I need some advice as to how best to help, (staking and or pruning), young European Beach trees get off to a good start with respect to obtaining good form and shape in addition to avoiding any future branching problems that may ocure. In 2006 I purhcashed the following Fagus sylvatica graphs from Coenosium Garden’s: ‘ Interrputa Purpurea’, ‘Albovarriegata’, and ‘Purpurea Tricolor’. The plants are all strong. healthy and well branched with the exception of Albovarriegata (which is a shame but that’s a question for another time). My hope is that one day these trees will develop their full character and become specimens. Maybe the best thing is to do nothing; I don’t know that’s my problem.
Keep an eye out for very narrow forked trunks; these are liable to split when the tree is mature. if they occur, prune out one fork while it is still small, so as to keep a single main trunk. That single exception apart, doing nothing works well.
