English Elm Shohin

[BobbyLane]

Ulmus Procera

Hi all, this is another recent project im working on with the native Elm tree. cheap nursery grown material. I only ever saw a Shohin sized tree in the material and it was reduced straight away
2016-05-29_05-28-54 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2016-05-29_05-30-35 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2016-05-29_05-30-51 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2016-05-29_05-31-16 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2016-05-29_05-31-35 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

There's some old pruning scars on the tree, i decided to open these up and made a hollow which is wider at the base, which helps to enhance the illusion of a tree with wide girth. all the branches were cut back hard.
2016-05-29_05-33-18 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2016-06-05_01-32-56 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_0534 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

The tree is extremely vigorous, so i decided to make some cuts all around the nebari, hope to induce surface roots, which will enhance the quality of the tree. then packed in with moss and covered with soil.
2016-06-09_10-05-13 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
2016-06-09_10-07-24 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

However, i didnt think the carving was very convincing, i decided to open it up slightly more
IMG_0901 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_0905 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_0898 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr
IMG_0909 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

The tree currently stands 6in high, canopy 6in wide, base approx 3in. will let it grow out and cut back hard later in season
IMG_0906 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

Will keep the thread updated as i go along

 

[Giga]

Looks much better smaller, but I like it with the carving not connected. Great furture ahead!

 

[erb.75]

outstanding! love the little carved elm! might inspire me to do that with my own!

 

[sorce]

I dug the first carve...
But still dig it too!

Another dope Bobbylane production!

I love that it kept progressing in this one thread!

Sorce

 

[ghues]

Looking good Bobby, r u getting any surface roots from your technique?

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Looks much better smaller, but I like it with the carving not connected. Great furture ahead!

I think that'll look better as it callouses.

 

[BobbyLane]

Thanks all
@ghues Hi, I only made the base cuts a few days ago, i reckon i should get some surface roots, if i let every single branch and shoot grow out until the end of the season, prune it back in winter, likewise the strong growth should hopefully activate some callusing in areas.

 

[ConorDash]

I think it's exactly this which is why I want to get in to bonsai... At the beginning it looked like just a small tree, I saw nothing happening (my vision is limited, I'm new). Then at the end, although it's got probably plenty of years of development I'm sure, it looks really cool. It goes to show what can be done with trees that some may consider hopeless. It's really great. I looked forward to seeing it in a years time

 

[BobbyLane]

so in 2017 this one went into the grow bed

 

[BobbyLane]

how it looks today, can see how much the transitions have improved, thickened up, the trunk has thickened a little.
the callus around the hollow has rolled in nicely, unless you saw the earlier images you wouldnt know this tree had been carved.maybe the hollow was caused by animals or something.
the tree was cut back over a week ago, this is the response

 

[BobbyLane]

think ill stick to the original plan and let this develop into a powerful stump

 

[Tieball]

Mighty fine work...execution on details.....and future plan and thinking!

 

[BobbyLane]

this one is getting fat, even the hollow has almost callused over. its hard to see the potential from this photo, but standing over it today i can. at some point ill cut all the thick branches back to stubs

 

[jason biggs]

Amazing that that entire cutout section is going to close...

 

[BrianBay9]

Aw, I liked the hollow.

 

[ElyDave]

That looks great, just happened to take a photo of mine today, with it's big brother. Ulmus Jacqueline Hillier, the small one just grew one year as a root sucker on the original, so I potted and styled it. Needs repotting next spring. They are vigorous aren't they

 

[BobbyLane]

im not familiar with JH elms, do you have plans to improve it? looks a bit leggy.
yours doesnt look vigorous. maybe start a progression thread on it so you can get help to bring it forward.

actually i cut back the elm today, i was constructing a fence in the allotment and had to hack back a couple trees.

 

[ElyDave]

They tend to get that way, quite strong growth from the tips, but if you prune back they re-bud well. The small one has been a bit neglected, and the large one dropped a lot of leaves in a heatwave earlier. It's growing well, but all at the tips.

 

[BobbyLane]

Update...

its back in a training pot after spending time in the ground. i went pretty hard on the thick roots, i think most would of ground layered, but i prefer the powerful spread of the remaining root stubs. i think the base has great potential as it is. i hope to get new roots forming at the hard cuts and may be able to tidy it up further at next repot. the moss should help

 

[BobbyLane]

so its goin to be a bit taller than shohin now, maybe around 14in final height. with very good, convincing taper. the bark is also beginning to get craggy. has good basic bones to begin building structure. the base is nice n fat and will improved if i hold onto it.


if youre not ground growing, get ground growing. ive documented quite a few great results over the past few years/months!

oh if youre wondering where i got the cool pot from, it says MADE IN BRITAIN, maybe one of the pot experts could identify the mark