Carved Water Elm

[Dav4]

I picked this one up from John Geanangel at the National Shohin Exhibition in Kannapolis this past June. I had seen some very nice water elm bonsai and wanted a larger one to work with, John happened to have one he collected several years ago, and the price was right. John had carved the trunk heavily to induce taper and some of the major branches had been preciously set with wire, but it needed a good trim at this point, which I did a week ago and added some wire. I also slip potted it into a larger container to let the roots run a bit. The new growth is a beautiful maroon, and I'm astounded at the vigor of this one as it seems to be pushing buds from every where. That base is 6+ inches wide and I'm looking forward to seeing what's under the soil next year. For now, it's probably get cut back one more time in August.

 

[VAFisher]

Awesome tree. I love the new growth on them too. It's a nice contrast with the older leaves. Mine really picks up steam and grows like crazy in the heat of the summer. Cutting are really easy to root on them too. I now have a root over rock project and a 7 tree forest started from cuttings on my one tree.

 

[sorce]

Dav4 your picture quality is nearing mine!

Is that why these have slipped to page 2 without notice?

Beautiful foliage!

@VAFisher the winged is winging!

Sorce

 

[Dav4]

Dav4 your picture quality is nearing mine!

Is that why these have slipped to page 2 without notice?

Beautiful foliage!

@VAFisher the winged is winging!

Sorce

I-phone on the fly!

 

[Giga]

Looks good but, android FTW!

 

[Dav4]

Leaves are turning and beginning to fall... will get a light trim and perhaps more pictures in the next month or so.

 

[Dav4]

, So, this one had loads of die back on it last spring and the Apex had died back. I decided it was a good point to just cut everything back to stubs and start again. I repotted the tree and fed and watered heavily all summer long… It grew well and was cut back and wired out several times. This is the way the tree looked this morning when I pulled it out from underneath my deck… And this is what it look like about 10 minutes later.

 

[Zach Smith]

, So, this one had loads of die back on it last spring and the Apex had died back. I decided it was a good point to just cut everything back to stubs and start again. I repotted the tree and fed and watered heavily all summer long… It grew well and was cut back and wired out several times. This is the way the tree looked this morning when I pulled it out from underneath my deck… And this is what it look like about 10 minutes later.

Have you considered treating the dead wood with a hardener like PC Petrifier? I ask because in my experience Water-elm wood is not durable when you carve it deliberately. I'm not sure why. Specimens I've collected with pre-existing shari tend more toward durability. It's when you carve into the sapwood on purpose that the wood just doesn't last very well on its own.

 

[Dav4]

Have you considered treating the dead wood with a hardener like PC Petrifier? I ask because in my experience Water-elm wood is not durable when you carve it deliberately. I'm not sure why. Specimens I've collected with pre-existing shari tend more toward durability. It's when you carve into the sapwood on purpose that the wood just doesn't last very well on its own.

I go back-and-forth about what I want to do with the deadwood… For now I’ve decided to let it rot naturally, but eventually I will probably try to slow the ride down a bit.

 

[Zach Smith]

I go back-and-forth about what I want to do with the deadwood… For now I’ve decided to let it rot naturally, but eventually I will probably try to slow the ride down a bit.

I hear you. It's a nice specimen, plenty of potential.

 

[Dav4]

It’s another slow day at work and the buds are beginning to swell. This one was thinned and cut back today, and will be repotted in the next week or two. I’m hoping to change the potting angle a bit and expose a better root base.

 

[Dav4]

Re-potted in February... didn't skip a beat. Aside from a few shoots that I thought would benefit from some extra girth, everything was cut back hard a few days ago. Anybody ever hedge a water elm??

 

[Dav4]

Hedged... what the hell!!

 

[Dav4]

I absolutely love the new spring foliage on water elms.

 

[Dav4]

A shot of the back… Already trimmed twice this year and still growing like a weed.

 

[LanceMac10]

Great coloring on the fresh growth. Looks pretty fat & happy....my goal in life!!

 

[Dav4]

Great coloring on the fresh growth. Looks pretty fat & happy....my goal in life!!

Yeah, the new growth on these water elms is wonderful... and you can have it all summer long if you cut them back regularly... which you kinda have to do anyway .