Fagus sylvatica. a tale of two Beech.

[Grant Bowie]

Hi all,

I purchased two Beech recently that date from 1991. Apparently there were three trees that had been grown together for many years in a group and were then separated and sold individually. The third one had sold before I got there otherwise I would have bought all three.

I have been doing some reading on beech recently and have had the pleasure of working on an old beech group at the collection so I thought it was about time I had one of my own. I thought I would start and stay small so these two trees seemed to fit the bill.

Two beech Fagus sylvatica.JPG

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Beech A.JPG

Beech A. This tree turned out to have a very strong but slightly one sided root and branch structure.

Beech A after wiring, cutting and a bit of growth.JPG

It must have been on one side of the group and the now right hand side had most of the branches and the strong root as well.

beech A first trim.JPG

Aftre doing the initial wiring and cutting I potted the tree down into a nice Japanese green glazed oval pot

Anyhow this is just the start. I hope after a number of years to have a good winter viewable bonsai. I have trimmed back new growth at the strongest tips very hard to encourage back budding on branches and to also pop some buds on the trunk.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Beech B.JPG

Beech B turned out to be more problematic. The apex just went on forever so I cut it back very hard and left a stub above a branch I wanted to keep and then just crossed fingers. I shouldn't have worried as it popped a new apex stright away.

Beech B showing new apex that has popped after a hard cut back to old wood.JPG

After wiring etc I potted it into a yellowish Pat Kennedy pot.

Beech B after wiring, cutting and a bit of growth.JPG

With this tree it will take a while to get an apex of appropriate proportions and refinement.

Beech B after first trim.JPG

Grant

[Scott Roxburgh]

Great little trees Grant. It is a really nice species that is very under used in Oz.

Every spring when I see the new growth on Beech, I say to myself that I will have to find one....it never happens...maybe this is the inspiration for this year!

Thanks

[Grant Bowie]

Hi all,

Some of the wire is lightly cutting in already so I will start to take it off today.

After doing some reading I found some articles and one says defoliation is OK but most say only partial defoliation with this species.

I will do a partial defoliation only to be on the safe side.

Anyone had any experience with tree and this subject?

Grant

[Bougy Fan]

Hi Grant
Ever consider joining wee trees over in the UK and posting a question there ? I see a lot more deciduous trees over on there than here naturally.


Tony

[Grant Bowie]

Hi Grant
Ever consider joining wee trees over in the UK and posting a question there ? I see a lot more deciduous trees over on there than here naturally.


Tony

Makes sense. Still its always good to find out waht is happening abd who is doing it in OZ.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Update

IMG_6992.jpg

IMG_6997.jpg

[Haydenmc]

Looking good Grant,
How are you enjoying these? Do you find they suffer at all in hot weather?
Are you selling up or just valuing your stuff with the prices on all recent pics?

[Grant Bowie]

Looking good Grant,
How are you enjoying these? Do you find they suffer at all in hot weather?
Are you selling up or just valuing your stuff with the prices on all recent pics?

A). I am enjoying growing Beech(and Larch) a lot. They are very slow to mature but very rewarding. I am slowly bulking up the ramification to refine later on. I trim back to one leaf at the top most branches and to 2 or 3 leaves lower down. This causes back budding which is useful next year.

B). No I don't find they suffer in hot weather here as the leaves have hardened off by mid summer. They can get sunburnt if you innapropriately strip a lot of foliage in mid summer(expose soft leaves) or move into more sun at the wrong time. They do need cold weather to thrive so they are no good in Sydney or further north.

C). I did have these trees and some others for sale at our recent show and will continue to put up some of my trees for sale. I have too many and the 32 Black Pines are taking up a lot of time and space.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Hi all. This last year has been a struggle for some of my trees and my two Beech have been set back quite badly this year. One had a lot of die back in it and the other looked OK. I repotted both of them and they had suffered from root rot.

The one that had died back is now doing OK but the other one has barely started to grow.

Any body else had lack of vigoror in some trees this year; what with extreme temps and plenty of smoke it has been a year to forget. Don’t mention COVID-19 or Trump.

grant