Collected Winged Elm

[Adair M]

The wheel upgrade makes the lift cart more useful. Boon has one. And a guy converted one for use at Plant City, too.

And if I ever bring my olive here from Boon's I'll need one.

Scott, I just counted my primary collection: 26
trees. Those are the potential "keepers". 15 sized trees, and 11 shohin.

To really do shohin right, I need more of them. Ya gotta have lots to choose from when designing a display.

Hmm... 15 regular sized trees...

7 of the 15 are "projects". Some are further along than others. 5 of the 15 have been shown. A couple of the projects have been styled, and just need to thicken up their foliage and receive minor tweaks as that happens. A couple are Projects with a capital "P"!

 

[markyscott]

Yep - I still need to get to a smaller collection. I have 3 shohin - not nearly enough to make a good display. The rest are projects tending to pretty big trees. Two years ago I took a walk and set aside trees that I hadn't worked on in a couple of years - it was about 1/2 my collection! I auctioned off or donated a full truckload of those to the club. I would have donated more, but my truck was full. I need to make that walk again with a more critical eye.

I think I'll keep this elm though.

 

[Zach Smith]

Zach... Are ceder elms the only elms that exhibit a red hue on new growth?

No, water-elms (elm cousin) take the prize. Really red new growth turning to a dark glossy green. The most attractive foliage among the native elms, in my opinion. And no effort required to reduce leaf size.

Also, American elms will produce red buds when recovering as collected trunks. Their new foliage comes out green once established, but the buds are curiously red as they emerge on new collects. The red color is caused by an excess of anthocyanins, but I don't know why these new buds get an excess while buds on established specimens don't.

Zach

 

[AaronThomas]

Thanks @Zach Smith

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Yep - I still need to get to a smaller collection. I have 3 shohin - not nearly enough to make a good display. The rest are projects tending to pretty big trees. Two years ago I took a walk and set aside trees that I hadn't worked on in a couple of years - it was about 1/2 my collection!

I need to keep doing this too; I've gotten it down to 40. I think I can manage 20 larger and 12 shohin comfortably; especially with a good mix of species. Much more than that, and things get neglected. Not a bad thing, but it always seems to cost time one way or another...a little all along the way, or a lot later.

 

[0soyoung]

True enough, but there you go. I've had many very old water-elms that have never popped one flower; had to search online to find out what they even looked like.

Are your trees being root pruned every spring 'when buds swell'?

I had to rather viciously root prune a forsythia to get it out of its pot this spring. It didn't skip a beat (as they say) for vegetative growth, but it didn't bloom (whereas it had bloomed heavily last spring when it had not been disturbed).

 

[Zach Smith]

Are your trees being root pruned every spring 'when buds swell'?

I had to rather viciously root prune a forsythia to get it out of its pot this spring. It didn't skip a beat (as they say) for vegetative growth, but it didn't bloom (whereas it had bloomed heavily last spring when it had not been disturbed).

No, with elms I usually do the every two or three year thing. They root with good vigor but nothing like crape myrtle or privet. I've inadvertently left a specimen or two past the root-pruning window, but no blooms. I have a wisteria that blooms every year, that hasn't been root-pruned since I potted it in 2012, and a few larger crapes that do as well (no root-pruning on them either). Both of these species get rootbound easily, as does privet which blooms freely in a pot. One wisteria that I separated from my larger tree last year didn't bloom this year, but I suspect next year when it gets rootbound it'll resume the bloom.

 

[mcpesq817]

No, water-elms (elm cousin) take the prize. Really red new growth turning to a dark glossy green. The most attractive foliage among the native elms, in my opinion. And no effort required to reduce leaf size.

Also, American elms will produce red buds when recovering as collected trunks. Their new foliage comes out green once established, but the buds are curiously red as they emerge on new collects. The red color is caused by an excess of anthocyanins, but I don't know why these new buds get an excess while buds on established specimens don't.

Zach

For the past few years, I have been growing out an American Elm from a seedling that popped up in my yard. After ground layering it, I collected and chopped it this spring and just like Zach says, the new growth is red. I have another seedling that I'm still growing in the ground, and I believe the new growth was green, but I'm not 100% on that.

 

[Noh_Body]

Awesome thread on so many levels.

 

[markyscott]

One bit of spring work left undone. Spring work involving wiring and selective pruning of green growth combined with fall cut back into old wood are techniques that create movement, taper, and branch structure in deciduous trees. Trees for which this has not been done often suffer from long branches without movement, taper, or branching next to the trunk. That was what motivated the big cut back in 2013. But the work is not complete and some pretty straight, taperless branches remain. For these we can start to think about grafting. I left on spring shoot in place for exactly this purpose.



See? Have a look at that branch - it's thick, but it extends a good 4" from the main branch with no movement, taper, or secondary branching. That won't do. So I left a shoot to graft into place.

 

[markyscott]

First, take a small chisel and cut a V cut into the branch. The cut should be about an inch or so long and just wide enough to accept the shoot.



Clean it up with a grafting knife.



Scrape the sides of the shoot with the grafting knife - just enough to expose the green. Scrape also the side of the shoot facing the branch. You'll want to cut a little deeper on that side. The idea is that you don't want growth that can push the shoot out of the V. Then press the shoot firmly into the cut. When positioning the grafted shoot, try to plan for a bud to emerge just beyond the graft union.

Hold it in place with some grafting nails:




Cover with cut paste



e basta cosi

 

[pweifan]

Please forgive a newbie's questions: Will the shoot that is directly on top of the thicker branch aid in healing? Was it left there just to help add thickness/taper and will it be removed at some point?

Thank you very much for these tutorials!

 

[johng]

Good Stuff Scott! I really like this tree and think it will outstanding in the near future...

I also love the modified lift table.... I have one that I would like to convert to "garden tires"! If you get a chance, and you are willing, I would love to see a little better photo of how you handled the axle on your cart!
Thank you sir!!

Have you ever seen the carts that Roger from Meco bonsai makes? He gets a pretty penny for them...about $1500 I think he takes the 1000# lift table...removes the wheels, cuts the supports off, and then welds the table to a heavy duty garden cart...good stuff but I can't ever see myself affording one!

 

[coh]

... I'm never going to own a 1000lb tree, no matter how macho that would make me look.

Alright, I've lost all respect for you now! You may as well sell all your deciduous trees and buy a bunch of pines

Seriously, though, thanks for the good information you've been posting here and in other threads.

Regarding the root grafts...I tried a few like that a couple of years ago on a magnolia but they didn't take. I have to admit, though, that I wasn't very careful, it was a last minute spur of the moment decision as I was finishing the repotting. I know I've read that it can work, at least on some species, so I'll be trying again at some point.

 

[markyscott]

Please forgive a newbie's questions: Will the shoot that is directly on top of the thicker branch aid in healing? Was it left there just to help add thickness/taper and will it be removed at some point?

Thank you very much for these tutorials!

Hi pweifan. Perhaps some, but most of the thickening that will cause the callous to form will occur on the grafted shoot, not the main branch. The callousing on the main branch will happen around the wound I made, and the little shoot will make little difference to that happening or no. The key is to let the shoot grow long and then slowly ween it off its original shoot.

 

[markyscott]

Good Stuff Scott! I really like this tree and think it will outstanding in the near future...

I also love the modified lift table.... I have one that I would like to convert to "garden tires"! If you get a chance, and you are willing, I would love to see a little better photo of how you handled the axle on your cart!
Thank you sir!!

Have you ever seen the carts that Roger from Meco bonsai makes? He gets a pretty penny for them...about $1500 I think he takes the 1000# lift table...removes the wheels, cuts the supports off, and then welds the table to a heavy duty garden cart...good stuff but I can't ever see myself affording one!

Thanks John. I'll certainly post a picture of the axle. It was really no problem and can be done with a only a small modification of the existing hardware and no welding. Being a tall guy, I'm always sensitive to avoiding back problems which is why I was motivated to think of this to start with.

I haven't see the cart from Meco, but I have seen the turntables. Nice craftsmanship.

I'll post a picture of the axle when I get home from work this evening.

 

[johng]

I'm always sensitive to avoiding back problems which is why I was motivated to think of this to start with.

I don't think I am as tall as you but close at 6'3" with a history of back and shoulder issues.....and my trees are just too large, too heavy, or both!!

Furthermore, the father-in-law is going to be in town next weekend and I need a project to keep him busy....he is ornery and a pita when bored

Thanks BTW!!

 

[markyscott]

Good Stuff Scott! I really like this tree and think it will outstanding in the near future...

Thanks John - that means a lot, coming from you.

I also love the modified lift table.... I have one that I would like to convert to "garden tires"! If you get a chance, and you are willing, I would love to see a little better photo of how you handled the axle on your cart!

But please let's get this one thing straight - these are not "garden tires". We can call them "monster cart tires" or "4x4 cart tires", or "off-road cart tires", or "rally cart tires", but definitely not "garden tires".



13" pneumatic wheels in front and 10" pneumatic caster wheels in back. The cart is still a little more than an inch out of level, so 15" wheels in front (Harbor Freight didn't carry them that size) and/or 8" caster wheels in back would be better. Alternatively, you could weld longer brackets on to level the cart.

The caster wheels in back are no problem. You just bolt the new ones on in place of the old. Screw holes even lined up.



In the front it was a little more of a trick, but not too bad. Just remove the old fixed wheels. Purchase a threaded steel rod to work as an axle. I used a 5/8" rod, which was bigger than the original holes. So I just drilled them out to fit the rod (the 5/8" bit was more expensive than the rod, I think).



Then I just assembled it with flat washers, lock washers and nuts. I think all in I spent around $300. Can't speak for the craftsmanship, but since I didn't charge myself for labor I looked the other way.

 

[markyscott]

I don't think I am as tall as you but close at 6'3" with a history of back and shoulder issues.....and my trees are just too large, too heavy, or both!!

Furthermore, the father-in-law is going to be in town next weekend and I need a project to keep him busy....he is ornery and a pita when bored

Thanks BTW!!

At 6'5", I'm only a bit taller. You and Bjorn are probably two of a very few number of bonsai people I see eye-to-eye with. But being tall comes with back problems. Mix that with an unfortunate predilection for big trees and you have a recipe for being laid out for a couple of weeks. Put your father-in-law into productive work - your back will thank you.

 

[markyscott]

Alright, I've lost all respect for you now! You may as well sell all your deciduous trees and buy a bunch of pines

Seriously, though, thanks for the good information you've been posting here and in other threads.

Regarding the root grafts...I tried a few like that a couple of years ago on a magnolia but they didn't take. I have to admit, though, that I wasn't very careful, it was a last minute spur of the moment decision as I was finishing the repotting. I know I've read that it can work, at least on some species, so I'll be trying again at some point.

Well if you're going to shame me, maybe I'll have to find a 1000lb tree.

I'm really curious about the root grafts too. I'll definitely post an update next repotting season.