the wound won't actually close over. If you intend to fully close that wound, you might need to dig out and refill that area with cement or epoxy

 

[CaptainJackDaniels]

Would grafting a branch into the chop area help distract from that transition? It currently seems like a bit of gap in the canopy

Also are you sure the chop site is actively healing? An early photo caught an angle and it seemed like the exposed heartwood might be a little punky, which the wound won't actually close over. If you intend to fully close that wound, you might need to dig out and refill that area with cement or epoxy

I was just looking at it this moment in the garden and considering how I’d have to dremel the deadwood down and cement over the entire thing. I’m not necessarily jumping into the idea or against it. Thanks for the heads up though. Have you had experience doing so before? I’ve healed over cut a few cuts in the past but never cemented

 

[Gabler]

I was just looking at it this moment in the garden and considering how I’d have to dremel the deadwood down and cement over the entire thing. I’m not necessarily jumping into the idea or against it. Thanks for the heads up though. Have you had experience doing so before? I’ve healed over cut a few cuts in the past but never cemented

I've heard good things about wood penetrating epoxy, too.

 

[Wood]

I've started the process a couple times in somewhat small wounds but haven't finished any wounds like that. If you do try, Meriggioli's book recommend sterilizing the wound somehow before adding filler. One of the ways is a small butane torch for cooking. This thread has a lot of details though https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/closing-wounds.47757/

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Beech heal so slowly that I would try to address the cut by choosing the front in a way that conceals it. I know you said you don’t mind setting it back a few years, but my experience with healing beech wounds is that it takes easily 3x longer than I expected. Kind of like hornbeam, beech cuts are “live with it forever” kind of cuts. Nice tree, I’d make incremental moves and let it age out gracefully, like this virt shows.