by Zach Smith | Aug 10, 2019 | Care, Collecting, Elms, Potting, Water Elm
Today began our Water-elm collecting season. Each of these trees you see has been under about 20 feet of water since winter. Now it’s time for their growing season, which will only last a few months. The short growing season is why these trees, though they may not have huge trunks, are actually pretty old. This planting is actually three separate trees that seem to go together well. I’m looking forward to working on this group a little later this year, and more so in 2020.
This is a nice twin trunk. I really like the left-hand trunk, and it’s going to be my model for building the right-hand trunk. This one has a 2.5″ base, and is only about 10″ to the taller chop. It should make quite a shohin specimen.
And now a tall-tree twin-trunk. This is going to be a great Water-elm bonsai, in just a couple of years.
This one is two separate trees, but they go together. ‘Nuff said.
And another tall-tree twin-trunk.
And last but not least for today, a single-trunk specimen. This one has great movement and taper. Let me know what you think of these specimens. If you haven’t tried Water-elm yet, you should seriously consider the species.
by Zach Smith | Aug 4, 2019 | Care, Elms, Pruning, Styling, Water Elm, Wiring
I potted this Water-elm earlier in the season. It came home last August, and recovered very well. Since Water-elms love the summer heat, I know I can do some development work now.
It’s common to have to make choices as you develop your trees. In this case, I have a situation where there is a large chop on the trunk that was necessary post-collection, and I have what was originally another upright branch that had to be cut back. I can’t remove the stub from this original branch, or I risk losing the entire right-hand trunk. So the better-developed branch has to go.
This is an example of giving up something now for something better later on. You’ll do this a lot as you continue on your bonsai journey.
The young branch that’s left needed to be wired and positioned.
Next came the lowest branch on the left-hand trunk. I’ve also done a very rough trim to shape on the tree overall. This should be part of your development plan for every deciduous tree you work on (excluding American beech, but that’s another story).
This is also a good time to start carving some of the chops that were made when this tree first came home.
The stub where the young branch emerges on the right-hand trunk also needs an initial carving now. As the branch thickens, it’ll make the transition look very natural. And that’s all for today. I’d love to know what you think about how this specimen is progressing. Leave me a comment below.
by Zach Smith | Aug 2, 2019 | Chinese Elm, Elms, Privet, Yaupon
I wasn’t able to blog last week, so I’m going to try to make up for it this weekend. For a start, here’s the Chinese elm forest that I’ll be developing this coming year. As you can see, the growth is already lush. All that needs to happen with this specimen for the remainder of the year is to grow and get strong. In 2020, I’ll create the basic design and move it to a bonsai tray. I have a feeling this specimen is going to end up being really nice.
I’ll bet you remember this Dwarf yaupon from a few weeks ago. This is a variety that just loves to grow in summer. I knew I could take advantage of this feature when I first did the styling. By the end of the growing season, I’m going to have a nicely filled out specimen on its way to becoming a fine bonsai.
This is another Chinese privet I had off in a corner of the nursery for a few years. It had originally been part of a larger, multi-trunk specimen. I finally figured out that this trunk was better by itself, so I separated it from the rest and potted it up. This tree will go from “stick with shoots” to bonsai in 2020. Stay tuned for updates.
by Zach Smith | Jul 13, 2019 | Care, Chinese Elm, Elms
Can you guess what this is? Some background first. I field-grow Chinese elms for bonsai, and frankly you’d be hard-pressed to name a better overall species for bonsai. In fact, it’s not hyperbole to state that Chinese elm is the single best deciduous species for bonsai in the world. A couple of years ago, I lifted a Chinese elm from one of my growing beds and potted it up. I didn’t replant that particular spot, as it is no longer in a long-term viable place for field-growing trees. Fast-forward to this year, and what do I see in that spot where the Chinese elm once grew? A whole “forest” of root suckers. Well, I’m a sucker for Chinese elm forests so I had to dig them up.
And now I have a new forest in the making. These trees are grouped more or less as they came out of the ground, which is pretty cool. The arrangement actually works. And wouldn’t you know it? One week later, all of these trees have new buds on them. I’m confident I can make a nice forest planting out of them in just a single year.
I like to walk down bonsai memory lane from time to time, so here are a few photos from the past of Chinese elm forests I’ve assembled and developed. This one is from 2015.
And six months later (I had to do a little reforestation).
This one is from 2014. It’s one of my favorite bonsai forests of all time (that I’ve created). I sent it on to a client though I’ve misplaced the record of who, but I sure wish I knew what it looks like today.
by Zach Smith | Jul 7, 2019 | Care, Elms, Water Elm
I potted up this Water-elm that we’d collected last July back in February. It’s a pretty cool little twin-trunk, featuring dead wood on both trunks as well as a “flying root” on the right side. You wouldn’t ordinarily want a root like that, but I thought it added to the character of the tree rather than detracting from it. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was going to be proven right.
I’ve been planning for a while to do some additional carving on the dead wood, then to treat everything with lime sulfur. That was one of the chores I tended to on this long weekend. In this photo you can see most of the result. This tree is definitely getting better.
How’s this for a surprise! I was digging around at the base of the right-hand trunk, and discovered that there was a hollow filled with mud that I hadn’t managed to clean out last summer when the tree first came home. The more I dug, the farther I went – until I came out the back! It’s a see-through trunk. So I cleaned it up and then treated everything with lime sulfur. And I think the flying root is now indispensable to the character of this bonsai. The tree just wouldn’t be the same without it.
Here’s a shot from the back. I think this Water-elm bonsai says a lot in a small package. Do you agree?
by Zach Smith | Jul 4, 2019 | Bald Cypress, Care, Elms, Flowering, Potting, Styling, Wiring
I potted this small Cedar elm earlier this season. It’s been growing away, minding its own business. Recently we had a couple of storms and somehow this tree got picked to be blown off the bench. It stayed in the pot and no branches were broken, but the second time the tree got a bit disturbed in the pot. I secured it and set it back on the bench, though not facing the same way as before. I’ve been looking at it ever since, and finally thought there might be a better front.
Is this a better front? I think it has possibilities. What do you think?
July 4th is also a good time to defoliate Bald cypress. I don’t typically defoliate BC in year one, and that’s the case with this one. However, it’s also time to do some summer styling work. I’m making a flat-top out of this specimen. I created the branching and leaders earlier in the season, then waited for more growth. I got just what I expected.
The first step today was to reposition the leaders. What you’ll find if you create a flat-top cypress is, the leaders do not want to lie flat! So you have to fight this fight until you win. It usually takes two or three rounds of wiring. Here I was able to pull the leaders down.
And the final step for today was to wire a couple of secondary shoots and position them. This is very important to do at this time. It’ll pay off before the end of the growing season.
I seldom work with azaleas. Their horticultural requirements are a good bit more difficult for me to navigate, especially considering the large number of deciduous specimens I have on my benches. The Satsuki azalea “Chinzan” is different. In fact, I have found casually that this variety will take a tremendous amount of neglect. I’ve had the “mother plant” to this one for almost a decade now, and it grows each season and blooms its head off whether I pay any attention to it or not (it does get watered, of course). A few years ago I separated this smaller specimen from the mother plant, and proceeded to set it on the bench and neglect it. Chinzan didn’t care. So today I figured it was time to see if anything could be done with it.
Here’s a shot of the uninspiring base.
And here’s what I made out of it. One of the things I love most about bonsai is that you truly can make nice specimens from less than stellar material. In fact, this is what we artists bring to the whole endeavor. That plant two photos above was most definitely nothing to write home about. This small bonsai is no masterpiece, but I think it makes a credible bonsai. What do you think?
