Winter Images

[VAFisher]

I took a bunch of pics today of my deciduous trees for record keeping purposes and thought I would post them up to get some feedback. Please feel free to offer advice, criticism, ridicule, whatever. You won't hurt my feelings. I want to make them better in 2019.

I'll start with what I think is my best tree. This is a water elm that I've been working on for about 3 years now. I feel like it's getting pretty good but the lower branches need more ramification. It doesn't have much of a nebari but it has a cool shari near the base. I don't know what, if anything, to do about that. It's getting a slightly larger pot this spring and I will continue to work on the branches.

Thoughts?

 

[VAFisher]

Next is my Water oak. The growth on this is a little coarser and I like it a lot better in leaf. I let the top get out of control a little in 2017 and it has gotten too thick up there I think. I'm not ready to cut it off and start over yet though. I've also considered removing the upper part of that lowest right branch but every time I go to do it, I think it maybe adds some character, and I stop.

This tree is also getting a new, bigger pot in the spring. In fact, the pot that it's currently in will go to the water elm above.

 

[BobbyLane]

In regards to the water elm. I think the image would benefit from some branches trained to obscure the top half of trunk, that looks very open and bare atm. i like the tree, those changes would enhance the natural look it already has.

 

[VAFisher]

Next is my American Elm. I'm not married to either of the lowest branches. The low right one popped last spring and I let it grow to see if I liked it. I'm not sure yet, but leaning towards removing it.

 

[VAFisher]

Trident Maple

 

[VAFisher]

Another Trident. The right side needs to catch up.

 

[VAFisher]

2 red maples. I'm going for a twin trunk literati-ish kind of thing with the 2nd. It gets a new pot this spring.

 

[VAFisher]

Another "twin trunk" which is really just 2 seedlings planted as close together as I could get them. This one is Sweetgum.

 

[VAFisher]

Crape Myrtle clump style.

 

[VAFisher]

Crape Myrtle that I trunk chopped in 2017, so this is 2 years of branch development. It's got a ways to go still.

 

[VAFisher]

A shohin and a mame crape myrtle that started as seedlings yanked from the driveway at my wife's old house. The 2nd one is entered in the mame contest.

 

[VAFisher]

These are all dwarf crape myrtle pokomoke that came from nursery plants. These are a lot of fun because they can take a lot of abuse and develop fast.

 

[GGB]

very natural, i love these a lot. especially the american elm. seems like that right branch might make it too symmetrical, but i guess that's 100% just a matter of one's own taste

 

[JudyB]

I think if you put some time into really wiring these out you’d have some pretty good winter images. Nice work, but with wiring you will see a big change I thInk. Thanks for sharing these ?

 

[VAFisher]

very natural, i love these a lot. especially the american elm. seems like that right branch might make it too symmetrical, but i guess that's 100% just a matter of one's own taste

I think so too. It probably needs to go but there's no rush. I may leave it for a while and see what happens.

 

[VAFisher]

I think if you put some time into really wiring these out you’d have some pretty good winter images. Nice work, but with wiring you will see a big change I thInk. Thanks for sharing these ?

Thanks Judy. I wired out the water elm last year, including every single twig. It took me probably 8 hours over several days to apply all that wire. I think the tree definitely took a step forward because of that, but it might be a once every few years type of thing for me.