Silver birch progression

[mds_1978]

Hey everyone. I did some wiring on a silver birch a couple of days ago, so I thought I'd post some progression pics. I originally bought it in 2013 as a seedling and just let it grow for several years before trying any kind of work on it.

I've settled on a weeping style, and I'm pretty pleased how it's turning out. I'm on the lookout for a more sympathetically coloured pot, and this season I'll be repotting and improving the planting angle & working on the ramification.

The upper branches got away from me a bit last year and thickened more than I would have liked, so I'm planning to pinch them out pretty quickly and let the lower branches grow out and thicken.

Any critique very welcome.

June 2018


April 2019


June 2020


March 2021


June 2021


2 February 2022


4 February 2022

 

[19Mateo83]

Nice progression on this one and I like the wiring job. Nicely done!

 

[Shibui]

The trunk is starting to get mature bark. Love the change from immature to mature bark colors.
What time of year do you prune branches. I've had issues with branches I've pruned dying right back to the trunk. New shoots, usually a whole cluster round the base of the dead branch, grow but it is frustrating to be constantly starting on structure again and again.

 

[mds_1978]

Nice progression on this one and I like the wiring job. Nicely done!

Thank you.

The trunk is starting to get mature bark. Love the change from immature to mature bark colors.
What time of year do you prune branches. I've had issues with branches I've pruned dying right back to the trunk. New shoots, usually a whole cluster round the base of the dead branch, grow but it is frustrating to be constantly starting on structure again and again.

I can't remember when I've done major pruning to be honest, but I've read that birch are prone to die back quite badly and that the best time to do large scale pruning in when they are actively growing in spring & summer.

That's one of the reasons I went for a weeping style - if a branch does die off it's not too much work to train another to replace it.

 

[mds_1978]

Quick update on this one, repotted and growing well at the moment.

 

[BarkLeafTrees]

Quick update on this one, repotted and growing well at the moment.

View attachment 432304

What a great example of a birch! What’s the overall height?

 

[mds_1978]

What a great example of a birch! What’s the overall height?

Thank you!

It's 42cm above the top of the pot.

 

[hinmo24t]

damn nice

 

[p_anova]

Eeesh, that looks very good. You sure you are a sapling?

 

[BobbyLane]

nice one, youve done really well with that. I have one growing on in the ground, they thicken really fast, even in a flowerpot if just left to grow.
Mine is B pendula, doesnt quite have the change in bark yet, it produces catkins every year.
few images here https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/betula-pendula-silver-birch.39513/

 

[Colorado]

Wow, beautiful birch!

 

[AJL]

Lovely tree - youve done a great job on this- but remember Birch are short lived pioneer species !

 

[mds_1978]

Thank you everyone for the kind words. This is definitely one of my favourite trees in terms of the progression from very raw material to something I'm quite proud of.

It's due a trim and some wire soon, so I'll post some more photos when I've done that.

Also, does anyone have any tips on getting wounds to heal more quickly? This tree has a couple of large cuts that are slowly getting there, but I'd like to know if there's anything else I can do. I've been scraping the edge of the callouses in spring and then mid summer and then applying cut paste.

 

[mds_1978]

After a trim and a wire yesterday, very happy with how it's looking.