Lars Grimm
Chumono
Hi All,
Here is a progression thread for a rock elm in my collection. This was the first big tree I purchased back in December 2016 at the Winter Silhouette show. It had been collected a few years prior by a senior club member. Here it is as purchased. To my eye at the time, I felt there were a few problems with the tree. First, the lower primary branches were too thin. Second, the apex after the trunk chop was too tall. Third, I wanted to expand the width of the lower branches. Many of the branches felt very flat to me . Finally, there was a big gap between the lowest right branch and the one above, but there was a branch going straight back.
Here was my photoshop working plan.
Fast forward two years to 2018. I completed an apical chop and regrew a leader. The lower branches are a little thicker (not much), but I got a lot more vertical movement in the branches. There is also a slight rotation after a repot.
Fast forward to 2020 after a fall pruning. The lower branches continue to thicken, but slowly. I left the lower two branches to grow one foot beyond the silhouette this year and will continue to do so to encourage thickening. There are some other smaller interior branches that I am trying to build up to improve some areas. The ramification in many areas has clearly improved. I think the silhouette is looking much better. I probably want to extend the mid/upper left a bit more. The trunk chop continues to be problematic even though you can't see it from the front. I find this species very slow to callus. I am going to start using the cut paste with hormone. I also discovered some soft pulpy wood at the chop site. I dug it out and treated with wood hardener. I plan to fill with a cement before covering with cut paste.
Comments, suggestions, and feedback are always appreciated.
Lars
Here is a progression thread for a rock elm in my collection. This was the first big tree I purchased back in December 2016 at the Winter Silhouette show. It had been collected a few years prior by a senior club member. Here it is as purchased. To my eye at the time, I felt there were a few problems with the tree. First, the lower primary branches were too thin. Second, the apex after the trunk chop was too tall. Third, I wanted to expand the width of the lower branches. Many of the branches felt very flat to me . Finally, there was a big gap between the lowest right branch and the one above, but there was a branch going straight back.
Here was my photoshop working plan.
Fast forward two years to 2018. I completed an apical chop and regrew a leader. The lower branches are a little thicker (not much), but I got a lot more vertical movement in the branches. There is also a slight rotation after a repot.
Fast forward to 2020 after a fall pruning. The lower branches continue to thicken, but slowly. I left the lower two branches to grow one foot beyond the silhouette this year and will continue to do so to encourage thickening. There are some other smaller interior branches that I am trying to build up to improve some areas. The ramification in many areas has clearly improved. I think the silhouette is looking much better. I probably want to extend the mid/upper left a bit more. The trunk chop continues to be problematic even though you can't see it from the front. I find this species very slow to callus. I am going to start using the cut paste with hormone. I also discovered some soft pulpy wood at the chop site. I dug it out and treated with wood hardener. I plan to fill with a cement before covering with cut paste.
Comments, suggestions, and feedback are always appreciated.
Lars
