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Hi Iris, for dwarf cultivars I wouldn't chop them. I wouldn't say they
are likely to be delicate in anything other than appearance. Selectively
prune so the structure can be seen and leave plenty of low sacrifice
branches.

Betula tend to shed branches anyway but they also shoot new ones from
old bark. Sun and wind seem to be the answer to them "whiting up". Once
they begin to peel the orange layer you can speed things along by
gingerly removing sections by hand peeling. I've not grown Trosts Dwarf,
but do know it tends to form a low dome like a Japanese Mountain Maple
which will probably slow down the whitening process unless you expose
areas to sunlight. Someone else may be able to give you more specifics.

Again I don't grow Hally Jolivette but have P. incisa 'Kojo-No-Mai' on
its own roots. This tends to sucker from the base a lot. They are easily
removed and grow quickly into new plants - 1 foot in a couple of years.
Very good as a reliable flowering garden shrub, while you await
thickening.

Cheers

Kev Bailey
Vale Of Clwyd, North Wales


I have all these great bonsai books with lots of stuff, but when I have
a
specific question I can never find the answer. ;-(
I have two babies recently sent from ForestFarm, Betula 'Trost's Dwarf'
and
Prunus 'Hally Jolivette.' They are healthy and a couple of feet tall,
but the
trunks are no thicker than a chopstick. Obviously they are going into
the
ground for a couple of years. The birch needs to stay in the ground
until the
bark gets white, I should live so long. Since these are both dwarf
cultivars, a
little delicate, & probably slow growing, the question is: should I
trunk chop
them? The trunks already have a slight modicum of taper, but the main
effort is
to get them to thicken up. For this purpose, should I leave the tops as
tall as
they are?

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