pb shohin Chinese elm

[pback]

The Chinese elm I received from Wigerts a few weeks ago must have believed the groundhog and started breaking buds a couple days ago, giving me the chance to do my first real repot, although about a month earlier than I otherwise would have (it’ll be -6F here Sunday night).

Before:


During:


And after potting, some cleaning, and some wiring:


You can see in the middle pic that the trunk(?) takes a hard right angle before the feeder roots appear, which is why the tree is off center to such a degree. There is a neat little stump-like feature (you can see it below if you look closely) that I wanted to keep above ground too, hence the gangsta lean.



If ALL of the green pots Sam Miller had on the 99cent auction this week hadn’t been gone by the time I got there, this little guy would have gotten one of those. If any of you read this, you broke his heart.

I welcome any comments. Thanks for looking.

 

[pback]

As I try to develop this from just a little tree in a little pot to a passable bonsai, the biggest challenge that I can see is making any sort of nebari since the roots are all south of the bend in the trunk.

My best guess is to do a ground layer between the lines here:


To do this, could I clear the bark and just plant deep enough to cover the layer area completely? Versus doing the wrap thing?

@Smoke, I seem to recall you working with root grown Chinese elms, any ideas?

 

[BrianBay9]

Not Smoke here, but I'd suggest you keep that curve below your air layer site and start a new tree from that. The trunk above your air layer appears arrow-straight. You might try a broom style using that first whorl of branches. Maybe air layer off above that and use the top segment for another small tree, assuming you want to spend the time messing with all that.

 

[Shibui]

To do this, could I clear the bark and just plant deep enough to cover the layer area completely?

This is called ground layering and does work quite well - even easier than air layering because there's no messing around with moss and plastic.
If you want a broom style make sure the cuts you make are straight across the trunk rather than the angle you have drawn. Broom is formal upright for deciduous so trunk should be vertical.

Don't be too surprised if you find it difficult to get a really impressive set of roots on Chinese elm. They seem to like to grow just a few thick roots rather than lots of laterals. Repeated root pruning will help develop better root spread.

 

[pback]

Not Smoke here, but I'd suggest you keep that curve below your air layer site and start a new tree from that. The trunk above your air layer appears arrow-straight. You might try a broom style using that first whorl of branches. Maybe air layer off above that and use the top segment for another small tree, assuming you want to spend the time messing with all that.

I really like those ideas. How hard is it to do an air layer that small? The distance from that first whorl of branches to the next is only about 2in.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Why not just lean it over and work with it? Too many trunks have no movement this low. I’d use it to an advantage.

 

[pback]

Why not just lean it over and work with it? Too many trunks have no movement this low. I’d use it to an advantage.

@Brian Van Fleet, are you thinking something like this? Soil level at black line. Encourage growth in direction of the green.

 

[pback]

Or angled the other way, more of a tree growing from the side of a hill thing, in this imaginary crescent pot...

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

More like this, planted just a bit higher to show the flared roots (nebari). Then shorten the trunk to the red line, and build a new section of trunk and the first branch from the chop. It will have a lot of movement, but will take 3-5 years.

It’s the difference between having something like this

And having something like this.

 

[W3rk]

Yeah, Brian is presenting you with a much better option for a more interesting tree with that low curve (which is a great asset).

 

[pback]

That’s the direction I’m leaning as well.

Get it? “Leaning”. HA.

Puns aside, I really like that idea. I’d love to save the portion above that chop line, though. Make a cool little baby shohin. Anyone have experience with an air layer in that tight an area?

 

[BrianBay9]

Puns aside, I really like that idea. I’d love to save the portion above that chop line, though. Make a cool little baby shohin. Anyone have experience with an air layer in that tight an area?

It's just like doing one in an open area, but more annoying.