by Zach Smith | Nov 22, 2015 | Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Potting, Pruning, Wiring
Chinese elms, Ulmus parfivolia, grow quickly in the ground and this is how I grow all of my Chinese elm material with the exception of trees intended for forest plantings. In 2014 I lifted a specimen I’d had in the ground for a few years to see how quickly I could move it from raw material to presentable bonsai. The lift was made in late winter, and I put the tree directly into a bonsai pot (which I knew would slow down the process, but that didn’t concern me).
In August of last year, the chopped stump had produced shoots long enough to be wired, and I had a good enough set that I could create a suitable structure right from the start.
It doesn’t look like much, does it? But every bonsai begins with a tree that has either grown in the wild from a seed ultimately becoming a stump/trunk/clump/etc., or in “captivity” from seed or cutting, or in the ground from seed or cutting with more or less management by the grower as it develops. Having grown many hundreds of bonsai through the years, the prospect of taking a bare trunk all the way to a finished bonsai does not discourage me in the least. In fact, it’s one of the more pleasurable pursuits I can think of.
Following this initial styling, I simply left the tree alone (being mindful of the thickening of branch and leader so as to remove the wire at the proper time) for the rest of the 2014 growing season.
This is what had happened by early July of 2015. I needed the strongest growth in the new apex of the tree, and that’s just what I got. Though the tree would have grown this way on its own, trying to get taller, I helped the process along by keeping the energy in the lower branches directed toward ramification. The structure of each lateral branch was easily built during this growing season.
The next step for this tree was to cut back the new leader in order to ensure that the tapering transition at the original chop, roughly 9″ from the soil surface, would end up looking right. The trunk as lifted had gentle taper, not as dramatic as I may have liked, so the trick in finishing out the trunk will be to continue the gentle taper yet bring it to completion at a final height of about 16″.
After the chop. This looks pretty funny, doesn’t it? But building taper in your trunk or branches requires cutting back hard after a period of unrestrained growth. It’s how this trunk got to where it was before I lifted it. So after allowing the leader to grow for almost a year, I had a long section measuring almost 6″ which had zero taper. What’s more, I had only one way to induce taper into this section of new trunk, namely letting sacrifice branches grow. While this was certainly doable, it wasn’t the fastest or even the best way. Growing a new leader was the obvious choice.
In this final photo you can see the next stage beginning for this tree. I got a few buds on the truncated leader that I allowed to grow unrestrained. Since it was late in the season, they were only able to extend about 6″ before dormancy hit. But in 2016, I’ll let one of them run wild and I’m betting the original transition will start looking much better. The thickness of the first new leader should double next year.
So this is a year in the development of a Chinese elm bonsai. I expect that in another two years I should have the rest of the trunk built, along with a lot more of the lateral branching. By year four, this tree will be fully built.
by Zach Smith | Oct 4, 2015 | Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Sweetgum, Water Elm
Here are a few trees that will be posted for sale in 2016 (among many others).
I just love Chinese elm forests. This one is composed of five trees, with the largest having a basal trunk thickness of 1″. The planting is 19″ in height. Paul Katich crafted the beautiful tray.
This forest will continue filling in next year, and the trunks should take on that nice whitish appearance that makes them look old.
Where this one began this past February.
I’ve been working on this little sweetgum for a few years now. It’s been entirely container-grown. Trunk is just over 1″ in diameter, height 14″.
Here’s the same tree last year. How’s that for rapid development?
This water-elm clump measures 8″ across the root base from the front view, 4″ from the side. Height is 17″. Next spring it needs to go into a smaller pot.
To see the history of this water-elm clump, click here.
by Zach Smith | Sep 27, 2015 | Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Oaks, Pruning, Sweetgum
While I love using collected trees for bonsai more than any other source, I also grow trees from cuttings and seeds. There’s really nothing at all wrong with bonsai grown from cuttings and seeds. After all, our goal is to create the impression of a larger and older tree in a small package, and this can certainly be done using material from any source.
I began growing material for bonsai in the ground some years ago. Ground growing results in quicker thickening of the trunks of your young trees, which of course helps them look larger and older. With the exception of the tiniest bonsai, the mame and shohin sizes, it’s really best to start with a basal trunk thickness of one inch or more. Growing small trees in the ground for just a few years can get you the thicker trunks you need. All it takes is a little guidance as the material grows out.
Here’s a good example of what you can achieve in just a few years. This is either a willow oak, Quercus phellos, or a water oak, Quercus nigra. It seems to have leaves of both species. Regardless, it grew as a volunteer in an old garden area I used years ago for vegetables. Isn’t the twin trunk awesome looking! With a trunk base of 1.75″, this tree could be lifted as early as next year.
I’ve had this blackgum, Nyssa sylvatica, in the ground for two years now. The trunk base is 1″ in diameter, and it has nice taper into a trunk line I’ll cut to next season. I plan to leave it in the ground for a while longer, as I’d like to fatten up the trunk some more before lifting it.
Next is a sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua. I had this tree in a nursery container up until two years ago, then decided to put it in the ground to thicken it up. I’ve cut it back a couple of times, then let it grow out wild. The trunk base is now 2″ in diameter. You can see I also have a secondary trunk growing out near the base, which I can let continue growing to further thicken the trunk. What I need to do while this is going on is to manage what will ultimately be my desired trunk line. So I’ll do some judicious pruning in 2016.
Last but not least is this Chinese elm, Ulmus parvifolia. I grew it from a cutting made a couple of years ago, and planted it out this year. The trunk base is just under 1″, and this has been largely achieved by leaving alone the long and thick main trunk you can see taking off to the right. I’ll remove this leader next spring, while allowing the one lower down the trunk on the left remain and grow untrimmed. This one can then be removed in another year or two, at which time I’ll have both a thick trunk along with very good taper. Then the tree can be lifted and grown from a bare trunk.
by Zach Smith | Aug 2, 2015 | Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Pruning, Wiring
You’ll remember this trumpet vine, Campsis radicans, from a couple of weeks ago. As I noted, vines are extremely vigorous growers. I more or less knew this one would come back, and sure enough here we are two weeks later and it’s throwing shoots. Now, I don’t have to be in any rush to wire the tender new growth. The tendrils of vines stay supple for awhile, and I want these to harden off before I attempt to put wire on them; they snap off easily at this stage.
Stay tuned for updates. I’m really looking forward to working on this specimen.
Here’s the water-elm clump I first worked on back in March, in a photo taken yesterday. I’ve left it alone since then so it could gain vigor, and it hasn’t disappointed. Time to do some unwiring and trimming.
About 30 minutes later, here’s what I’ve got. I think this clump is going to be a real winner in another year or so.
The pot may be a bit large for it. What do you think?
And this is the Chinese elm forest I showed you on July 18th. If you look closely you can see the bright green new foliage on each tree. For those of you who’ve worked with Chinese elm, you know they’re simply one of the best species for bonsai. I think this forest will be very presentable next year, and within two or three will be outstanding.
by Zach Smith | Jul 18, 2015 | Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Potting, Wiring
There are distinct stages in the life of every bonsai. First styling and potting is possibly the purest point of artistic expression in that life. Beginning with a piece of raw stock – and this may be a regular nursery find, a purchased pre-bonsai or even a recently collected tree placed directly into a bonsai pot and now ready to be wired and styled for the first time – we, the artists, see a finished representation of a mature tree in nature just waiting to be revealed.
Once the bonsai has been initially crafted, we wait, water and watch (and sometimes worry). Assuming all goes well, the tree resumes or continues its growth and begins to assume the shape, in trunk and branch, that we envisioned. To the extent that things go well, we next settle into the routine chores that support the development of our trees. And that’s very good.
But what about the not so good? I’m confident you won’t be surprised when I say things don’t always go to plan. Even seasoned bonsai artists are subject to Murphy’s Law and the occasional stubborn tree. Many of us are prone to neglecting one or more of our trees due to competing obligations. I’m one of the great proponents of benign neglect when it comes to bonsai. I learned early on that trees simply don’t like being doted upon. So when you reach the point where you have enough trees and enough patience to leave them alone for distinct periods of time, you’re well on your way to success. And then you learn … too much neglect is very bad.
I love forest plantings, so I put together this Chinese elm group back in February of this year. It was composed of small, straight trees in order to create the impression of a stately stand of trees in an open field. In this particular case, I went with seven trees.
So after assembly, I watered and fed and set the new bonsai on one of my benches. Except for watering, I deliberately ignored the group. As spring came, other trees tended to crowd around it as I potted them – which was fine, I knew the group just needed to be left alone well into spring.
As spring brought budburst, all of the trees in this planting responded as I expected by greening up, so my forest was well on its way. I continued to leave it alone, only pausing to look as I passed.
Then one day I noticed a few of the trees were not pushing shoots. Not so good. I knew immediately what this meant, but I resisted the urge to rip them out. I didn’t want to disturb the roots of the trees that were doing well. But I knew the day would come when I’d have to replace a few dead trees!
Fast-forward to today. I think you can see the telltale signs of benign neglect. I’ve got three dead trees that need to be replaced, and a lot of trimming to do. No time like the present.
It turned out I have a temporary shortage of Chinese elm “sticks,” so this forest is temporarily reduced to five trees. I’ll add at least two more next spring from my new crop of cuttings that are busily rooting. But regardless, I think this developing forest cleaned up pretty good.
Okay, that’s the good and the not so good. What about the ugly?
Back in 2010 I rooted my first crop of Chinese elm cuttings. Some went into nursery pots, some went into the ground, and this one went directly into this rustic bonsai pot I’d had for about 10 years. I’m not entirely sure why I went to a bonsai pot with this rooted cutting all those years ago, but it’s sat on my bench now for all that time. It even survived the ice storm of 2014! I repotted it once, incidentally, and have done some pruning on it as it’s developed more or less on its own.
But … there’s really no getting around the fact that this is an ugly tree! Okay, it’s not one of those horrid “S” curve Chinese elms, but it’s not a whole lot better either. At the beginning of this post I suggested that the first styling and potting of a bonsai is possibly the purest point of artistic expression in the life of a bonsai. While I believe this is true, it certainly doesn’t mean we bonsai artists get it right every time. Trees often don’t grow exactly the way we want them. Sometimes they drop strategic branches and must be restyled. Sometimes we think we’ve found the front, then one day that turns out to be the back. In the case of my sad little Chinese elm above, it just didn’t have all that much to say as it struggled toward some common-enough tree form.
Today I finally saw something else in this guy, so I reached for my concave cutters and shears and restyled the tree in about 10 seconds. Is this something that looks more like a real tree? I think so. Compare the edited version of this specimen with my starting point. It’s hard to imagine the form above as something much larger and older. But the one to the left? Yes, I definitely see it.
The last step was to root-prune and repot the tree. I had this unique Chuck Iker round sitting empty. I think I’ve found the tree for it.
So, did I overcome the ugly? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
by Zach Smith | Mar 29, 2015 | Bald Cypress, Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Wiring
I love when my trees begin to bud in the very early spring, especially the new arrivals, but I’m just awestruck when spring really kicks in. Shoots start extending, and you get a glimpse of the health of each and every one of your bonsai and pre-bonsai.
The photo of this tree in the March 17 post was taken a mere 12 days ago. Is this not amazing? And the growth is just beginning. Now, bald cypress is one of the strongest growers in the bonsai world. To be sure, they miniaturize in container culture, but this doesn’t stop them from budding up and down the trunk just as if they has no restrictions at all.
I’ll be wiring this one in another week or two, removing that wire in another three or four, and going into a second round of training this summer. By that time I’ll have a specimen which only needs refinement.
Remember this Chinese elm I posted for sale on February 28th? Well, here’s what a few week’s worth of spring weather will do:
Aren’t Chinese elms wonderful? Even if you end up with an “S” curve specimen, there’s hope. You just have to dedicate yourself to overcoming its inherent design flaw, but the process of doing so gives you the opportunity to work with what is truly one of the very best bonsai species for beginners. Drop me an email if you need some advice.
