Elms on a slab

node

This was my first attempt at a forest. It consists of 11 Chinese elms on a mica slab.
The forest was created during a workshop outing of our Dutch forum to Deshima Bonsai.

The trees used in the project I bought together with the slab at Lodder bonsai. They are a group of cheap mallsai elms selected especially for this project. Took me about half an hour to trawl through about 10.000 little elms for a handfull of trees without the typical "S" curves, but in the end I think it was worth it.

The overall design and placement of trees is mine, Teunis Jan Klein from Deshima helped me cross t's and dot i's. A great teacher. Altogether I'm reasonably pleased with the result.

Stefan

p.s. Again the angle of the pictures is certainly not optimal, otherwise there would not be any overlapping trunks. The angle of the workshop image is better.

Attached Images

	Elm_Forest_01.jpg (69.1 KB, 388 views)
	Elm_Forest_02.jpg (64.5 KB, 338 views)
	Maart06_Lodder_Bonsai_02.jpg (56.6 KB, 251 views)

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Boat

I am by no means an expert on bonsai. But this looks pretty good to me. I like the look of maturity in the trees. I also think that you have done well with the movement of the trees. By this i mean that the trees in the centre are more upright and the ones on the right and left move outwards as though trying to move towards more sunlight. There also appears to be pretty good ramification in the trees you have found. If anything, I would suggest thickening up the canopy on the left hand side just a little.

But like I said I am no expert and I am just a student. I would like to see if anyone concurs with my thoughts on your project. And if you dont agree with anything I have said please say so. How long did this project take you to put together?

Boat

Actually forget what I said about the left side. It makes it look natural.

Treebeard

Hello node,

That is a really captivating little forest. Excellent work on your first attempt.

Well worth trawling through all the S curved trees for the straight ones.

If it was mine I'd probably put some moss on the soil, not a full edge-to-edge coverage, just a few green patches near the edges or the bases of the trunks. That's just my owm personal preference though.

Regards,

Chris.

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node

By now, this has already been taken care of

Just a shame that I can't really post a more up to date pic, the other ones were from June.

The piece is so large I'm very limited in where I can put it. So by now it's not only had it's roots molested in summer, which being an elm from a greenhouse would have been o.k. by itself, it has also spent one month in the blazing sun at 90+F/30+C degrees and another month wet in the rain. Altogether it is now obviously looking decidedly ratty and is enjoying a spell of spot disease/fungus elms are known for as well as playing host to a horde of hungry thrips.

Weirdly enough, considering the density of plants I have in little space, it's the only thing affected by any kind of bug this year. I'm treating it with a fungicide, but it's going to be spring before it'll look good enough for a pic again.

I think Thomas J. was spot on in his thread about black spot on elms. The only other elm I have is still looking green and lucious, and it looked just as ratty last year. Keep 'em dry if you can.

Stefan

Attached Images

Elm_Forest_03.jpg (63.1 KB, 153 views)

__________________
Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform. - Mark Twain
Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right. - Isaak Asimov
The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. - Bertrand Russell

Ralph

Stefan,

I hope you suceed in curing your elm forest's ills. It is a magnificiently captivating first forest. Excellent job! I too, will be building my first forest from a slab and chinese elms here soon. You have set the bar for me!

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Emerging from winter slumber
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IdahoBonsai

What are the dimension particulars on this forest? Please include the trees as well as the slab. I am working on growing some Seiju elms for the same purpose. I have 24" X 18" rectangular pot I will be putting mine in.

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South Central Idaho

PatArizona

G'day Stefan...

I would be proud to have what you have as my first attempt at a forest...

It's a gem in the making...

Pat

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node

I guess, just because you're creating a forest, doesn't mean that the individual trees shouldn't be as developed as possible.

The slab was a lucky find and I decided then and there I would like to create a forest. Mallsai elms come in all different shapes and sizes and they are very cheap, so they were the obvious choice for this project.

The shape of the slab already partially dictates the general shape of the forest. So essentially the whole things was done backa**wards. First the pot, then the design, and lastly the trees.

It did allow me to concentrate fully on selecting the trees I would need for the forest design, as well as the placement of the trees during the workshop.

I think this is mostly why it turned out as good as it did.

Oh yes, some measurements....

The length of the slab is 90cm/35", width: 30cm/12".
The inside is somewhat smaller at 75cm/30" by 21cm/8"
The height of the whole thing is 30cm/12"

The slab looks like a solid piece of granite, but being mica, the weight is very reasonable, and I can easily carry it around if need be. Also the mica does not appear to store heat as easily as stone would, so it doesn't get all that warm, even standing in the full sun.

Otherwise thank you for your comments! Is there anything you would do differently, or anything you think I could do to further the design? What do you think the canopy should look like in a few years time? I'm just a beginner, I can't believe there's nothing left to improve here.

Stefan

__________________
Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform. - Mark Twain
Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right. - Isaak Asimov
The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. - Bertrand Russell