Do you want to grow a decorative copper beech tree in your garden? Are you planning to create a copper beech hedge? Simply propagate the tree yourself. It's not difficult and doesn't take that long. How to propagate copper beeches.
How to propagate a copper beech?
Beech trees can be propagated via seeds (beechnuts) or cuttings. Seeds need to be stratified in the refrigerator for 6-8 weeks after harvest before sowing in soil. Cuttings are cut in spring and initially planted in pots.
Growing copper beech from seeds or cuttings
You can propagate a copper beech using seeds or cuttings. To do this, you need a freely growing tree from which you can get beechnuts or cuttings.
Garden trees are usually not suitable. They are often refined. The fruits are not capable of germinating. In addition, copper beech produces fewer fruits if it is cut annually.
Perhaps you will find a copper beech tree in the forest that grows unhindered. Collect the fruit or cut cuttings.
How to sow beechnuts
The fruits of the copper beech each contain two to four beechnuts. Remove these and put them in the refrigerator for six to eight weeks. The seeds have an inhibition of germination, which must be overcome by stratification, i.e. a cold phase.
Place the seeds in small pots with loose garden soil and cover them. It's better to grow the seeds indoors, otherwise mice and birds will attack them.
The first leaves will appear by next spring. Do not water the young copper beeches too heavily. It is best to plant them in the intended place in the garden in autumn.
Propagation of copper beech via cuttings
- Cut cuttings in spring
- remove lower leaves
- place in pots with garden soil
- keep slightly moist
- plant in the garden after sprouting
For cuttings, choose eight to twelve centimeter long shoots that are two years old. They shouldn't be completely woody yet, but they shouldn't be completely green either.
Remove the lower leaves before placing the cuttings in pots filled with garden soil. Place the pots on the terrace and protect them from snails.
As soon as the cutting has several new leaves, it is further cared for in the garden.
Tip
Some years no fruit at all ripens on a copper beech tree, while in other years countless beechnuts are produced. These years are called mast years by gardening professionals. They ensure that the beech can reproduce in the wild.
