Chinese Elm styling choice

[GerhardG]

Hi All

I bought an elm not too long ago, nursery plant with a trunk diameter of about 3-4cm, trunk is straight for about the first 7" from the base, then there's a subtle movement and more straightness - no idea yet what the roots look like.

I'm planning to air layer the top part where the branches start, but that's just a bonus, big question is about the trunk.

My intitial plan was simple, I wanted to chop just above the movement, train a new leader and develop a formal upright - I could picture it already.....

Problem is I've got another Elm that's got a few more years of growing to do, and I recently wired it to start getting some idea where it's going, informal upright basically.

The result wasn't bad, but it made me question doing something similar with the bigger trunk....

The obvious next choice is Broom style.

I've been reading (and re-reading in many cases) everything I could find on developing broom style trees, and I have to admit previous attempts have been miserable failures, but they weren't Elms.....

One article I found points out a few types of broom style, among them the single leader broom style, which can be viewed as a formal upright style for deciduous trees, difference being the size and orientation of the branches. (good read: Feb 2010 Iowa Bonsai Assoc News letter)

Short version: Where do I chop?

I could follow the recipe and chop low, OR,

Chop higher and keep more of the nice trunk & bark?

Can this image of a single leader broom style be carried off with a "leader" which is the trunk with just a tiny leader on top?

Excuse the ramblings of a noob....

Gerhard

 

[jferrier]

My intitial plan was simple, I wanted to chop just above the movement, train a new leader and develop a formal upright - I could picture it already.....
Gerhard

We can't picture it though, that is, without a picture.

 

[Bill S]

Did you get it out of your system yet?

Gerhard, let us know when you make up your mind.

 

[jferrier]

Did you get it out of your system yet?

Gerhard, let us know when you make up your mind.

Are you referring to "the movement" ?

 

[GerhardG]

We can't picture it though, that is, without a picture.

Simple, look at your broom (the one you use to sweep floors) and imagine a kink about 7" from the bottom.

Seriously though, posting a pic of the trunk would be a waste of everybody's time, blank canvas, nothing there to see but some bark......

http://www.iabonsai.org/pdf/2010_February.pdf (link to the newsletter I mentioned)

Question is could a single leader broom style be pulled off convincingly if the "leader" is actually the trunk?

 

[GerhardG]

Thanks, sarcasm seems to have stirred my creative juices....

I think there's enough nothingness on that trunk to fit in another airlayer and simply try both options.