Red beeches with their colorful red-brown foliage also look good as bonsai. The tree is very easy to cut and can be cut into almost any shape you want. Tips for caring for copper beeches as bonsai.
How do you care for a copper beech tree as a bonsai?
To care for a copper beech as a bonsai, you should water it regularly, fertilize it and place it in a sunny location. Repot about every two years and cut before budding and in June to achieve the desired shape.
Growing copper beech as a bonsai
All bonsai shapes are possible with copper beech. In addition to the simple forest style, double trunks and multiple trunks also look very decorative.
Choose a sufficiently large bowl that must have good drainage. The copper beech does not tolerate waterlogging. Apply a thin drainage layer.
A bonsai mixture of humus, akadama (€12.00 on Amazon) and lava rock is suitable as a plant substrate.
How to achieve a beautiful bonsai shape
The copper beech is repotted every two years. The root ball is shortened more. The best time for repotting is early spring.
Cut the copper beech into shape before it sprouts. Shorten the branches so that a piece of branch one centimeter long remains above each eye.
The copper beech sprouts again in June. These shoots, called St. John's shoots, are removed completely.
How to care for your bonsai copper beech tree
- Water regularly
- fertilize
- don't put it in too much shade
The root ball must never dry out completely. Water regularly, but be sure to avoid waterlogging.
From the moment it sprouts, the bonsai in the pot needs regular fertilizer. A long-term fertilizer is just as good as a fertilizer that is given weekly.
In a very shady spot, the bonsai will develop larger leaves. Therefore, place the copper beech in a location that is as sunny as possible.
Be careful when wiring
As long as the shoots are still young, you can shape the bonsai copper beech into the desired shape by wiring it. Be careful when doing this as the bark is easily damaged. To be on the safe side, wrap them with raffia before wiring.
Older shoots can only be wired under great pressure. There is a risk that the wire will grow in. It is better to avoid wiring these branches in order not to damage the bonsai.
Tip
Beech trees are hardy, even as bonsai. However, you should protect the bowl from frost if you overwinter the bonsai copper beech outside. Alternatively, you can take them out of the shell and plant them in the garden until spring.