Another Chinese Elm From Treebeard...

Treebeard

Hello people,

I present yet another chinese elm for your perusal.

I saw it back in may when I visited a local bonsai supplier. I was immediately drawn to it, and could see that although it needed work, it had potential. But alas, funds were rather depleted by then, having been spent the previous weekend at another bonsai outlet. I Reluctantly left it there, but it was not forgotton.

Weeks later, I realised that the Sutton Show was quite near to the nursery in question... a couple of quick emails and a rendezvous was arranged. I came away from the show with the tree.

When I got it home, the first thing I did was clean the dirty stained pot. It had obviously languished at the back of the shelf for some time... (read on to find out why). It scrubbed up nice and the whole tree suddenly looked much better.

This is the roots. They will tidy up quite well I think.

Attached Images

elm roots.jpg (69.6 KB, 296 views)

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"Do not be hasty, that is my motto"
-JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers.
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Treebeard

It is a cork bark elm. The trunk, although straight, is very well aged.

Attached Images

elm trunk.jpg (53.4 KB, 286 views)

__________________
"Do not be hasty, that is my motto"
-JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers.
-----------------------------------
christopherguise.co.uk

Treebeard

And it has a well formed classic broom canopy.

Attached Images

elm crown.jpg (69.8 KB, 288 views)

__________________
"Do not be hasty, that is my motto"
-JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers.
-----------------------------------
christopherguise.co.uk

Treebeard

What's that? you want to see where the canopy meets the trunk? Oh all right then here it is. Now you know why it had remained unsold for some time.

Attached Images

elm join 2.jpg (63.8 KB, 288 views)

__________________
"Do not be hasty, that is my motto"
-JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers.
-----------------------------------
christopherguise.co.uk

Treebeard

The overall tree is very nice IMO, just the scary chop spoiling things.

Attached Images

elm whole.jpg (59.9 KB, 280 views)

__________________
"Do not be hasty, that is my motto"
-JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers.
-----------------------------------
christopherguise.co.uk

Treebeard

I have a couple of options.

1. carve the chop site to make it less obvious. Problem: I can't carve away the sticking out knuckles, they will always be there.

2. Air layer it all up into 6 trees. Problem: this will take several years.

What to do? Well, I have my options. But I was wondering if you guys and gals had any other ideas. Suggest away, anything goes!

Regards,

Chris / TB

__________________
"Do not be hasty, that is my motto"
-JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers.
-----------------------------------
christopherguise.co.uk

Treebeard

My 1000th post. What a load of waffle...

The options.

Regards,

TB / Chris.

Attached Images

elm options.jpg (69.6 KB, 269 views)

__________________
"Do not be hasty, that is my motto"
-JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers.
-----------------------------------
christopherguise.co.uk

Bonsai-gecko

Personally I'd try the carving first Matt. You can always air-layer later. That bark is beautiful.

I'm sure carving deeply down in the "V" like in your picture, would go along way towards impproving that chop. The knuckles would still be there like you said, but I wonder if you carve a bit deeper and also carve out a tiny bit under each knuckle, if the resulting scar tissue formation under the knuckle would help improve the appearance. You would probably have to carve out the "V" a bit more to avoid reverse taper though. I've never done it myself, but I would think you could slowly build up the area and have a more natural appearing exit.

Carl_Bergstrom

Chris,

In my opinion, the problem with the tree isn't really the chop per se. It's with the leaders that emerge from the chop.

This chop wouldn't be so terribly noticable if the foliage wasn't so far up above it like a parachute above the parachuter. If the previous artist had brought the foliage down and/or encouraged lower ramification of the new leaders, you'd already be in good shape.

Which brings me to my question: can you bend those three upward-heading branches to partially obscure the chop site? Is there any other way of inducing foliage in that region?

If not, go ahead and layer/re-chop - and make sure you don't let the post-chop growth get away from you like the previous owner did.

Best regards,
Carl

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