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are my beeches ok?

last month

I have several dawyck green beech trees that were planted about 5 years ago. They seem to be growing and thriving well. They are all about 15-20’ tall now. But they are all, well, floppy. Is this normal? My wife wanted me to tie them up. I don’t know, will this help, or is it even necessary? Thanks for any advice you can give.

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Comments (5)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last month
They look pretty normal to me, considering they are so cramped and confined. They are incredibly close to the house. They are about 1/3 of their potential height at the moment and they broaden with age.
kdotb
Original Author
last month
I guess that’s what you get when you know nothing and trust local garden centers

Thanks for the help
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more leaves means more food production.. means faster root growth.. means faster to getting 'established' ... cutting off leaves.. or branches.. is counter productive at this time ... in a year or two.. it will have a good enough root mass for you to start shaping it into what you want ... make sense ??? be patient.. you just planted it.. you didnt really expect the screen to happen upon planting.. did you ... ken
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Yeah these aren't the most forgiving plants, but there's no harm in trying. "Heel it in" in a shadier than would be optimal spot, after a couple years recovery you can always move it again. Tease the roots out and water but do not overwater. If any of it were still green (or purple!) I'd be more confident you could save it, usually plants have a way of "orderly killing off" their branches to try to save their own lives. (way over anthropomorphizing, but the analogy is useful) when the last leaf turns brown, that's often the end. If it's any consolation it's very easy to misjudge that if you think something was getting rained on...in fact that reminds me I need to go water now since we got stiffed in the last 48 hours of convection! Also you have to remind yourself that the amount of water that lasted x days in late April is now lasting 0.3x.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last month
agree completely.. part of the maturation process as it widens ...

because it is so close to the house.. you might want to consider removal ...

ken
kdotb
Original Author
last month
Is there any concern of damage to my house or foundation? Or is it more that the tree will suffer and not grow well?
davidrt28 (zone 7)
29 days ago
last modified: 29 days ago
TBH, both, but neither is the main concern in my opinion. Trees won't damage a truly sound foundation but this looks like an historic property so the possibility of it having a weak spot is higher. But even if that isn't the case you are going to end up with a tree that is essentially being espalied along a building surface that really isn't suitable for that. Would have made more sense to plant, well, only 1 in the space pictured, and plant it at least a couple meters away from building.

What I find more compelling is how you got them this big in only 5 years. Either they were very large and expensive when planted, or you fertilized the heck out of them and lived in some part of the world with ideal conditions for their fast, but not necessarily durable, growth. ALL of the grafted beeches I've bought for my garden over the last 15 years had knotted roots. I managed to save some in time, not others. Were these B&B or container grown? Either way, unless you that was addressed, it's another possible ticking timebomb. Although I would tend to assume they do not have the problem, if they leapt forward with > 2' of growth each year. What I found with my beeches is they grew barely at all with knotted roots, and took off when I corrected the problem. Because their roots could then branch out into the surround soil for the water and nutrients needed for growth. But if u were dumping water and fertilizer on them for the past 5 years and they could just keep growing a bigger 'knot', maybe that explains this seemingly fast growth.

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