Freshly Styled Chinese Elm

[Robert E Holt]

I purchased this Chinese Elm late last year at Dragon Tree Bonsai in south Florida. Last week our local club held a workshop with Kathy Shaner and I used this tree as my subject. Her suggestions were a little different than my original thoughts, but i think it turned out pretty good. I still have some wiring work to do, but it is starting to bud out nicely.

 

[KennedyMarx]

What was Kathy's advice? I like tall, more slender, trees, but this seems too tall for such a thin trunk.

 

[Robert E Holt]

What was Kathy's advice? I like tall, more slender, trees, but this seems too tall for such a thin trunk.

Her advise was to make it a "Broom Style" as you see here. prior to her workshop it had not been styled at all.

 

[Robert E Holt]

I went into the workshop with the expectation she would suggest a drastic chop. When i asked about that, she took me outside and showed me several trees in nature and explained how they look. She said she is very much into "what nature does to trees.". So i went with the flow and we styled it as you see here.

 

[coh]

Interesting! I would have expected a chop (and probably would do so, or at least strongly consider it, if it were my tree), but I also like taller thinner trunked trees. Not every tree has to have a big trunk.

Looking forward to seeing it develop. You're fortunate to have worked with Kathy, I've interacted with her a fair bit...always a good experience.

Chris

 

[Robert E Holt]

Yes, I agree. It was a very interesting experience. As I said, going into it I expected a chop. In fact, some of the club members and I were discussing exactly where she would suggest making the cut. One of her comments was that following her last visit to Japan it was clear to her that we in America are far too eager to chop. Not all trees need to be chopped. She said that if we had chopped this tree, there would have been nothing left and it would take years of development to make a bonsai out of it. By taking this approach we can develop a nice bonsai in a much shorter period of time. Maybe she was just taking that approach because I am new to bonsai and she wanted to give me something I can actually work on and learn from.

 

[M. Frary]

I wouldn't chop it either. Just yet that is. It would need that top to make the trunk fatter. Then I would chop it.