New Yatsabusa Elm

[cmeg1]

I had fun day traveling down to Meehans in Maryland.I make the trip there anually(well 2nd year).Anyway I wanted to purchase something larger.After some consternation between a rare type Zelkova,a small leaf corticosa elm,and a yatsubusa elm,I bought the yatsubusa.I forgot to take pictures of the other trees cause' I was so intent on purchasing.I am going to e-mail Martha this evening to see if she might give me a little history on this tree I purchased.The photos below are it's trunk,front,left,right and back.There is a dollar coin in the front view for comparison.I like how the tree leanes forward,yet has an extended back branch.The trunk delights me.Had a great day trip to Meehans Miniatures.

 

[JudyB]

Very cool tree cmeg! I think I like the back equally well as the front...

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I struggle with the three trunks and the symmetry. I personally think you need to lose one of the trunks - it would be a stronger design without it. Not to worry - you could airlayer it off and have another tree

 

[cmeg1]

I struggle with the three trunks and the symmetry. I personally think you need to lose one of the trunks - it would be a stronger design without it. Not to worry - you could airlayer it off and have another tree

Thanks for advise,Bonsai Nut.Symmetry is neat to me too.I have a small Korean Hornbeam that looks neat with a scalene triangle look to it.I do not think I could bring myself to cut a trunk off this tree,I am kinda' digging the 'freedom from attachment' thing with this tree.

 

[cmeg1]

Very cool tree cmeg! I think I like the back equally well as the front...

Thank you.I wish I would of remembered to take a picture of the Zelkova I was looking at.The leaves looked like Hornbeam leaves.It was so cool.The bark was incredible,though I never heard of this type of Zelkova,that is why I did not purchase it.The only thing I found on wikipedia that resembles it or may be it is Zelkova sicula.

 

[davetree]

It looks to me like all three of the trunks should be shortened, regardless if you lose one or not. The straight sections in the trunk should be reduced, but that's my opinion.

 

[Poink88]

Even before reading any posts, my feeling was to remove the left branch/trunk right away and lean it a bit to the left creating a twin trunk. This is just my personal choice/taste though.

Great looking tree any which was though. Congrats!

 

[cmeg1]

Yea,I guess that is bonsai.To go on in and create good display's using techniques like cutting off and regrowing or just cutting off all together.If perhaps I made the tree from scratch or made it from pre-bonsai material maybe I would proceed to better balence the design.I have e-mailed Martha for a little explanation of the history of this tree.Who knows,maybe it was a mother plant of a bunch of Yatsubusa's.I imagine it was field grown to get the girth on it and then it was cut back hard.At $200. a trunk though,I cannot bring myself to cut the tree.I like the fact that it actually has a well formed branch foundation to create foliage pads all over.There is definately a few years in the pads that exist on it now.I was insructed to start pinching(cutting) back to two nodes.It had hardened shoots all over it when I brought it home yesterday and I cut them all back to two nodes(which is very tedious on a yatsubusa elm),but fun.There is a chinese elm at Longwood Garden's that I have been observing for the last 11 years.I am going to just cut back throughout the growing season like they do.I will definately let the growth harden off though before I do cut.I will probally do that a few times a year and then wire in spring.I have posted a picture of the Elm at Longwood Garden's.It is over 4' tall!For me,now it is about the foliage pad's.I am glad the foundation already exists.

 

[cmeg1]

Here is the underside of the branches I am talking about.I feel they are well formed.

 

[rockm]

"At $200. a trunk though,I cannot bring myself to cut the tree."

This is a difficult decision, but price really shouldn't be a part of it, at least in a perfect world . Being timid because of what the trunk cost will insure it will remain just a trunk and not a bonsai. Believe me, I've been there with trees that cost me dearly. I was not agressive enough at first with them when I got them a decade or more ago. I paid (and am paying) the price for that because I have had to decide to cut them back even harder as the years go by. Faults get worse with inattention, branches get excessively long, nebari is still uncorrected etc. The owners of the bonsai nursery I store one of my trees at over the winter always say they can tell how long someone has had a tree by how excessively long the branches are or how much useless "old wood" is left on them. Trees owners tend to be too timid in cutting them back...

I would give this tree a year before I started designing it. During that time, think of what the design needs and more importantly, what it doesn't. Consider everything that hangs off the trunk expendable. Forget for a moment or two what you paid for it. Consider it like you would a mallsai...

 

[davetree]

Mark is right, you can look at this a long time before you make the decision. My teacher is always telling me to look for the smallest tree, and I could see a tree about half the height you have now. Your branches on this elm can be regrown in a year or two no problem.

 

[jk_lewis]

I struggle with the three trunks and the symmetry. I personally think you need to lose one of the trunks - it would be a stronger design without it. Not to worry - you could airlayer it off and have another tree

I'm glad he said it first, but my very first thought on seeing the tree was: Candelabra. One should go and I'd choose to remove the left one. You'd need to change the planting angle a bit too -- probably.

 

[davetree]

These trees air layer in a heartbeat - no problem making a new tree, and the new one should have really good roots.

 

[cmeg1]

Turns out my tree is about 10 years old.It was struck from cutting,grown in pot for a little while,grown in ground 4 years,dug and potted,used for cuttings for a year then trained.It was trained for 6 years.

 

[cmeg1]

Everyone had the greatest advice for this tree when I bought it.I just found this thread through a web search.I cannot believe how hard headed I was.Now, there are definately better options to shorten this tree,but I think I explained in other threads that I am just enjoying the process with it.Thanks everyone.Yup,I am going to post another picture of it.