Here is a progression series for a Chinese elm from 2020 until now. This is not my first tree but it was one of my first trees bought from a proper bonsai nursery as entry-level stock for a low price. I hope this is somewhat interesting for beginners like myself to not give up on their stock even though it may not look so great when you begin.
Source : Beaver Rock Bonsai
Cost : ~$20
Age: 3 (propagated from cutting in 2018)
Acquired : July 2020
August 2020 post workshop with Tony Bebb. He wired one of the ramrod straight branches and made an adjustment to the apical section of the trunk. The tree had sinuous movement near the bottom which became much straighter after the first bend. I was new to bonsai at this point so I had not considered a lot of design flaws such as the proportion of branch sizing, taper and congruence between movement of different sections.
2020 Spring growth cut back. I mainly used clip and grow with directional pruning; leaves were cut back to 1 or 2 and usually in the opposite direction e.g. if the previous section of the branch moved left, I cut back to a leaf node that pointed right unless this would turn the branch back into the trunk.
2020 Midsummer cutback. Shortly after this, one of my friends was hospitalised and had limited mobility post-surgery. I had this sent over for the months they were in recovery to keep them busy because they weren't able to tend to their regular garden in the meantime. I did not see this tree for nearly 6 months.
This tree was back in my garden in Jun 2021; it was very gangly with long limbs that crossed back onto each other and the apex was no longer in proportion with the rest of the tree because the thickness of the branches were almost similar across the tree to my eye. Additionally, some of the branches in the upper-mid section were completely straight now.
July 2021
There were some wire scars with completely straight branches. At this time, the leaves were also close to dropping. Fun fact: Chinese elms actually aren't evergreen in this part of Brisbane.
August 2021
The straight sections were cut back completely, leaving a stub for the future branch to regrow. I also used wire + 2 guy wires to some of the upper branches to turn the apex back over the base of the tree for better visual balance. Apologies for no good pictures during this time as I was moving houses.
Overhead shot of the ramification in spring 2021. I also ended up attaching this to a rock and burying it inside a deeper pot wrapped in twine, aluminium wire and clingfilm. As I had this tree for a while, I was aware of how it tends to explode into bushy growth. The growth this season lacked vigour (probably due to the repotting,wiring and RoR process).
December 2021
I did not prune this tree after its first flush due to lack of vigour. After about 2 months of plodding along, it finally started growing strongly again. I did some minor cutbacks on some sections and cleanup. One of the side (right) branches in the middle section was also not proportional to the size of surrounding branches. I defoliated up to the growing tip and left this branch and the apical leader as sacrifice branches to continue growing on. You may also notice that this tree is now turned around so the original back is the new front but it works from both directions.
There is an empty section on the top right which has a new bud growing from it which will be used to close down the negative space. Hopefully unrestrained growth of the single apical leader over time will increase the girth of the trunk somewhat to make the tree more impactful and less of a stick in a pot. Over time, I also plan to cut the existing branches back to their interior. This will restart the ramification again but at the same time, it will introduce better proportions to the tree because the length of the branches give the image of a skinny tree. I expect the entire current apex will be cut off at some point as well and regrown for taper which should not be a problem since Chinese elms grow quickly.
This tree will remain in the pot with the rock buried until spring 2023 when the rock will be uncovered. The pictures should rotate the right way around when it is zoomed in.
Distance shot.
Chinese elm no. 1 - shohin
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Keep Calm and Ramify
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Re: Chinese elm no. 1 - shohin
Nice of you to lend this tree to aid in your friends recovery. Maybe you've given them a taste to start their own bonsai addiction?
Great progress with this tree in a short amount of time.
Hope the ROR is successful upon uncovering - May your roots be tight & plentiful!
Great progress with this tree in a short amount of time.
Hope the ROR is successful upon uncovering - May your roots be tight & plentiful!
