Autumn work on a Korean Hornbeam

[Scott Roxburgh]

The following is a condensed version of article on http://www.bonsaitonight.com . The author, Jonas Dupuich, is an experienced Bonsai Artist from the Bay area near San Francisco, and is a member of Bay Island Bonsai. His Blog is full of clearly demonstrated techniques used to produce high quality bonsai.

I have previously posted links to Jonas' Blog before but since the forum has been a little quite lately, and considering the season, I thought I'd include this article that has also recently been republished in our Newsletter (Canberra Bonsai Society).


Hornbeam can get great Autumn colour, although some years though you can get brown.

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Korean hornbeam – December 4, 2010

Once most of the leaves on the tree turn brown, it’s time to remove them. This is true of all deciduous varieties. The sooner the interior buds are exposed to the light, the better. The process of removing old leaves varies a bit from variety to variety. Hornbeam leaves release easily when they are pulled away from the end of the shoot. As work is completed, care is taken not to wrap the petiole around the bud as this will strip away bud and leaf together.

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Pulling the leaf back, away from the end of the shoot

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Leaf removed

With the leaves gone, one can get a better sense of how the tree is developing. More than most other deciduous varieties, hornbeam ramify well with little prompting. A few days after removing the leaves, the tree was brought into the workshop for the cutback. Boon thought the tree might be full enough for show, so he took his time with the cutback.

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After removing the leaves – many new shoots appeared this year
The tree was planted in an oversize pot last winter expressly for the purpose of letting it grow for several years. If the tree does make it to show this year, it will need to be repotted in a more appropriately sized container.

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After cutback
It will be an interesting exercise to match the tree with a pot. There are many pots that could provide nice balance for the large trunk, but it will be hard to tell until they are tried together. Even if the tree is shown this year, Hornbeam bonsai look their best when they are covered with fine foliage. This tree has a long way to go – fortunately, getting there will be the fun part.

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Trunk detail

This tree also won the Akio Kondo Bonsai Award – 2011, at the BIB show - http://bonsaitonight.com/2011/01/25/aki ... ward-2011/

...And a further post on this tree (for Brett) can be found at - http://bonsaitonight.com/2011/04/15/rep ... -hornbeam/
This article is an excellent explanation of repotting an established bonsai.

[kcpoole]

Nice Scott and thanks for posting