When to repot Chinese Elm, with a twist

[badatusernames]

Hate to say it but.. Told ya so

Hahah yeah you did, you have good advice too I've found, for the record, I failed to call that out earlier

I mostly want to save myself from the ridicule of people who are like THAT'S AGAINST THE RULES haha

 

[badatusernames]

I’m just letting it go for now but @Shibui Im definitely eyeing this branch. It doesn’t seem necessary and there’s something younger and more ramified right next to it



this one is chunky but too important, it caught my eye at first due to its girth



This one I could see someone make an argument to remove. There’s a more interesting branch behind it with ramification, and really it’s what I suspect should be the main focal first branch. It’s set back a bit from the front though, so the depth this one adds may be warranted IMO, at least for now as it develops and grows further



what do you think of my thought process here?

 

[badatusernames]

Not going to lie, curious how fast this space would fill in too

I worry I may lean too aggressively towards cutting and regrowing as a thought process though.

 

[Carol 83]

Not going to lie, curious how fast this space would fill in too

I worry I may lean too aggressively towards cutting and regrowing as a thought process though.

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Looking at your pictures hurts my neck.

 

[badatusernames]

Looking at your pictures hurts my neck.

yeag, I don’t know why they’re uploading sideways

 

[Shibui]

Great to hear that others are pushing the boundaries to actually find out what CAN be done as opposed to playing it safe and going with tradition.

 

[Shibui]

I’m just letting it go for now but @Shibui Im definitely eyeing this branch. It doesn’t seem necessary and there’s something younger and more ramified right next to it

So hard to make good advice from 2 D photos of just a part of a tree. Try closing one eye and looking at just one section and trying to decide what to do with the entire structure. We need all the clues of point of origin, shape, direction, length, relation to nearby branching/trunk/roots to make an informed decision. With 2 eyes and opportunity to look at different angles you have that info but I only have a couple of 2D photos.

After years of experience I have come up with a couple of generalizations that may help.
1. If in doubt cut it off. We all seem to have a tendency to keep more than necessary in the beginning. Eventually I discovered that less is almost always more in bonsai.
2. Good ramification trumps size and often trumps placement - but only a good view in 3D can confirm that. In most cases I'll keep a better ramified branch rather than a thicker one next to it.

Just looking at 2D photos I'd be taking off even more than just one branch but that can probably wait until one grows a bit first. You will see when it is ready.

 

[badatusernames]

So hard to make good advice from 2 D photos of just a part of a tree. Try closing one eye and looking at just one section and trying to decide what to do with the entire structure. We need all the clues of point of origin, shape, direction, length, relation to nearby branching/trunk/roots to make an informed decision. With 2 eyes and opportunity to look at different angles you have that info but I only have a couple of 2D photos.

After years of experience I have come up with a couple of generalizations that may help.
1. If in doubt cut it off. We all seem to have a tendency to keep more than necessary in the beginning. Eventually I discovered that less is almost always more in bonsai.
2. Good ramification trumps size and often trumps placement - but only a good view in 3D can confirm that. In most cases I'll keep a better ramified branch rather than a thicker one next to it.

Just looking at 2D photos I'd be taking off even more than just one branch but that can probably wait until one grows a bit first. You will see when it is ready.

That makes perfect sense and is confirming some feelings I’m having, thank you!

 

[badatusernames]

Given it’s health and strength coupled with the potential for lumpiness if left, I made my choices. Looking messy because I only gave it some structural wire - I don’t want to mess with the shoots yet. That branch in the back right that looks bare is popping fresh buds.

No other decisions need to be made right now so I’m just going to let it grow and the wire set. Once it’s right, I’ll likely take a look at another round of wiring, but this seems to be a pretty decent cut and grow candidate too.

 

[badatusernames]

One thing in your favour is that its a tiny tree so thickening should be slower than a larger one. Often with tiny bonsai there's no choice - to get 3 or 4 branches on a tiny tree some must be close together.
I still see no reason to tempt fate any more than I need to so wherever possible I reduce branch density as much as possible. There seems to be a tendency to keep way too many branches in the initial stages. I've done it but now getting better at making spaces earlier in development. Remaining branches often seem to ramify and develop faster after branch thinning reduces competition.
You have done a great job so far so I'll leave it up to you to decide what and when.

Following your advice has paid off yet again. I ended up getting more aggressive with the structural branching and it’s got a pretty wild head of hair now. These grow FAST!

Just letting it do it’s thing for now, let it go wild a bit.

 

[Carol 83]

C

Following your advice has paid off yet again. I ended up getting more aggressive with the structural branching and it’s got a pretty wild head of hair now. These grow FAST!

Just letting it do it’s thing for now, let it go wild a bit.

Cool pot too.