A year-and-a-half ago, I started working on a Korean hornbeam by removing a few branches and repotting the tree (see “Defining the branch structure” for details).
After pruning and repotting, January, 2020
I let the tree grow freely last year to gain strength after an extensive repot. Here’s the tree last July.
July, 2020
By fall, the tree still hadn’t grown much.
November, 2020
I don’t do much work when trees are growing slowly. As a result, I did little pruning beyond removing the longest shoots.
After removing the old leaves
After reducing long shoots
Giving the tree a break last year made more new growth possible this year. By June, the tree was ready for light pruning.
Korean hornbeam – June, 2021
After reducing the longest shoots, I applied wire to the primary branches.
After pruning and wiring, 36″
I’ll let the tree grow freely through summer and prune again in fall when the leaves turn color. Once the tree shows signs of stronger growth, I’ll cut back harder so I can make improvements to the branch structure.
These initial steps can be slow, but as soon as the tree starts putting on more growth, I expect the pace of development to speed up.