Shohin Chinese Elm

[catfish chapstick]

gorgeous tree. i love the little ones. nice blog.

[JasonG]

Originally Posted by bwaynef

If it offends you that I took a few liberties virtually with this tree, ...please ignore my question.

Have you considered removing the branch from the inside of the curve? I understand there's a different set of rules w/ shohin sometimes. What do you think?

Hey Wayne, No worries at all with your virt. I like to see that folks will look at a nice tree and try to make it better. I would never be offended with someones suggestion. While I know that the inside branch breaks the "rules" in this case it actually works very well. I will say though that while working on it yesterday it did kinda bother me a bit. Maybe it needs to be bent or something to expose the trunk a bit more. We will see what happens.....

Originally Posted by Victrinia Ensor

hmmm... to my mind, it's so perfectly "squatty" that inside curve branches mean relatively little. I actually prefer the branch.

No clue what you traded this for Jason... but I suspect you got the better end of the deal. I think it's really quite marvelous. It's always nice to be able to work on something which has a few years under it's belt, be it in the wild, or in someone else's hands.

I think I do like the lower potting virt, but it seems such a waste of great nebari. Plus one rarely looks at these trees exactly eye level, so I would imagine that having more exposure probably suits it just fine irl.

Nice acquisition....

Victrinia

Thanks Vic, I agree with your 2 points.....I do like Ricks virt but the extra 1/4" in the pot won't make or break the image. Itis very nice to get material that is fairly far along like you say....really cuts down on the time it takes to build a nice collection.

Originally Posted by Rick Moquin

Jason,

I like the composition. I had to go back and forth between the two (original and the latest) to decide on the pot. This one is definitely better.

I find the tree a little high. I know we are permitted the pot depth which this one comes close, but I prefer trees a little deeper. What say you, and would it be possible. I think it adds greater stability to the composition.

Nice virt Rick!! Your virt skills are very good! I see where you are going and I tried to get it a bit deeper. But I really wanted to have a nice drainage layer of pumice in there. So, I removed half the layer and settled with what you see now. I tend to over pot my trees a bit so this was a little shallow for my taste. But the nebari fit perfectly, albeit a bit snug, and in person it really looks very good.

Originally Posted by catfish chapstick

gorgeous tree. i love the little ones. nice blog.

Thanks CC!!

[Rick Moquin]

Originally Posted by JasonG

Nice virt Rick!! Your virt skills are very good! I see where you are going and I tried to get it a bit deeper. But I really wanted to have a nice drainage layer of pumice in there.

Ah.... the proverbial drainage layer?

So, I removed half the layer and settled with what you see now. I tend to over pot my trees a bit so this was a little shallow for my taste. But the nebari fit perfectly, albeit a bit snug, and in person it really looks very good.

Don't we all. I think the pot is nearly perfect for this tree. At the stage of development it is in, one does indeed want to slow things down so they can control the growth/silhouette. Mind you the latter will probably require re-potting every year vice every second.

I was basing my recommendation from your blog. Seeing the root ball I believe you could have shaved a 1/4-1/2 inch of the bottom without affecting the exposed flair of the nebari.

[JRob]

Jason.

I like the tree and pot as well. I am curious in your neck of the woods at the hight of summer how often will you have to water? In Missouri my Shohin are watered 3 times a day but are well worth the trouble of keeping in the correct size pots.

JRob

[JTGJr25]

Hey Jason very nice elm I love it. I too was also thinking about removing one of the lower branches but I think removing the one on the right would be my choice. It seems to come from the front of the trunk and is quite straight. It doesn't bother me at all that the other branch comes out of the inside of a bend, it has a nice shape and fits well in that spot.

Just another way of looking at it.

Tom

[pauldogx]

A really great tree!! I like it just the way it is.

[grouper52]

Thats a great tree, Jason! VERY nicely done. Thanks for posting.

Will

[JasonG]

Originally Posted by Rick Moquin

Ah.... the proverbial drainage layer?



Don't we all. I think the pot is nearly perfect for this tree. At the stage of development it is in, one does indeed want to slow things down so they can control the growth/silhouette. Mind you the latter will probably require re-potting every year vice every second.

I was basing my recommendation from your blog. Seeing the root ball I believe you could have shaved a 1/4-1/2 inch of the bottom without affecting the exposed flair of the nebari.

Yep, the drainage layer.....Yep they do work and my good friend says use one every time so.....I use em'. If it works in Mr. Kimuras garden then it should work in mine

To remove another 1/2" or so would have taken me into a pretty fat root with lotsof feeders attached to it. I played it safe and left it knowing it might be a tad high. For now it will have to work, but next repot I will remember this

Originally Posted by JRob

Jason.

I like the tree and pot as well. I am curious in your neck of the woods at the hight of summer how often will you have to water? In Missouri my Shohin are watered 3 times a day but are well worth the trouble of keeping in the correct size pots.

JRob

Thanks JRob! If it is going to be over 100 then I will water the smallest of trees in the morning and again in the evening. That happens maybe 5x a year. 90's or so I will water in the evening. All my shohin except pine get morning sun only then mostly shade the rest of the day. They seem to do really well.

Originally Posted by JTGJr25

Hey Jason very nice elm I love it. I too was also thinking about removing one of the lower branches but I think removing the one on the right would be my choice. It seems to come from the front of the trunk and is quite straight. It doesn't bother me at all that the other branch comes out of the inside of a bend, it has a nice shape and fits well in that spot.

Just another way of looking at it.

Tom

Hey Tom,

I agree that the branch in question is pretty straight, I noticed that too. Removing it would really set the tree back as the next branch inline is a back branch and it would just be very contrived looking. I went and looked at it just to confirm before I replied. At the very least I might need to introduce some movement to it. That might be a fall thing. Although elm are bullet proof I will let this one rest for a while.

Originally Posted by pauldogx

A really great tree!! I like it just the way it is.

Thanks, and me too!

[davetree]

I wouldn't cut any of the lower branches off, it's pretty good the way it is right now.