Old Cedar Elm bonsai redux

[markyscott]

I bought this tree from a grower in Dallas. It spent some time as a bonsai - I know because I found drainage screen and aluminum to wire deep in the roots when I repotted. It was then moved into a 20 gallon pot and hedged for MANY years.

 

[markyscott]

Lots of defects, but lots to work with. Way past time to clean up and thin. Knobby growth all over the tree needs to be removed. Dang thing probably weighs 15o lbs

 

[markyscott]

New front will be from this side. Better movement in the main trunk.

 

[markyscott]

Lots of apical swelling. This will have to be redone at some point. Just thinned it out at this point.

Some overly thickened branches high on the tree. I reduced this one twice before removing it entirely.

 

[markyscott]

Now I turned my attention to the rootball. I cut off a good 20 o slab of roots and soil.

 

[Tieball]

I like your creative eye that pushes right through an entangled mess of growth to find the inner tree. Mighty fine!

A little sweat with that root removal. Fun. Rewarding. But alway a surprising amount of work involved. I also have a Dewalt 20v Compact model....one of my best work saver tools.

 

[markyscott]

Then bare rooted the whole mess, removing some major encircling roots.

 

[Tieball]

Cool....taking it down from that massive poundage of a root ball to the essentials for continuing on with a more healthy tree.

 

[markyscott]

Looks like it will fit into the most expensive Sarah Raynor pot ever sold.


A funny story about this pot. It was auctioned at the ABS convention in April. My wife and I got into a very public bidding war over it. It became a point of pride and neither of us wanted to lose. So the bidding escalated quickly. At some point during the wild bidding war, I realized two things. First - I was bidding against my wife. Even if I won, I was going to lose. Second - my wife was using my own bidding number to bid against me. Which meant that even if I lost, I was still going to pay. Thwarted at every turn, I accepted defeat and wrote the huge check (a donation we wanted to make, in reality). But a funny one. @BillsBayou got into the fun at one point. Almost let him have it.

But glad to have found a nice tree for it.

S

 

[Big Country Bonsai]

Very nice! I don’t imagine it’s going to take long to get this into a showable tree

 

[markyscott]

Positioned carefully and tied in securely.

 

[markyscott]

Pruning wounds sealed. Done for now.

 

[sorce]

attention

No look, one hand, sawzall skills.

That's G!

Noice.

Sorce

 

[Housguy]

Awesome looking tree, thanks for sharing! I will one day be doing something similar to a large ficus I have living in a trash can as well, this helps to motivate, lol.

 

[rockm]

VERY nice CE with one helluva nebari. CE typically have crummy nebari--sparse, or lopsided. This is anything but.

You've done very well in branch selection and reduction. I have to work the same out with my big CE every few years, especially the apex. Swelling can happen quickly on faster growing branches in the top.

This is working into a great tree and that pot is killer!

 

[Michael P]

Wow! The hedging technique replicated the livestock browsed growth that we look for when collecting. I can't wait to follow its development.

 

[misfit11]

Fantastic material . That base and nebari are worth it on their own. The tree has a great aged look and has a terrific natural appeal to it. The SR is a nice match. Looking forward to this tree's bright future. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Carol 83]

Great progression, as usual. But next time maybe you could find a big tree.

 

[just.wing.it]

Wow, that's a great price of material!
Nice pot too.

I'm sure this will turn into a very nice bonsai in short order, in your care!

 

[LanceMac10]

Something very satisfying about carving up a big deciduous root-ball straight outta' a nursery can! Looks like a great start.

…….now, Shiners for everyone....