Cedar elm, potential shohin

[rich415]

I picked this elm up recently. I have zelkova and a cork bark chinese elm but this is my first cedar elm. It's really my first true shohin potential tree. The trunk is just over two inches and it currently stands at six inches high.

I have read that they are slightly slower growers than chinese elms but you gotta love that bark.

There is a thick branch that I need to cut off next season but I'm really not sure where I should look for further branches. I know the styling of larger sized trees but when I see winter pics of shohin elms there is usually branches coming from all directions on the top 1/3 of the trees.

Is there a method to the madness or should I let every branch grow on the top. Any virts would be welcomed.

Thanks for looking.

Rich

 

[art-rodriguez]

cedar elm

rich
this is an excelllent future bonsai.
one of my favorite species.
can i ask where you acquired it from ?

 

[rich415]

Thanks Art,

I got this little guy from Lone Pines Gardens in Sebastopal, Ca. They are a wholesale Bonsai and succulent nursery here in northern Cal but open to the public Thursday through Saturday.

The place is huge and I can spend hours looking through their stock. Their prices are very reasonable as well this guy was $50.

Should these guys be treated similar to Chinese elms? The owner said the root system is similar but Cedar elms can take much more heat.

Thanks,

Rich

 

[rockm]

The roots are not all that similar to Chinese elm. Cedar elm roots tend to be more diffuse and stringier than Chinese elm. They are vigorous growers, although sometimes not as robust as some cultivars of Chinese elm. The also tend to have rather weak nebari at the soil level. Collected specimens tend to have multi-layer nebari from growing in sedimentary soils where new soil accumulates above the original nebari. To correct this, you have to be sometimes brutally selective in choosing where the nebari is supporsed to be...

Cedar elm likes water, BUT it is also pretty drought tolerant. That means a soil mix with 60/40 inorganic/organic...

They can also sun scortch in direct summer sun in containers. Give it a bit of shade in the worst summer heat/sun.

 

[rich415]

Thanks for the info Rockm.

I won't be able to see all of the possible root system and Nebari until next spring but there are some good surface roots in the areas that I do see.

Thanks for looking,

Rich

 

[misfit11]

I bought one of these from Lone Pine a few years back (mine isn't quite as nice material as yours, though). They are very forgiving to root work in my experience and are quite predictable in their backbudding behavior. The bark has lots of character at an early age and I think they trunk up pretty quickly if you let them grow freely in a larger container or in the ground. Mine hasn't shown any change in trunk diameter in the few years that I've kept it in a bonsai pot. I may throw it back in the ground at some point to develop a little more and then chop it down to improve the non-existent taper. Other than these typical issues, I'm very pleased with this species' response to bonsai techniques.

BTW, have you gotten over to the Golden State Bonsai Collection North at Lake Merritt? Definitely, worth the time if you haven't.

Good to see another Northern Cali member on here!

 

[PaulH]

I also have one of these from Lone Pine. Currently its spending a few years in my growing bed.

You've gotta love Lone Pine. Steve Price is getting quite good at deveoping his field grown trees. He's got some great black and red pines in the ground. If you are ever there with a couple thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket, ask to see the big tridents in the ground...

Paul

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

The roots are not all that similar to Chinese elm. Cedar elm roots tend to be more diffuse and stringier than Chinese elm. They are vigorous growers, although sometimes not as robust as some cultivars of Chinese elm. The also tend to have rather weak nebari at the soil level.

That pretty much describes every Chinese Elm I've worked on...

 

[rich415]

Misfit,

Thanks for your reply. I wasn't in the market for a cedar elm when I went to Lone Pines but you buy good material when you see it.

I have been to the GSBF North collection. I used to live a few blocks away and would a go a few times a year. I need to update my profile I just moved to Vallejo in July. Now I have abig back yard and consequently, more trees.


Paul,

I too love to go to Lone Pines. I get excited just driving there. The material they have is almost endless. and the prices are amazing. I was actually going there to pick up some small trees to do a group planting next spring. they have their 1 gallon trees for $8. Nurseries that sell them in the bay area mark them up to $20-$30. I got to wondering around and poking into as many pots as I could to see if there was a nice tree to be had and saw this little guy. I also picked a up a little coastal live oak which I know you like to work with as well.


Thanks for Looking,

Rich

 

[rockm]

"That pretty much describes every Chinese Elm I've worked on..."

If you've worked on both, you will understand...

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

"That pretty much describes every Chinese Elm I've worked on..."

If you've worked on both, you will understand...

Worked on more varieties than I care to remember including collected crassifolia and rubra and plenty of parviflora...and now happily divested of elms with the exception of a zelkova...