Actually, that's not totally accurate... I am always well pleased with my beautiful fern leaf beeches as they look great in all seasons. They look their best when allowed to remain branched all the way to the ground, but I just don't have the room for that... besides, it's provides a great place to grow hellebores. I have a second small one in the center of the rock garden that will eventually provide needed shade there.
As you may recognize in the second photo, our son has been helping us do a lot of pruning the past couple weeks. We've also removed several trees as well. I am slowly accepting the fact that with time, this is only the beginning of the eventual need for culling. One tree that won't be going is this wonderful fernleaf beech, just beginning to take on its wonderful fall coloration.
I'm also very pleased with the fall color on my little 'Tamukeyama' japanese maple... can't wait until it gains some size since it makes a nice combo with the beech.
Here are a couple attributes of the fern leaf beech...
a. hardy zones 5-7 ok ... no problem there...
b. slow growth rate (thank goodness!!) to as much as 45' by 80' in height.... yipes!
That's big and I really don't have problem with that.... I'm willing to take down the neighboring spruce and some arborvitaes... good bye crab apples... no big deal there... although it does create some problems with the layering effect I discussed in my last post.
My one hesitation is that a really nice specimen of a Purple Fountains weeping beech is way too close to the fernleaf as witnessed in the photo below... I may just let these two fight it out as I can't bear to part with either one! Afterall, what looks great this year may be totally out of place fifteen years down the road. I just hope that I'm around to make these tough decisions for many years to come... until then I'll simply enjoy what I have and adjust where I can... take care, Larry
