Odd Salvage Job

K.A. Rutledge

Carl,

I love that hackberry. I saw it in a book/mag years ago as I was just starting bonsai and it was my favorite tree. I guess I subconsciously had that one in mind when I was trying to salvage this one. Ha! I appreciate your eye here. ;-)

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
www.andyrutledge.com/
zone 8, Texas

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Carl_Bergstrom

Andy,

It's fun to hear that you knew this tree, and interesting to think that it might have played out its influence on your subconscious while you were styling / sketching this present effort of yours.

With my best regards,
Carl

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In love with trees

Jay

Andy, thanks for the insight into 'the making of' this tree. Is it possible to see the other elm, the one that went straight into a pot? I have a feeling it will show the reason for planting a tree in the ground for a few years!!! OK, planting a tree in the ground in zone 8 Texas anyway. My guess is that the other tree will show much more development but with a much smaller trunk and Nebari.

Thanks for the insight
Jay

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A Bonsai student living with his trees at N 44.37 W 77.49...
Think before you act... then think again... no good comes from rushing

FredL

Andy, thanks for an extraordinarily interesting post, directly relevant to what I've been trying to do.

Fred

Jonny D

HI Andy, this a really interesting peice that you're working on, i've a similar english elm that i planted a couple of years ago that i'm allowing to grow (if i get chance i'll go take a photo of it), i am planning to chop it and dig it this coming spring or next spring, so this thread of yours has come at just the right time for me to learn from. I'm sure yours will end up great, mine... we'll see!.

Cheers Jonny.

K.A. Rutledge

Jay,

Well, I've no photo, but the bonsai-potted brother of this elm is a shohin broom in the making. While this yard-grown one is 4" trunk and 8" nebari, the potted one (same age) is 3/4" trunk and 2.5" nebari. Yes, quite a difference.

Jonny,

Glad to hear that you've got a similar project in the works. I suggest chopping the trunk this coming spring and letting it stay in the ground for at least another year. This way, you get the rampant growth to help heal the wound and grow the strong primary branches (which you'll cut back strongly) before you put it into a training pot. Once you get it into a pot, the growth will be cut by half or more.

Best of luck!

kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
www.andyrutledge.com/
zone 8, Texas

Jonny D

Andy, thanks for the advice, I think your right, but i'll check the tree out first just to make sure its at the right point in the development to do this.

Cheers Jonny.

Craig Cowing

Thanks for posting this, Andy. It's all the encouragement I needed. Jay gave me two little Chinese Elm stubs when he moved, and I had thought about putting them in the ground, but after seeing this kind of growth that's exactly where they're going in the spring. Marvelous results. Did you fertilize at all? For me, I'll fertilize the living daylights out of them.

Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a Sunset 37

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I'm not finished yet, neither are my trees.

K.A. Rutledge

Hey Craig. Well, I fertilized only the first year. After that it was on its own. With a regular fert. regimen your trees should grow well - perhaps as well as unfertilized ones here in TX. ;-)

Best of luck with your elms!

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
www.andyrutledge.com/palaver/main.htm
zone 8, Texas