MACH5
Imperial Masterpiece
This elm was purchased from Mirai last year. Here is a little history:
Originally this tree came from the Willamette Valley in Oregon where for 85 years it grew in the ground alongside other elms that were used specifically for propagation. The land was subsequently bought to build apartments. Ryan somehow found them right before they bulldozed the field. However, in order to obtain the lot of elms, he had to pay a hefty price to another nurseryman who apparently had beat him to the trees! Since then, Ryan has created many smaller bonsai from these trees via air layering. He also took the original trees and started training them into exceptional and impressive pieces of bonsai.
Here is a photo from Ryan back in 2011 when the tree was first dug from the ground and potted into a wooden box.
Mirai posted a video on Facebook that was taken as their truck (AKA the Covered Wagon) was being readied to take the long journey across the country from Oregon to New York last May. Many trees were being delivered including my elm. Below is a still taken from that video were the elm can be seen indicated by the white arrow.
This is one of the photos that Ryan sent to me. It greatly appealed to me because it reminded me of a tree in nature rather than a bonsai. The bark is spectacular although very delicate. Powerful and well developed nebari uncommon in elms. The tree stands more than three feet from soil level and almost as wide. The custom made Byron Myrick pot suits the tree perfectly!
Here it is in my garden. These are all fairly recent photos.
I built a clear cedar bench specifically for this tree with extra thick 6" x 4" posts for better support. The tree was also placed on a turn table for easy rotation.
I have not done any work on this tree. I want to study it in winter without any of the leaves. But I do know that a lot more work is ahead. Long whips are being grown for next year as I plan to do a few thread grafts as well as lots of wiring, pruning and possibly some heavy bending. I truly look forward to continuing this tree's development into the future!
Originally this tree came from the Willamette Valley in Oregon where for 85 years it grew in the ground alongside other elms that were used specifically for propagation. The land was subsequently bought to build apartments. Ryan somehow found them right before they bulldozed the field. However, in order to obtain the lot of elms, he had to pay a hefty price to another nurseryman who apparently had beat him to the trees! Since then, Ryan has created many smaller bonsai from these trees via air layering. He also took the original trees and started training them into exceptional and impressive pieces of bonsai.
Here is a photo from Ryan back in 2011 when the tree was first dug from the ground and potted into a wooden box.
Mirai posted a video on Facebook that was taken as their truck (AKA the Covered Wagon) was being readied to take the long journey across the country from Oregon to New York last May. Many trees were being delivered including my elm. Below is a still taken from that video were the elm can be seen indicated by the white arrow.
This is one of the photos that Ryan sent to me. It greatly appealed to me because it reminded me of a tree in nature rather than a bonsai. The bark is spectacular although very delicate. Powerful and well developed nebari uncommon in elms. The tree stands more than three feet from soil level and almost as wide. The custom made Byron Myrick pot suits the tree perfectly!
Here it is in my garden. These are all fairly recent photos.
I built a clear cedar bench specifically for this tree with extra thick 6" x 4" posts for better support. The tree was also placed on a turn table for easy rotation.
I have not done any work on this tree. I want to study it in winter without any of the leaves. But I do know that a lot more work is ahead. Long whips are being grown for next year as I plan to do a few thread grafts as well as lots of wiring, pruning and possibly some heavy bending. I truly look forward to continuing this tree's development into the future!
