Ulmus Carassifolia 45 yrs later

[vancehanna]

The tree was collected back in 76 in Bartlesville, OK. After initially cutting it down to size and regrowing just about everything it became somewhat of a bonsai. About 35 years later the tree mysteriously died back and I thought it might be gone. Next spring about 2018 I saw some new growth quite low on the trunk and did the Naka Trunk chop. Here's what's going on after another four years of letting her just grow out.
The root base really is the tree as the nebari is over 9" in spread all directions. At some point I'll probably remove the large 'foot' shown to make it into a more circular nebari.
So there is some hope for this poor boy...with more time and careful training, pruning and wire maybe it might become something again....hah!

 

[Ugo]

Really inspiring.
If a cat has nine lives I guess a trees has way much more.
This tree seems that it has learned from its past life looking at the nebari size and flat root mass.

Good work helping it get back to life.

 

[vancehanna]

Again nature is an inspiration! Thanks for your fine comment…
In a few more seasons I plan to have it half this size and in a pot to match! (Hopefully one of mine) hah!

 

[Crazy Diamond]

That tree has lived through many things, but there it continues to resist the passage of time. It reminds me the famous poem by Antonio Machado:

To a withered Elm tree

In the old elm tree, carved open by lightning
And already half-rotten,
Some green leaves sprout
Come April rains and the sunshine in May.

The century-old elm atop the hill
By the river Duero! A yellowish moss
Smudges the tree’s off-white coat
Over the dusty, worm-eaten trunk.

It won’t be home to brown nightingales, no,
The way rustling poplar trees are,
Them guarding the river bank and the road.

An army of ants climb the tree
In a single file, and deep in its bowels
Spiders weave their grey webs.

Before the ax-wielding lumberjack
Fells you, O Duero elm tree, before
The carpenter turns you into a bell’s headstock,
A cart yoke or into its steering handle;
Before you burn, tomorrow,
All red embers in the fireplace of
Some wretched hut by the road;
Before the whirlwind uproots you, or
The snowy sierras’ breath freezes you dead;
Before the river carries you down towards
The sea, through many valleys and gullies,
I wish, elm tree, to write down in my notebook
The marvel of your green branch.
Likewise, so does my heart long
For another miracle of the spring,
Hankering after light, after life.

 

[sorce]

I was hours old at the time of that first picture!

Sorce

 

[vancehanna]

Source! Surprisingly it was probably about 30~40 or so is my guess. I had family back in OK and when our son was born; in '76. That Fall we took him back visiting the old family area in and around Bartlesville. (Bartlesville is home to Phillips 66 and has quite an old wealth in certain parts.) We were out in the country where the family had property and on a walk through I'd noticed that many of the trees were some what 'stunted' and asked my father-in-law about such. He replied that they'd had aerial type defoliation back in the 40's of the area to create more pasture areas.
Well I dug this tree at the time which was probably about 7' in height. Put the chop on it bagged it and tossed it into the trunk of the Lincoln. Planted it immediately in MI where we lived and the rest is history.
So this ole stump has been around and I do love the poem above! Thanks Arnold.

 

[canoeguide]

I think the "foot" is part of the charm.

 

[vancehanna]

This Spring's leaf out is looking best yet. In another year or so she should be ready to possibly show! I will have to chop the top a bit more and create more fine detailed ramification as well as scale in relation to the size of the trunk diameter.

 

[tangledtanuki]

I really like that "foot". I don't think every bonsai needs a perfect nebari. I would try and work it into the design. Maybe plant at a bit more of an angle to give a bit of depth and then maybe work on building radial roots around the whole base but it really does look like a natural part of the tree. Maybe a bit of an angle change of the trunk?

 

[Michael P]

Keep the foot!

 

[HorseloverFat]

Awesome Ulmus, Vance!!!!

Love that foot!

 

[vancehanna]

Late Fall update on this little fella. I am thinking of making a pot for this one. Probably a tray planting in a warm cream tone. Not white but with some umber showing through the breaks.....
The tree is untrimed and just after leaf drop here in N. CA.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Another great tree Vance. I love the stories all your trees have. This one is no exception. Looking good after the die-back. I'm also going to say leave the foot.

 

[vancehanna]

Thanks so much for the fine comment.
Yes! The foot will be what it is: a errant root that took off on its own!
Funny I looked at this tree today after leaf drop and thought the same …

 

[Adamski77]

Very inspiring story…

 

[gooeytek]

 

[vancehanna]

Thought I'd do a major chop on this guy but have not yet done so. Proportions need to be a bit tighter.....