Cascading Chinese Elm

[Grant Bowie]

Hi all, about 10 years ago I started a cascading Chinese Elm. At the time it was a seedling grown (by me) piece of nursery stock that was very slanting and a bit unstable. I potted it into one of my most treasured pots (Chinese) and the tilting of it required a lot of work on the roots but is very stable now.
It’s been slow to evolve but its becoming interesting both in shape, scars and a bright future I feel.

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Any how , one branch had become a bit dominant at the front, so I turned the tree 180degrees , chopped the now b ack branch off flat with a saw, sealed the cut with Kiyonal to prevent it drying out and dieing back.

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The longer looking trunk now looks more elegant.

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I will work on carving more of the trunk for a better, more battered look in the future. After some summer growth I will shape the branching into more detail once deciduous. The branches will be thinned to give a sparser look.

Grant Bowie

[Phil Rabl]

Nice one Grant. At first glance I thought it looked like it was developing to look like Hong Lin's wonderful mythical Chinese dragon in the NBPCA collection. But no, the tree is its own person. And the pot is amazing.

[Jan]

It was very nice to start with, but the cut and change of "front" is a definite improvement to my eye. The pot certainly is a treasure!

I presume that the gravel in the third image is "dressing" the soil surface; what soil mix do you use in ACT for a deciduous tree in such a deep cascade pot?

I'm also curious about location; with such a treasure of a pot do you have it freestanding where it "lives" or do you use some type of support to ensure that it can't fall/be knocked over and broken?

Lovely to see, thanks,

Jan.

[Grant Bowie]

Hi Jan, the gravel/diatomite is part of the soil mix. It was repotted last year with much difficulty as it had been about 12 years between repot.

Last years mix was approx 4 scoop various Diatomites, 2 scoop Zeolite, 2 scoops Pine bark mini nuggets and 2 scoops coconut fibre.

Canberra is very cold in winter and usually extremely dry in summer, so soil must drain well for winter and retain moisture in summer.

The pot and soil are very heavy and the pot is very stable. The tree is kept in an enclosed compound with a little bit of shade cloth, and all extreme winds are moderated. It has no extra supports and it has never blown over.

Hi Phil, yes the tree is an individual (I’m not) and I tend to allow trees to exert their wishes in certain areas.

Cheers,

Grant

[Phil Rabl]

About 10 years ago I acquired a Chinese elm that I thought I would try to style along the lines of Hong Lin's mythical Chinese dragon.

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But, as Grant implies, trees have their own preferences. And I have come to see that their artistic instincts usually trump mine. My elm loves to grow downward shoots but it really didn't want to be a cascade. I call it my praying mantis. And I like it. I do find it difficult to photograph though. It looks better in real life.

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[Grant Bowie]

Hi Phil, I see some very elegant lines in their. Try to emphasise the strong lines and remove the distracting stuff.

Grant

[GavinG]

Yes, it's very complex, but all the lines seem to agree with one another. It can be tricky to know how far to tidy things up, before they just become boring.

Thanks for posting.

Gavin

[Phil Rabl]

Thanks Grant and Gavin. I don't think I will remove any primary branches (as I said, it looks better in real life than in the photos - t's not easy to do it justice in a 2D photo) but I will look thoughtfully at the secondary and tertiary branches.

[Grant Bowie]

Hi All, I am selling off over the next two years, most of my collection in favour of smaller trees.

This Elm and glorious pot are FOR SALE.

This tree would be impossible to pack for transport, so either pick up or I could bring it to the central coast this weekend if any body wants the tree and will be at the show.

Fair Price, $1,800, cash , card or Transfer OK.

Cheers, Grant

Keep a n eye out for other trees I may have for sale.