Birch Bonsai. Easy When You Know How!
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- Betula/Birch bonsai are another difficult species despite being an easily obtainable native UK tree species.
Known for being a fast growing tree, they have a bad reputation for dying back easily. In this video I discuss how to avoid them losing branches and how to style them. It's very easy when you know how!
Featured trees include a Silver Birch (Betula pendula) imported from Poland, planted in a pot by Adam Luczak, and with me as a commission, plus a Silver Birch I collected in early 2018 planted in a pot by Victor Harris of Erin Pottery.
Note that information within this video safely applies to Betula pendula/Silver Birch and Betula pubescens/Downy Birch. Although it is likely that the same techniques and timing apply to US Betula natives, I can't guarantee this.
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My bonsai books Bonsai Inspirations I and Bonsai Inspirations 2 describe these techniques in much greater detail than is possible on video and are available from bonsai4me.com/s...
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Short, sharp and straight to the point!! How much experience you managed to share in just 8min 29 was amazing. Thank you Harry!
Thank you for this informative video. I was gifted about a dozen young birch a few years back and have made a birch forest and letting others grow. I wish you'd made this earlier! There are so few videos about birch bonsai. I really like them but I find mine are not heavily leafed and they also get attacked by ants. Anyhow, great to see those beautiful trees of yours. Very inspiring 😊
Two absolutely stunning Birch trees Harry , the Silver birch has long been my favourite tree to photograph in my landscape photography days , they have character with the beautiful gnarled trunk and in autumn they are simply stunning, great video once again Harry thank you for sharing your shills with us 🌲🌳
Thank you John!
My Favorite Specie in Canada. Excellent information Thanks Harry.
Northern Ontario here !
👍🇨🇦
Superb! Packed with excellent information- thanks Harry!
what an excellent video. Thanks!
A Betula was my 1. Tree and my 1.born has silver birch as his life tree, the info in this video is so high level i got realy happy to see someone with this level of knowhow on birch
They are worth pursuing! Glad you enjoyed
Thank you. You've inspired me to start a weeping white birch..Great video. Very informative.
👍🇨🇦
I'm glad to see this video. Every time I have asked someone advise on birch people told me I shouldn't invest time in it because the tree is 'finnicky'. Which you also confirmed but also presented (very clearly!) the nuances and tips to MAKE it work nonetheless! Great video and thanks for the information. That silver birch is fantastic. Very natural looking!👏
Really appreciate your comment Tim, makes the effort worthwhile! Cheers
Thanks for the advice Harry! I'm starting to grow some birch from seed so this will be an invaluable reference as I start to develop the branches.
Very informative. Thanks for the video.
Always top notch content Harry. Info packed without giving viewers a migraine 🙏
🤣🤣 thank you!
Thanks for the straight forwards tips on birch! Amazing trees you showed here!
Thanks for sharing the video! Have a blessed day.
Interesting, thank you for posting
Thank for inspiration.. Im from indonesia
Very informative video. Lovely trees.
terima kasih sangat menginspirasi salam dari Indonesia.
This is looking fantastic!
Thank you Michelle
멋짐니다.잘보았어요.
Thanks Harry great advice and video glad I watched it as I was going to do a lot of work on my birches which will have to wait till next year now which if good for the tree is good for me
Thank you!
Once again you have extended my knowledge, Harry. Fantastic trees and a wealth of information. As always, thank you very much! May I ask, are you demonstrating on both days at the Bonsai Live Show in Telford? I want to make sure that I get there on the correct day if you are only demonstrating on one of the days.
Thank you! Appreciated!
I’ll be demonstrating on both days at BonsaiLive on a huge yew bonsai that I’m currently carving in preparation. There will be a couple of posts concerning this later today in my social media feeds
Really interesting thank you Harry. I have saved a tree from the corner of a nursery, I think its some form of birch though the trunk is 4 inches across it is not white. The pendula branches are naturally very tight to the trunk, which makes me question it though the leaves when out are like a birch. I will treat it carefully.
Absolutely great!
Do you have a wisteria in you collection? I think it’s a very nice bonsai tree but it’s not too popular
Not at the moment but a wonderful species!
What a fantastic video - but I would expect nothing less from someone of your knowledge and experience. I love Birch and have a couple of smaller yamadori examples. I am careful with them for fear of dieback but your explanation of why this happens has helped me. One of them does have a developing hollow where the trunk has divided and I am trying to decide if I should clean out the inside and fill it with a putty or resin. if you have time to reply i would love an answer. Thank you for this video.
Thank you 🙏 Xavier! I would suggest using cyanoacrylate/superglue to save what remaining wood there is. Don’t try to hide the dieback but embellish it. Look for my video on cyanoacrylate/saving deadwood for further information
@@bonsai4me2 perfect. Just the answer i wanted and i will go and watch the video later. Thank you for replying so quickly.
Hi Harry, thanks for another great video. When would be the best time to collect silver birch? If they dislike pruning in early spring is it wise to wait before collecting them?
Я из России , берёза великолепна , супер !! ❤
Harry, is it possible to air layer a birch?
Birch sap is good stuff to drink :)
I’ve never tried.
@@bonsai4me2 they airlayer readily.
It is! ;)
Very easy to tap a mature tree in early Spring and gather enough without any harm. It is high in antioxidants , magnesium, and manganese amongst other good things. I drank it often whilst staying with friends in Belarus many years ago.
Be sure to seal any wounds you make upon the tree because they are liable to infection.
Top video mate, I’m wanting to collect something similar to the 2nd one myself….. have been reading the collecting yamadori article on your website, am I right in saying I can collect it autumn onwards or should I wait till spring now?
You can collect in October/November, but do any chopping/pruning asap
Already chopped it early summer mate, I was gonna trench it but with such the dry weather we’ve had in the south I’ve just left it be and just been feeding and watering when I can…. Once again top channel and your wisdom is most appreciated 🙇🏼♂️
Thank you Harry, very useful video. I`m from Bulgaria.
I have good trunk and a branch wich I want to use like a new leader. How close I can chop the trunk to the branch, should I left some space for dieback? Now is 1st Augst is it a good time for cuting the trunk?
None of the large silver birch in my area have dropping branches, the lowest branches are horizontal the higher ones grow up, (the higher in the tree the more up they grow). Are their different types of birch some with dropping branches and some without. Or do you just like the style and don't care about making it look like a natural tree?
As I mention in the video, old birch trees around where I live grow upwards and then cascade under their own weight.
Whereas in other climates, they also have the upright growth but no drop. They will also have less extension of the shoots and shorter internodes. Basically they don’t produce enough growth each year to weigh the branches downwards.
Hi Harry,
I just found your videos today and I have so many questions. Lol. I live in New Brunswick, Canada 🍁 and I’ve been attempting to create bonsai for a couple years now. Well last year a lot of my trees died because it was so cold. It can go as low as -30 with the windchill here. I have them in a greenhouse with no heat thinking they’d be ok. How should I store my bonsai during the cold Canadian winters? I don’t want to have to replace trees every year and they’d some that I absolutely love so I want to protect them properly. What should I do?
Kim🇨🇦🍁
Welcome Kim. You really need to have a chat to your local club, those temps are way below what I have experienced. I’ve seen Canadians burying trees in the ground, in cellars, all kinds of things and I couldn’t advise!
Ok thanks for replying I appreciate it. 😊
Kim🇨🇦🍁
I had the same problem here in Norway. I lost a few trees the first year when i started out. I store my trees in a garage near a window. The garage is not heated, but the trees have survived the past three winters like this.
How often do you water them? I’m worried I’ll water them to much or not enough?
@@kimrichardson8376 i cant remember exactly, but i dont think i watered more than 5 or 6 times through the winter. I put them inside in mid november, and brought them outside early april. We didnt have the coldest winter last season. I think we only had about -20 for about a week. Other than that, it was steady between -5 to -10 in january to mid february. I live at 63° north in Norway.
Hello Harry. So do I understand correctly that the main problem of birch is cutting too late? Should the birch be cut earlier so that any wounds heal before winter? I'm from Poland, what time would you suggest to cut at the right time?
𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔪 🏃
Bonjour Harry j ai beaucoup apprécier la vidéo j ai pris note des conseils sur mon petit carnet .Moi je faisais la taille de structure au debourement a la première pousse bien ou pas bien