Creating Shari

[Cobra]

I got this Elm recently and noticed it has deadwood on the tip of the old trunk.
It comes maybe a third of the way down the trunk.
Does anyone have any ideas what I could do with this?
Was thinking of extending it possibly and creating a shari.

 

[Mayank]

I got this Elm recently and noticed it has deadwood on the tip of the old trunk.
It comes maybe a third of the way down the trunk.
Does anyone have any ideas what I could do with this?
Was thinking of extending it possibly and creating a shari.View attachment 304160

Not sure how natural that would look given that it's deciduous. I have an elm that has deadwood features (uro really) and it looks natural though. Guess it depends on the location.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Could be done. There is a branch at the bottom of the scar, care would need to be taken to avoid severing the life line to that branch. Don't rush to do it. First clean off the bark from the dead parts, then see what route to take if you are to take the Shari lower.

 

[Cobra]

For now my aim is to thicken up the branches over the next few years and develop the nebari.
Just a thought about the shari, as the dead part was already there when purchased.

 

[Shibui]

I think hollowed out deadwood looks best on deciduous trees. In nature they don't tend to have hard wood so dead areas naturally rot to create hollows where birds and critters live.
I suspect you will find the dead area is a bit larger than it looks as there's no upper branch on the right side to sustain bark there,
Just carving out the upper dead section might be enough. You can take the shari lower but need to be careful around the branch. Most trees can reroute sap flow so curving a shari past and below the branch should be possible provided you leave a live connection and don't remove too much bark at one time to allow the tree a chance to make new sap pathways through the live bark.

 

[Cobra]

Hollowed out.... um, I never thought about that.
Not something I'm familiar with, will have to do some research.
Could be fun.
At what point can you identify where the tree is alive? (probably a silly question) Is it obvious to see?

 

[Shibui]

Only the outside of the woody part and the inside of the bark are really alive. The wood in the centre of the trunk is just there to add strength. You've probably seen those pics of some famous trees that are completely hollow inside.
That means you can cut out as much wood as you want to and it won't affect the health of the tree. Just don't go really close to the live branches.

 

[sorce]

Not soon...but I would consider starting a new Nebari with an airlayer.

Seems the top will show you what will work well after this growing season, so you may want to hold out on that too!

Get you some more!

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Bonsai Nut]

As others have pointed out, shari is not that natural-looking on most deciduous bonsai. But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

When assessing any bonsai, do not start at the top and work your way down. Start at the bottom and work your way up. You have no surface roots or trunk flair at the soil line. You have a couple of bad roots emerging from the trunk above the soil. You have a lower trunk with no taper and no character, and it moves into an old die-back scar that is causing reverse taper.

These are the bigger issues with this tree that will take time and technique to fix (but they are certainly fixable).

For an elm at this time of year, the tree looks extremely weak. Have you inspected the roots? Given my comments above, my plan of action with this tree would be to get it out of the bonsai pot, check the roots, repot it into a larger container, and let it grow freely until next spring. Then in late spring, early summer I would consider a ground layer with an angled girdle to give the trunk basal flair and improve the surface roots. Once the air-layer is separated and established, I would wire my apex and evaluate whether I wanted to remove all other branches. Once the new branches bud and I can wire them, I would start to develop the final structure of the tree.

At that point, I would start to worry about the deadwood

I am not trying to make fun with your tree - it could turn into a really cool bonsai. But you have to learn to address the big issues first. Otherwise you will spend years hollowing deadwood, wiring branches, etc... and then five years from now realize - woops I guess I have to do a ground layer and remove all the branches I just spent five years building. Don't start building an ice cream sundae with the cherry

 

[Mayank]

Hollowed out.... um, I never thought about that.
Not something I'm familiar with, will have to do some research.
Could be fun.
At what point can you identify where the tree is alive? (probably a silly question) Is it obvious to see?

That's what I meant by "uro" its a dead hollow area, many examples on line. Best of luck. Sounds like a fun project!

 

[Cobra]

As others have pointed out, shari is not that natural-looking on most deciduous bonsai. But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

When assessing any bonsai, do not start at the top and work your way down. Start at the bottom and work your way up. You have no surface roots or trunk flair at the soil line. You have a couple of bad roots emerging from the trunk above the soil. You have a lower trunk with no taper and no character, and it moves into an old die-back scar that is causing reverse taper.

These are the bigger issues with this tree that will take time and technique to fix (but they are certainly fixable).

For an elm at this time of year, the tree looks extremely weak. Have you inspected the roots? Given my comments above, my plan of action with this tree would be to get it out of the bonsai pot, check the roots, repot it into a larger container, and let it grow freely until next spring. Then in late spring, early summer I would consider a ground layer with an angled girdle to give the trunk basal flair and improve the surface roots. Once the air-layer is separated and established, I would wire my apex and evaluate whether I wanted to remove all other branches. Once the new branches bud and I can wire them, I would start to develop the final structure of the tree.

At that point, I would start to worry about the deadwood

I am not trying to make fun with your tree - it could turn into a really cool bonsai. But you have to learn to address the big issues first. Otherwise you will spend years hollowing deadwood, wiring branches, etc... and then five years from now realize - woops I guess I have to do a ground layer and remove all the branches I just spent five years building. Don't start building an ice cream sundae with the cherry

thanks for the advice,to be honest it’s nice to have other things to think about, so I appreciate your input. Guess I’ll have a think while it grows out this year. I inspected the roots when I transferred it into new soil as it arrived in stodgy muck.
To my newbie eye they didn’t look to back, I trimmed maybe a inch of them to give them a little more room in the pot. Would you say a bigger pot is needed?

 

[Cobra]

thanks for the advice,to be honest it’s nice to have other things to think about, so I appreciate your input. Guess I’ll have a think while it grows out this year. I inspected the roots when I transferred it into new soil as it arrived in stodgy muck.
To my newbie eye they didn’t look to back, I trimmed maybe a inch of them to give them a little more room in the pot. Would you say a bigger pot is needed?

I must add it is budding like crazy on all the branches, so I guess that’s a good sign right? They look ready to pop in the next week or so I’d say