Broom Style Elm Renovation

K.A. Rutledge

Hi Tony,

Yes, this is kind of a lumpy tree, but the reverse taper in the trunk is due mostly to the angle. I'll be tweaking the angle on this tree in my next repotting. It's a poor excuse, but I repotted this tree quite hastily (Treebeard would not approve!) ;-) and the results embody my haste.

you wrote:


Mmmm, don't get into this habit of equating natural features with artistic ones. Reverse taper is always bad. Every flaw of bonsai artistry can be found in nature and they're virtually always bad in bonsai. Bar branches, reverse taper, large upper branches with small lower ones, etc... all of these can be found almost anywhere in nature. They're still bonsai flaws because they're not beautiful and run counter to artistic composition. Naturalistic bonsai design can be beautiful, but most often it is just poor design. It depends on the artist who is trying to produce it.

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas

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K.A. Rutledge

Hi Jay,

In general, thicker upper branches (with thin lower ones) is not good. However, what you're seeing with this tree may (or may not, depending on your taste) be different. Broom styled trees don't really have "branches" the way that other styles of trees do. With the broom, the structure is mostly multiple trunks - with branches coming off of these several trunks. It is ideal that these trunks be of varied diameter, which means that you'll get some that are lower down that are not as large as others higher up.

So far as I can tell, there is no great flaw of upper/lower branch size on this tree, but depending on how you loook at it and how you interpret the trunks/branches, there may well be.

With the restyling that I gave this tree, I moved it a bit away from the standard broom style and closer to what some call the "oak" style. I grew up in S.E. Texas and there are lots and lots of large, spreading live oaks there. This may well have influenced my styling of this particular tree.

There are broom variations that have a single, central trunk with all the branches coming off of the central trunk, and in this case, too-thick upper branches would be conspicuous and regarded as flaws.

I dunno if this helps any, but there you go. ;-)

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas

Jay

Andy, yes it does help!

I will try and get a pix up of my tree, with the larger upper branch as soon as possible. If this thread is still going. I will attach it here. Your explanation makes sense, but I have difficulty getting it into my head, what is a) by the rules... b) a flaw... c) style exceptable etc etc..... At this time, I am still drawing on my own eyes with regard to what looks right and what I enjoy..... keeping the 'rules' in mind!

anks
Jay

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K.A. Rutledge

Jay wrote:


Yes! Regardless of what the arbitrary or advisable guidelines are, they are usually beholden to this ideal. In artistry, we're all striving to make what is beautiful to us. It's just that in the beginning, learning the rules and useful compositional components helps us to work in the realm of what is generally accepted as beautiful.

Don't disregard your own eyes in the process. Just give the tried and true conventions a whirl for a while as you do it. ;-)

I look forward to seeing your trees. As they're elms, it is likely that nothing could ruin them. Time can fix most things on elms. Good luck!

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas

Emperor Fish

I thought that the word "rule" had been officially replaced with the phrase "useful artistic convention"? Shame on you Andy.

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K.A. Rutledge

Re: Rules...
Aaagh! My bad. I'll not let that contemptible term escape my fingers again! ;-)

Thanks for calling me on it. Ha! ;-)

Andy

FredL

Andy, hope we're still on speaking terms after the unpleasantness on the other thread.

If so, I'd sure appreciate any comments you have regarding suitability of broom style for fruit trees. I have collected several Chickasaw Plums and also have a small wild Black Cherry which I will be making initial styling decisions on soon. I don't really connect these types of trees with Broom Style and have a feeling the branch development just won't work for this style for them. The best fruit trees I've seen in the past seem to show lots of dead wood and branches jutting out at rather jagged angles. At the same time, the Black Cherry seems to be developing very easily and naturally into this style.

Do you have comments? I promise to maintain an appropriately deferential attitude if you will favor me with an answer.

Respectfully, Fred

K.A. Rutledge

Hi Fred,

I can't think of a reason that just about any fruit tree couldn't be grown for bonsai in the broom form. I guess the real issue would be just how hard you'd have to fight the natural tendencies of the individual speciemn's growth habit.

Most examples of good plum or cherry bonsai, at least from Japan, are as you say a bit geriatric in their design; the deadwood, the odd branch angles, the rugged appearance, etc... However, if the material lends itself to the broom style, there should be nothing at all wrong with having a go at it.

One thing that is an issue with most fruiting species is the coarse growth. Elms do so well in the broom form because they can easily acheive a very fine outer, tertiary growth. Many fruiting trees may have trouble with this or may never be able to achieve this kind of scale. This would put them into the larger sizes of bonsai for such attempts, I'd think.

Good luck.

Andy

FredL

Andy, I am thinking, also, that these species may be more prone to branches dying back than Elms. With the deadwood style and others similar to it, I don't think a branch dying back would be the disaster it would be with Broom Style.

I'm thinking I'll stay away from it.

Thanks, Fred