New Water Elm

[Neli]

Try to do ome creative carving on the top dead wood.
I use pegs to give initial direction to the branches...when they are very young it takes few days to set the initial direction.

 

[sikadelic]

Try to do ome creative carving on the top dead wood.
I use pegs to give initial direction to the branches...when they are very young it takes few days to set the initial direction.

Thanks Neli! So you think I shouldnt chop it so low and carve some of what is left above my chosen leader? I hadn't thought about that.

And I dont like the bar branching but if I chop off one of the parallel branches it will look too bare in my opinion.

 

[Neli]

I shall just post some inspirations for you to help you decide...
You have the option to trunk chop it but I am not sure you will be able to create taper soon....and heal the wound...It will take time...
Here are some inspirations for you with dead wood.

 

[sikadelic]

I shall just post some inspirations for you to help you decide...
You have the option to trunk chop it but I am not sure you will be able to create taper soon....and heal the wound...It will take time...
Here are some inspirations for you with dead wood.

Ah...I see what you mean. Thanks for posting those. I LOVE the last one.

 

[Zach Smith]

This tree received its second hair cut today. I had not intended on trimming it so much on the first year but I learned that they like to throw several shoots from the same place and can get out of hand pretty quickly. I think I have some decent bones in there and have decided where I think I should chop it to next Spring.

I had let the two lowest branches grow without trimming much the first time in hopes of thickening them a little faster. The 2nd branch thickened up more than my 1st so I will have to address that next year if it doesn't catch up.

The first 2 pics are from 24 August which is just a little over 2 months from collection. These things grow like crazy!! The last two are from today.

I would love some feedback and know two things I should have done differently:
1. Take the wire off sooner
2. Trimmed my branches back to downward growing shoots.

As you will learn, water-elms throw shoots in random directions. Yes, when it's suitable and you have the option you prune to downward growing shoots. But you don't always get them going in the direction you want, so wiring is imperative. You want to take the wire off just when it's biting in. Even if you miss by a little, wire scars will grow out in a couple of years.

This one's looking good. You'll want to cut the trunk back next year to a suitable branch for a new apex.

Zach

 

[Neli]

Ah...I see what you mean. Thanks for posting those. I LOVE the last one.

I like No2...

 

[sikadelic]

It is also very well done. Thanks for getting me on the right track here. I will try to do a few virts and see what I think.

 

[sikadelic]

This was one of my trees that was damaged from the previous winter. Like my others, most of the upper trunk appears to have died back to within a few inches of the soil level. Even though it was seriously damaged, I am very happy to at least see SOMETHING on it.

New leaves popped in a few places this week and there is a small bud that is difficult to see in the shaded area of the last picture. Anything is better than nothing!

 

[sorce]

Looks like another self chopper!

So 11 yrs 2 ago makes 3 more moves?

Best to you!

Sorce

 

[sikadelic]

Yeah I have at least 3 more moves in me before I hang it up. Hopefully I will have it figured out by then. I am just keeping my fingers crossed for warm climates. I would love to go to Alaska but I am sure my trees wouldn't!

 

[sikadelic]

Another update on this guy. It has grown with a couple of light hedge trims here and there. I look to pull it from the pot this year and hopefully get it into one of my larger bonsai pots. I will also give it a really good trim and begin building branches. The upper trunk will still need carving but I don't think I can trust myself with that task yet. Any volunteers?

 

[sikadelic]

An update with this one. ..it was at my parents house while I was in limbo earlier this year. My nephew tried to swing off the trunk section and snapped it right off. I guess we can call that natural damage and go with it?? I am a bit anxious to check the roots...I haven't had it out of the pot since I dug it up. I will update with that later this year if I can find a pot for it.

 

[Eric Group]

An update with this one. ..it was at my parents house while I was in limbo earlier this year. My nephew tried to swing off the trunk section and snapped it right off. I guess we can call that natural damage and go with it?? I am a bit anxious to check the roots...I haven't had it out of the pot since I dug it up. I will update with that later this year if I can find a pot for it.

They get twiggy pretty quick, I would cut those shoots back into a shape a bit shorter than the rough outline you want and let it back bud, rinse, repeat to build some ramification where you want it... thin out some of the shoots down low to highlight the multiple trunks... looks like a decent clump starting! Not where I saw this one going initially, but you can make this pretty cool with a little work!

 

[Sn0W]

Looks like it would make a nice raft or clump, hard to tell exactly whats going on at the base from the pictures

 

[just.wing.it]

Future clump?
I need a clump style tree...

 

[sikadelic]

The color of the soil compared to the tree does make it a bit hard to make sense of things. I thought it was just my colorblindness playing tricks on me but I am glad to see it isn't just me!

I need to get it out of the container and hopefully into a bonsai pot this year. I also need to check the roots as well as the dead wood. I have some Elmer's rotten wood stabilizer that I will try with it and see if it makes a difference on preserving the wood. As far as the styling, I am thinking it is about time to chop those primary branches back pretty hard and be on the ball with my wiring this year.

 

[sikadelic]

I decided to work on this a bit over the nice weekend we had. I was blown away with what I found under the soil. I hadn't had it out of the pot since June of 2014 when I collected it. I cut it back pretty hard and reduced the trunks down to 3. I just didn't like the look of it and I know that even numbers aren't the norm anyways. I had planned to work it into a nice pot this year but I didn't have one that would work with the base so I just went with another spare box I had laying around.

I am really excited to work with this one over the next couple years.