Chinese elm

[JudyB]

Been doing cleanup and winter pruning this week, here is my small chinese elm. One of my first trees, it's grown into a cool little creepy tree.
Enjoy!

 

[GrimLore]

Been doing cleanup and winter pruning this week, here is my small chinese elm. One of my first trees, it's grown into a cool little creepy tree.
Enjoy!

View attachment 68664 View attachment 68663

Hello and good day to you! Great piece I see some carving in the future to make it outstanding - is that a plan or?

Grimmy

 

[JudyB]

Thanks Grim, glad to see you back. I trust all is well with you! I could do some, but it already has so much character, not sure if it needs... I could clean out the uro.

 

[GrimLore]

Thanks and yes all is good and in some cases great! for the record I did not mean a severe carve but without standing in front of the tree and seeing it 2D I saw an "opportunity" to gouge that out in a "light" way. Again just what I can see in the pictures - Again not standing there I would take that and carve a fine line triangular down with a slow widening - not severe. Then I would set 2-3 slow shallow escape routes for water escape. After all is said and done I would take a hand held tiny torch to all the work and make the deepest dark and leave the rest alone - In my very humble opinion it would look like a severe lightening strike done proper and enhance it. Overall it id great as is, just my 2 pennies

Grimmy

 

[lordy]

Judy, you may want to consider packing the scar with 2 part epoxy putty. Mine is dark gray when cured, and rock hard. I have used it several times with good success. It will help preserve the tree from rot for longer than without. To make it a bit more natural in appearance, I press soil into it before it cures to give it some texture. Also, it can be worked like clay to "sculpt" a believable surface. But nice tree, just as it is.

 

[JudyB]

Thanks lordy for the tip, I don't think I'll need it for this tree. I like the scar, to me it looks natural. And rot? I am not worried about rot at all, have you had problems with rot? I have several D trees with larger open scars than this, and rarely see much to worry about. I suppose that on certain trees it could be an issue.

 

[sorce]

Morning Judy!

Can you get this one shifted to the other side of the pot, with the same offset?

I think that small detail could make a big impact.

Love this one too!

Sorce

 

[JudyB]

Good idea sorce. Guess what I'm doing now? Or at least as soon as I'm done typing this reply...

 

[lordy]

Thanks lordy for the tip, I don't think I'll need it for this tree. I like the scar, to me it looks natural. And rot? I am not worried about rot at all, have you had problems with rot? I have several D trees with larger open scars than this, and rarely see much to worry about. I suppose that on certain trees it could be an issue.

I have had a problem with rot on a larger hornbeam of mine. And Dave Murphy's maple seems to have grown a good sized hole where a chop occurred. See the before and after in these threads. It seems to have occurred in just 3 or 4 years.

http://bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/another-japanese-maple-what-to-do.4857/
http://bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/progressive-maple-dave-murphy.18269/#post-246548

I also like the idea of allowing a tree to follow it's natural course, a la Walter Pall. I have some that I am allowing to "weather" naturally, as well as some I have tried to forestall the aging effects of water inside the trunk by plugging holes in the bark with epoxy. Your tree seems to be a good candidate for the natural look. And it wears it well!