Chinese Elm | Bonsai South

Spring Work – Potting And Repotting

by Zach Smith | Mar 4, 2018 | Bald Cypress, Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Potting, Pruning, Soil

The beat goes on. As I mentioned yesterday, spring is the time when you need to do all sorts of things all at once. One of those things is potting. Another, related, is repotting. Here are today’s subjects.

Here’s my Chinese elm, Ulmus parvifolia, that you can learn more about on its Progression page. Last fall, I decided that this view of the tree didn’t really show it off to best advantage. I liked the one below better.

Better trunk movement, better tapering transition, all in all just better. Today it was time to turn it in the pot.

I took off only enough root to fit the tree in the pot, including a small amount at the bottom of the root mass to allow for a little drainage layer (till the roots grow down into that area, of course). The tree won’t mind this at all.

Tied down and filled in with fresh soil. As you may be able to see, the tree is leafing out. I prefer to do my work on Chinese elms when the buds are swelling, not in the dead of winter. I also lift them from the growing beds at this time.

Here’s a two-tree Bald cypress planting I got from a fellow grower last fall. I figured it would make a nice composition more or less as-is. Today it was time to make this happen.

I happened to have this antique Tokoname tray on the shelf, and I thought it would complement these two trees very well.

A good bit of root had to go, in order to fit these two trees into the tray properly. I also took off a lot of the upper parts of the trees. That should help balance things.

Here they are, placed in the tray.

And the tray filled in with soil. These trees are already budding, and I don’t anticipate potting them will delay their growth too much. In a couple of weeks, they should be filled out pretty well.

Note:

Comments are closed. Remember to use the new Insider’s Club Form to post your questions and comments. This helps everybody learn and help and this is where I am now posting responses to your inquires and comments. (You’ll find the forum by scrolling up; it’s on your right.)

Winter Work – Design Evaluation

by Zach Smith | Dec 16, 2017 | Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Styling

We tend to hunker down in winter, since our bonsai aren’t growing and the weather is often miserable. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make progress with our bonsai. In fact, once the leaves on our deciduous trees have fallen, we have an ideal opportunity to see the “bones” of the tree and evaluate/re-evaluate the design.

Image 1

I’ve been working on this Chinese elm, Ulmus parvifolia, for a few years now. It has reached a pleasing point in the design process. The lower part of the tree, all the way to the crown area, is essentially done. The ramification has really advanced over the past year, and I’m actually going to need to thin the tree somewhat in late winter. I’m not complaining about that, mind you. As for the crown, the “bones” of it are taking shape and I expect it to fill out completely within the next two growing seasons. All in all, this tree is coming along beautifully.

Note: Look at the tree BELOW here and read that text. Then, scroll back up to the top of the screen as you will be asked to compare the images as shown (Image 1 & Image 3).

Image 3

Next we turn the tree another 90°, to view the left side. This presents us with an obvious, though minor and easily fixed, problem. Notice that the back of the tree (to your left in this photo) does not extend as far out as the front does. As a rule, your bonsai should have greater extension in the back than in the front. Granted it’s not too pronounced here, but I definitely need to trim back the branches extending toward the viewer.

Now for the really important question. Do you notice anything unusual about the tree when viewing it from this angle? Take a few seconds and compare this photo with the one to your left. As I studied them, one very significant thing just leapt out at me, namely, the trunk line has much more character and interest when viewed from this angle. Notice the subtle curve that progresses from soil to apex. Notice how the curve becomes more dramatic once you get into the crown area. And notice that the tapering transition appears much smoother.

The obvious problem with viewing the tree from this angle is one, the placement of the branches, and two, the fact that the crown moves away from the viewer. For this particular tree, that problem would be very hard to overcome if I planned to make this the new front. But … maybe there’s no need to. Why not just turn the tree 180°?

Image 2

When you study your trees, you have to take the time to consider them from all angles. Now, most trees are not “360°” bonsai, meaning they don’t look equally good from all angles. This is not a problem. Pretty much all bonsai have a definitive front, and with good reason. So you build the tree with this in mind, in accordance with the various rules.

Here’s the back of this Chinese elm. Nothing wrong with the tree from this angle, that some judicious pruning won’t fix in a couple of months.

Image 4

Voila! From this angle, not only does the crown move toward the viewer, I have a workable set of branches in the lower part of the tree. I still have the subtle curve of the trunk, and the curves I’ve built in the crown look very nice. I even have a better-looking set of branches in the crown to work from, when viewed from this angle.

It won’t be too much trouble to re-position this tree in its pot come spring. And that will make my design a whole lot better.

Do you agree with this change? Let me know what you think.

Fall Color And Reflection

by Zach Smith | Dec 2, 2017 | Bald Cypress, Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Oaks

As the year draws to a close, it’s nice to spend some time reflecting on this year’s growing season and how it impacted our bonsai. Was it a good year? What new things did you learn? What surprises (good or bad) popped up? It’s for sure that you never stop learning in the wonderful art and hobby of bonsai. Bonsai South has had a great year, and thanks to all of you who helped make it that way. I’m really excited about 2018, which should be even better. Watch for new collected trees early next year. So we don’t get too much fall color here in the very Deep South, so it’s always super nice to see something among my bonsai. Here are a few trees that have over-performed (even if only a bit).

Cedar Elm - Ulmus Crassifolia

This Cedar elm, Ulmus crassifolia, is living here until it heads off to a client next spring (2018). Isn’t the color delightful?.

Chinese Elm - Ulmus Parvifolia

This Chinese elm, Ulmus parvifolia, has been in development a few years now. I’m working on building out the crown, and making good progress. I’m a couple of years away from getting it to look right. This tree has had a somewhat tough year in 2017, coping with a bout of black spot. It’s a fairly common problem with Chinese elm, but not too hard to manage. Most of the leaves are off the tree now, but I have some attractive yellow ones still left. They’ll be gone within a week.

Bald Cypress - Taxodium Distichum

This tree produces a really lovely “glowing” rust color in the fall. There’s not a lot of foliage on this one, but you can’t argue with how attractive it is. As with the Chinese elm above, this one will be bare within a week.

Willow Oak

Finally, here’s Rip Van Winkle, my late-budding Willow oak (Quercus phellos). I left it alone this year to grow out, as it appeared to be sluggish. Hopefully it will have regained all of its strength by the 2018 growing season. I got some unexpected color from it, so thought I would share.

Did You Enjoy?

I hope you’ve had a great bonsai year, and that your trees are thriving. Remember we’re always here to help out however we can!

Learn To Build Better Bonsai

We love making great bonsai and we love helping others with trees and training. Sign up today!

I Continue To Be Amazed – Here’s The Latest

by Zach Smith | Aug 8, 2017 | Chinese Elm, Elms, Potting, Wiring

Bonsai stories don’t usually develop all that quickly, bonsai being largely a matter of time and what you do here and there along the way. But this one has been something.

Here’s the Chinese elm I lifted on 7/29, five days later on 8/3, showing buds already.

Here it is today, 10 days out of the ground (and directly placed in a bonsai pot to boot).

It looks like I’ll have shoots to work with in a few weeks, at which time I’ll go ahead and wire some branches. The trunk of this tree is so neat, I don’t see how I can go wrong with the design.

Stay tuned for updates. It looks like they’ll be coming closer together than usual.

I’m Happy With This Chinese Elm, But Really Perplexed

by Zach Smith | Aug 3, 2017 | Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Potting

As you know, I love to push the envelope in bonsai. I’ve always been a curious sort, and I ended up being a scientist for the first part of my work career, so my doing bon-science now should hardly come as a surprise. I like to try stuff, what can I say?

Part of the “canon” of bonsai is that you only collect certain trees at certain times of the year. Well, I’ve already done in part of the canon because I collect my Sweetgums in May and June, and don’t hesitate to collect American elms from winter through summer. I’ve had success collecting oaks in summer, along with Cedar elms. So you really don’t know until you try.

This post is about Chinese elm, Ulmus parvifolia, so let’s get to the point. First of all, Chinese elm is one of the very best species for bonsai – with the qualifier that you shouldn’t buy an “S-curve” Chinese elm, which is a crime against nature, so get one from me if you can. Anyway, I field-grow them to size. Last Saturday I decided to lift one I’ve had in the ground for three or four years, because it had the requisite number of direction and taper changes, in this case four. I literally built this tree from the ground up. Here it is, after lifting, washing, dusting the cut ends of the lateral roots, and pottin

It’s pretty awesome. No S-curve here. From the terrific nebari up into the trunk, the taper, the movement, it’s got a super start. As with all deciduous trees I work with, it’s at “ground zero.” That means I start with a bare or mostly bare trunk, and wait for buds to emerge at the right spots. Usually with Chinese elm, I get them where I want them.

At this point I set my “clock” for two weeks in the future. The tree was lifted on 7/29, so that meant I should see new buds on 8/12. I placed it on the bench in a shady spot, and went about my business.

Here’s a shot of the tree today. You may wonder why I took the trouble to photograph it again.

Well, here’s why (take a look at the next picture) …

In five days the tree is full of swelling buds!

To be sure, I always expect good performance from Chinese elms. But I don’t expect a specimen I lifted from the ground less than a week ago to be pushing buds!

I guess this will fit nicely into my bon-science lessons learned. I admit to having some trouble with Chinese elm specimens collected in the dead of winter. It’s always puzzled me why that was, but I adjusted and now only lift Chinese elms once the buds are starting to swell in spring. But now, woo hoo! I can lift them in summer too.

The next step with this tree is to just neglect it except for watering. I should have shoots to make branches out of in about three or four weeks. I’ll wire up a design, then ignore the tree some more into winter. Next spring it should be ready to start taking on some character. The nice thing about this specimen is it has all the taper it needs already, so by the end of the next growing season I should have a complete tree structure. Nice!

Let me know what you think. Leave a comment below.

Don’t You Love Spring Growth? And Check Out A Blueberry Bonsai-To-Be

by Zach Smith | Apr 14, 2017 | Blueberry, Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Flowering, Styling, Wiring

It’s just the best time of year for bonsai, spring. Everything is putting on a fresh set of growth, meaning opportunities for the bonsai artist to make his or her trees better. No matter if you’re styling or restyling or refining, these next four to eight weeks are going to make a big difference for your bonsai.

This Chinese elm, Ulmus parvifolia, is one of our featured Progressions. I grew it from a cutting, then grew it out in the ground for a few years, and then lifted and started the process of making it into a bonsai. You’ll see just how far it’s come in the Progression update I posted today.

This photo is after the first flush of spring growth and the first trimming. I’ve also shortened the leader, and will let a new one grow out for a while before repeating that process.

This Sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua, was slip-potted in March so I could continue its development as a bonsai. It hasn’t missed a beat, and it now throwing strong shoots that will set into branches before long. You can see it’s been wired out completely; this round of wire will be coming off by June, at which time I’ll have secondary branching in development. It’ll also be time to rein in the growth, in order to maintain the correct proportions in the tree. If you’d like to take on that chore, this tree is available at our Sweetgum Bonsai page and can be shipped next month. (You can search in the Bonsai Files for this or any other tree; use the search tool at the top right of this blog).

Have you ever grown Blueberry, Vaccinium species, for bonsai? There are many Blueberries native to North America, and eight that grow in my home state including the so-called Tree Huckleberry that can grow to 30 feet in height (it’s the tallest of the Blueberries, as you might imagine).

This one is another of the species, which I haven’t made a precise identification on. I decided to direct-pot in in this nice Chuck Iker round, to speed up the development process. It had a nice trunk line with little need for tapering in the apex. That only left branch development and some crown work.

A little time and a little wire, and now we have a nice little Huckleberry bonsai-to-be. The trunk base is 1″ and the finished height will be about 14″. It’s got nice bark and trunk character. I’ve posted it for sale at our Miscellaneous Bonsai page. (Use the Bonsai Files search tool to find Miscellaneous Bonsai.)