I took a toothbrush to the trunk of a seiju elm to remove moss. As the moss was coming off, I noticed what looked like wound sealant coming off as well. At a point, I wasn't even sure anymore if what I was rubbing off was moss, sealant, rotted bark or other. Here's what the lower portion of the trunk looks like now. It doesn't have the corky characteristics of a Seiju on the lower part of the trunk and I'm not sure if what I did was basically remove the bark from the lower half of the tree. Everything that was removed was really soft and came off with ease. Thoughts?
Issue With Seiju Elm???
- Thread starter dbonsaiw
- Start date
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
you scrubbed the bark off.
Oh man. I will get things right on one of these trees one of these days. Lol. What do I do now? Is it a gonner?
BrianBay9
Masterpiece
It will live. It will take some time to bark back up though.
Bonsai isn't my first rabbit hole. In fact, I've been down so many I've lost count. All these journeys share a similar path. We start off clueless and lost on where to even start. We then acquire a modicum of information and believe we know much more than we actually do. We then try our hand at applying the information learned and realize we don't actually know all that much. Mistakes are made and the true learning begins. We eventually show off our successes. But persevering through failure is what will separate the quitter from those that produce a work of art. Failure is not a negative - it is part of the growing process. If you can't fail and get back up, you will never succeed.
I've had my fair share of failures in bonsai so far. Success is surely just around the corner. Lol.
I've had my fair share of failures in bonsai so far. Success is surely just around the corner. Lol.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
You scrubbed the cork bark off of it. Not really a problem. They take cork bark off of cork oaks all the time. "Cork" bark is basically a genetically mutated spongy texture to bark on some trees. It's the same plate bark that grows on typical trees, only it's fiber tissue is "puffed up"
Here's how they make actual cork:
That's really interesting. I had no idea they took it off live trees. Pretty cool and now my mind is really at ease. Thanks
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Cork is typically cut off the outer portion of the cork oak (harvested) every 12-15 years. It takes that long to regenerate the thickness. The cork on elms isn't suitable for this as it's generally too thin, but same thing. Once that outer layering of spongy bark is removed, it takes years to re-generate.
hampton
Shohin
Such a cool process - one of the things that got me interested in trees.
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
You scrubbed the cork off. No big deal. In fact, if it were a cork oak, you'd being making wine corks right about now 
To borrow a graphic from the article I wrote on air-layering, the cork is totally dead. Removing it has no negative impact on the tree... unless you are planning a forest fire any time soon FWIW the cork layer on giant sequoias can be 36" thick, which is why they are pretty much immune to fire.
That said, old bark is valued, because it tends to make the tree look older. Here's one of my elms with "old bark". It is a nightmare when I transplant, because I like the flaking bark look. I cannot touch the trunk when I do the work. (eastern winged elm)
To borrow a graphic from the article I wrote on air-layering, the cork is totally dead. Removing it has no negative impact on the tree... unless you are planning a forest fire any time soon
FWIW the cork layer on giant sequoias can be 36" thick, which is why they are pretty much immune to fire.That said, old bark is valued, because it tends to make the tree look older. Here's one of my elms with "old bark". It is a nightmare when I transplant, because I like the flaking bark look. I cannot touch the trunk when I do the work. (eastern winged elm)
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Thanks, very helpful pic
Shibui
Imperial Masterpiece
As already mentioned no problem for the tree. New cork is constantly formed as new layers of bark form inside and older, outer layers of bark die.
I've done it intentionally a few times and found it only takes a few years to form new layers. In fact the replacement corky bark is better as it has more furrows and actually looks better than the original.
I've done it intentionally a few times and found it only takes a few years to form new layers. In fact the replacement corky bark is better as it has more furrows and actually looks better than the original.
Love it. My story going forward is I did this on purpose to better develop the bark.
Scorpius
Chumono
Vinegar sprayed very carefully on moss covered tree trunks is my go to moss removal for delicate barked trees Dont let the vinegar get into the substrate though.
Mike Corazzi
Masterpiece
I have a couple Seijus that have decided to try to be love beads.
Undulating lumps up the trunk.
I will look tomorrow to see if any of the whoopee swells could be removed.
Undulating lumps up the trunk.
I will look tomorrow to see if any of the whoopee swells could be removed.
BrianBay9
Masterpiece
I have a couple Seijus that have decided to try to be love beads.
Undulating lumps up the trunk.
I will look tomorrow to see if any of the whoopee swells could be removed.
The bark does look weird when they're young. All those sins disappear when they get their great, mature bark.
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