I collected these Cedar elms with the idea in mind of making a forest planting with them. I had two pots of them, and figured on being able to make a five-tree forest.
Ultimately I decided they were better suited to making two three-tree groups. So I ended up with this composition as one of those bonsai-to-be.
All this is is the basic composition of the bonsai.
What does that mean?
With group plantings, the selection and placement of trees is extremely important. Spacing, trunk movement, trunk height, location of foliage, all of these factors go into making a believable forest. And when you’re working with only a few trees, each one becomes that much more important.
The first stage of making a bonsai out of these trees was completed with the planting itself. I could have wired the trees in advance of potting them up, but I knew their locations in the pot would dictate, at least in part, where the branches ended up going (and which branches I utilized). So I didn’t worry about any detailed styling at this point.
The next step came not too long after the first.
With a first round of wiring, the forest begins to come into focus. Now they’re not just trees with random growth. There’s planning that will lead to a naturalistic appearance.
Fast-forward about five weeks and here’s the current state of development. You can probably guess I left the composition alone. It has food, and the sun and water happened pretty much on its own (the latter since it’s rained every day for several weeks now). The trees are strong, and now it’s time for the next step.
Some trimming and wiring was all it took to continue the progress of this bonsai. Note that these trees were lifted from the ground on April 22nd. They had budded in a week, pushed a lot of growth by early July, and quickly became a small forest shortly thereafter. A month later I had a nice branch set on all of the trees, ramification on some, and the need to trim off excess growth. Not bad for such a compressed timeframe.
I don’t expect to do any more trimming on this tree for the remainder of the growing season. That time is now past. I will keep a close watch on the wire, as the coming fall will see biting on these trees and lots of others. Next spring, my design for this group will be well set, and I should be limited to grow and clip for detailed work.
If this forest bonsai speaks to you, it’s available at our Cedar Elm Bonsai page. I think it’s going to be an outstanding bonsai in just a couple of years.
What a great group of Cedar Elms. They seem to have a wonderful life before them. I think that you are right in the clip and grow method for maybe the next two years. Should cause many small branch growth.
I have just received a triple trunk Shimpahu Juniper and this will be my first try at a small forest
with a connecting root system. Should be fun and challenging.
Cna.t wait to see yours in a few years.