Cedar Elm Anyone?

[James H]

Does anyone here keep cedar elms as bonsai? I have seem some great looking photos of elm bonsai in my books and online and would be very interested in seeing photos and maybe a quick pros and cons to the tree as a whole?

I have been looking at them when I go out hiking and am thinking that it might be the first species of bonsai I try to collect on from the wild.

 

[mcpesq817]

Cedar Elm are really great trees, and I think they are underutilized for bonsai. I have a collected one that I've been working on for a few years. Tough as nails, great bark, do very well in containers. Really perfect native species in my opinion.

 

[Poink88]

I collected several...very easy to collect and high success rate. Small leaves, grows fast, nice bark, ramifies well, back buds well, hold deadwood feature long, tolerates root chop, etc.

I think it is one of the best trees to bonsai.

 

[Sekibonsai]

I have a bunch and they are, along with most elms, great species to work with. I'll try and remember and post pictures when I get back to Houston.

 

[KayaMooney]

I plan on getting one this summer from Wigerts Nursery, I'm pretty jealous that you can collect them where you live!

 

[jkd2572]

I have a large collected clump. Seems to grow great like other elms. Leaves are a bit larger than other other elms, but small enough to bonsai.

 

[James H]

Thanks guys, we have them all over where I work so I am constantly looking for the "right" one to dig up and make my own. When I finally take that plunge I will be sure to post some photos.

 

[Sekibonsai]

Bad winter pictures...

 

[jkd2572]

Here is my clump.
4 feet x 4 feet.
21 inch long tokonome pot.
Big guy.

 

[mcpesq817]

Here's mine. It grows like a weed. I did a hard cut back this winter to work on developing and working back the primary canopy branches. These pictures are from April - I'd take a more recent picture with it in leaf, but I have a wren's nest with an egg in it at the moment so I don't want to disturb it.

 

[KayaMooney]

Here's a good blog post by Adam Lavigne working on a Cedar Elm clump. I Wish he wouldn't have separated them all though, they had more character together If you ask me.

http://adamaskwhy.wordpress.com/2014/02/02/cedar-elm-bonsai/

 

[Sekibonsai]

Here is my clump.
4 feet x 4 feet.
21 inch long tokonome pot.
Big guy.

Technically that's not a "clump style" but it's still nice! The leaves will reduce- are you sure it's a Cedar? I've never seen huge leaves. Are they "scratchy"?

 

[Gaitano]

I plan on getting one this summer from Wigerts Nursery, I'm pretty jealous that you can collect them where you live!

I visited Wigerts last month and they had several.

 

[KayaMooney]

I visited Wigerts last month and they had several.

Do you remember the pricing on them?

 

[jkd2572]

Technically that's not a "clump style" but it's still nice! The leaves will reduce- are you sure it's a Cedar? I've never seen huge leaves. Are they "scratchy"?

Yes the leaves are scratchy. Why is this not a clump style?

 

[Sekibonsai]

Yes the leaves are scratchy. Why is this not a clump style?

In my mind it's a triple trunk... I would call the attached a clump style (photo courtesy of Mike Hagedorn)... but its semantics.... still a nice arrangement.

I guess you just have one with larger leaves- I predict they'll get smaller with time/bonsai culture

 

[jkd2572]

It's a big tree so the big leaves are ok with me. Pics below is where the triple trucks emerge.

 

[Gaitano]

Do you remember the pricing on them?

I believe the chopped trunks I saw were $50-75? They looked similar to post #10, but less branching. Good starter material.

 

[Poink88]

I believe the chopped trunks I saw were $50-75? They looked similar to post #10, but less branching. Good starter material.

That is good price depending on size. Do you recall the trunk caliper?

As opposed to these LOL
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bonsai-Tree...438?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d1e29b46e

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bonsai-Tree...478?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d1e381ffe

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bonsai-Tree...459?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d1e2db7db

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bonsai-Tree...908?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d1e32e5d4

 

[bonsairxmd]

Don't want to totally hijack the thread but can someone explain how to differentiate between american and cedar elm? Is it the asymmetrical leaves of the American elm?


Thanks

Chad