Cork Bark Elm Restyled

[David P]

Hello Bonsainuts, this is what I did to my Cork bark elm today. I was getting lower branches dying before I knew that heavy top pruning was needed with these trees. I didn’t have a lot of lower branches left so I decided to re style the tree by heavy pruning and bending down the lowest branches left.
The fist photo will show what my tree used to look like and also some of the die back I was talking about.
The rest of the photos is what I’ve done.
Any thoughts or further suggestions would be appreciated from you guys.

 

[David P]

I’m thinking this will be my new front. The root spread looks better from this side.

 

[Shibui]

The result looks much better.
The lower branches deteriorating probably results from allowing the apex to grow so much. Chinese elm is very apical dominant so top will always grow at the expense of lower areas.
Not sure that the raffia wrap was necessary but probably better safe than sorry after.
Maybe keep the top trimmed a bit more in future to try to strengthen the lower branches.

 

[Tele]

It looks a lot better but I have doubts about the backbranch of the old front now going to the front.
The nebari is much better without the crossing root and I hope the lowest (very well placed) branch will survive.

 

[Tieball]

Well done. The final front of the tree represents a nicely composed natural style. A relaxed natural style. You eliminated the tree viewing stress points. Mighty fine!

I totally agree with @Shibui with the top trimming to strengthen and continue lower healthy growth.

 

[luvinthemountains]

@David P nice work! Like others, I am having trouble with the second branch on the right when viewing the tree from your new front. It feels like it originates from the center of the trunk and, at any rate, the branch may be too horizontal.

 

[David P]

@David P nice work! Like others, I am having trouble with the second branch on the right when viewing the tree from your new front. It feels like it originates from the center of the trunk and, at any rate, the branch may be too horizontal.

What do you suggest I do, it does come off the center of the trunk and here are the reasons I bent it to the right, #1 I wanted to open up the enter a bit so you could see the whole trunk line a bit better and #2 because I lost that lowest branch and wanted to use this one to cover that up a bit. I do have a small chance of moving it more towards the center again because there's a small branch coming from the base of that dead branch. If that survives then I will develop that to take over that spot.

You said its too horizontal, how would you suggest I place it?

 

[David P]

Well done. The final front of the tree represents a nicely composed natural style. A relaxed natural style. You eliminated the tree viewing stress points. Mighty fine!

I totally agree with @Shibui with the top trimming to strengthen and continue lower healthy growth.

Yes I will pay better attention to that in the future.

 

[David P]

The result looks much better.
The lower branches deteriorating probably results from allowing the apex to grow so much. Chinese elm is very apical dominant so top will always grow at the expense of lower areas.
Not sure that the raffia wrap was necessary but probably better safe than sorry after.
Maybe keep the top trimmed a bit more in future to try to strengthen the lower branches.

I used the raffia because those branches were old, they were starting to develop bark and I was afraid to snap them. Plus I wanted the practice. lol

 

[Tieball]

Yes I will pay better attention to that in the future.

I need to do the same on several trees I have.

 

[Tieball]

I used the raffia because those branches were old, they were starting to develop bark and I was afraid to snap them. Plus I wanted the practice. lol

All good reasons to use the raffia. Mighty fine work!

 

[luvinthemountains]

because I lost that lowest branch and wanted to use this one to cover that up a bit.

This is the part that I was missing - for some reason I was thinking that you had just defoliated the branch. Sorry you lost that one, it sucks and I see that you are doing the best you can with what you have. Perhaps by working on the top, you can force some energy further down the trunk and eventually you get lucky with a sprout in the right place. I will be following to see how it goes for you.

 

[River's Edge]

Hello Bonsainuts, this is what I did to my Cork bark elm today. I was getting lower branches dying before I knew that heavy top pruning was needed with these trees. I didn’t have a lot of lower branches left so I decided to re style the tree by heavy pruning and bending down the lowest branches left.
The fist photo will show what my tree used to look like and also some of the die back I was talking about.
The rest of the photos is what I’ve done.
Any thoughts or further suggestions would be appreciated from you guys.

I prefer the original front. My approach would have been to remove the large crossing root to improve the base and nebari. Changing the regular care and maintenance to strengthen the lower branches and foliage while reducing and managing the apical dominance. Wrapping the branches and wiring carefully to change to a downward angle is a good idea, but I would have suggested getting that portion of the tree healthy before doing so. If you perform that aspect again I would change the wiring method and wrapping technique to provide more protection for the branches. Basically still using rafia but adding wire spline, another rafia wrap and then normal wire. I would use copper for strength as a preference over aluminum for this particular preference. Changing the anchor to distribute the stress and protect the branch from cracking at the trunk would be of benefit.

I see why you prefer the nebari on the new front but do not feel the other changes are of benefit to the overall design.
Just another opinion, but personally I would change it back.

 

[David P]

This is the part that I was missing - for some reason I was thinking that you had just defoliated the branch. Sorry you lost that one, it sucks and I see that you are doing the best you can with what you have. Perhaps by working on the top, you can force some energy further down the trunk and eventually you get lucky with a sprout in the right place. I will be following to see how it goes for you.

Yea Thank you.

 

[David P]

I prefer the original front. My approach would have been to remove the large crossing root to improve the base and nebari. Changing the regular care and maintenance to strengthen the lower branches and foliage while reducing and managing the apical dominance. Wrapping the branches and wiring carefully to change to a downward angle is a good idea, but I would have suggested getting that portion of the tree healthy before doing so. If you perform that aspect again I would change the wiring method and wrapping technique to provide more protection for the branches. Basically still using rafia but adding wire spline, another rafia wrap and then normal wire. I would use copper for strength as a preference over aluminum for this particular preference. Changing the anchor to distribute the stress and protect the branch from cracking at the trunk would be of benefit.

I see why you prefer the nebari on the new front but do not feel the other changes are of benefit to the overall design.
Just another opinion, but personally I would change it back.

Well, it’s never too late to go back I just did this work. I do still want to remove the crossing root as it looks like its strangling the base of the tree, but I think I'm going to do that in the winter before I repot it. wish I knew all those techniques you are talking about even though I've been working on my own trees for a good 20 years now. I don't wire them much I try to train by pruning so perhaps I need to refine my skills a bit more. when I started this tree 15-16 years ago it was the thickness of a pencil and about 1.5 feet tall. Here’s what it looked like when I pulled it from the ground in 2014. Trimmed it and put it in a container on the ground again. Then finally in the blue pot in 2017.

I would change the wiring method and wrapping technique to provide more protection for the branches. Basically still using rafia but adding wire spline, another rafia wrap and then normal wire.

Im not sure what or how do this unless I see an example or a video. There's a lot to learn but that's why I love Bonsai.

 

[pandacular]

Has it been repotted since 2017? I'd say it's due for it! But not sure it's wise to do this coming spring considering the scope of work here.

 

[David P]

Has it been repotted since 2017? I'd say it's due for it! But not sure it's wise to do this coming spring considering the scope of work here.

Hi Pandacular, yes I’ve repotted it since then but I’m going to do it again at the right time as I want to start decreasing the size of the pot.

 

[River's Edge]

A wide range of adaptive wiring techniques seem to arise from experience and working with professionals. I have not seen too much except the basic concepts on video or text. At least that has been my experience. One text that contains eighteen pages of wiring instruction with accompanying diagrams is Bonsai Techniques 1 by John Yoshio Naka. Many of these techniques can be combined when working with older material and more difficult bends. I am attaching a simple picture showing some detail of rafia and wire technique options from that book. Most of the advanced techniques I have used came from my main sensei Boon, Daisaku and Michael Hagedorn and observing other professionals in a variety of circumstances over the years. Perhaps these pictures will aid in strengthening the rafia anchor and support provided by your application of wire.