AusBonsai

Hi there everyone.....

I have recently moved to Melbourne from Sydney, and first thing on my agenda was to pick up some new trees as i did not bring them down from Sydney.

I picked up this large Elm from Bonsai sensation recently...

It has a large gnarly trunk, but im not too sure about the leader on it.

I feel it is too straght and too long, so i was maybe thinking to layer off the top and to us a new leader to get a better flow of the tree.
I have made a design of what i am imagining.

Just wondering what your thoughts are on this??

Open to your ideas if you can help.

Hi YamadariKid and welcome to Melbourne! I'm sure you'll love it here. Just make sure youre ready for all 4 seasons in 1 day. I take it you must be out eastern suburbs if you're shopping at Bonsai Sensation?
I agree with layering off the top, but for me the new leader would be off to the right with a definite new planting angle. Did a quick rotation (rotate it slightly less in your head so the leader comes back over the base) and paint job to show you what I'm talking about. Would be a nice informal upright in a few years if it was to work, you'd then have choice of carving the front or not too.

Another quick one would be to use the branch coming from the right where the main leader hits the deadwood, will take more time to develop but.


Needless to say their is many, many options for this one. Nice buy.
Cheers,
Pearcy.

Nice base.

Did you consider a semi cascade? Maybe a crown above the base (making some use of the straight trunk) and then using one of the branches for the cascade?

Regardless of what you choose it's seems you have many options!

Another option: Then carve the stump out - like a 'Hollow Trunk'

...

Good luck

Cheers
Elmar

I would not bother to layer the top of this tree. The bit you take off is straight and uninteresting. Why would you want such a piece of plant material? Layering is also going to delay work on producing the real bonsai here by 6-12 months for no real gain. I would just get on with the improvements and forget about layering.
I think your digital design is as good an option as any but also cut the new leader so you get even more movement and ramification into the new trunkline.

Thanks so much for your designs.... each are brilliant in their own right and there are many good ways to go forward with this tree...

each has gave me me ideas for the direction i have chosen which i hope will turn out with good fortune..


I took into your thoughts Shibui about the layer, as it would slow down the process i may not bother with it as the new tree would not be great material anyways....

after many thoughts and ideas i have came up with the final design...

I will plan to remove the old straight leader, and the new leader would be the branch on the right.....
This will give the tree some good movement and would be the best out come i think.

Just a question if i may ask.... when removing the old straight leader.... how far down do i remove it? all the way to where the new leader would start?

or a little more up ?

and would it be better to remove it in spring when there is new growth to heal it heal?

thanks peoples....

I think with pines and Japanese maples it is better to leave a stump for a few months then cut back to the fork when the new leader is growing healthy but with Chinese elms I cut the old part right off down to the fork where the new leader starts. Start by cutting a bit higher then use the branch cutters to nibble the remaining stump away a bit at a time until you have a nicely tapered cut close to the new leader. That will prevent possible damage to the new leader.
Seal the cut so that it heals quicker.
The dead wood in your trunk may be an added difficulty. It might be an opportunity to create a hollow in the trunk by carving out some of the dead wood. Maybe just cut it out a little then seal and hope that it will callus over in time and heal reasonably smooth.

This may help explain what shibui is talking about mate, I definitely found it worth a read;

viewtopic.php?t=8312

I like your choice for final design too. Although it will take a little longer to develop, it looks like it will have much nicer movement then your original design idea that was moving to the left. A good bonsai is worth the wait .

Cheers,
Pearcy.

Thanks for the post Pearcy001,

A perfect read for my next step...

But i should i wait untill spring time for the chop??

i want to do it at the best ideal time as the weather in Melbourne seems to be abit crazy sometimes.


regards,

I would wait until it's warmer for major cuts like that, but I'm also new to bonsai. Maybe someone with a little more experience can chime in on that part?

Hi Yamadorikid. Your first good move was to move to Melbourne from Sydney
It's a nice base and you can get stuck into it right now without problems. Don't forget to give it a nice close root prune too and centre it in it's new pot.

treeman wrote:Your first good move was to move to Melbourne from Sydney

shibui wrote:I would not bother to layer the top of this tree. The bit you take off is straight and uninteresting. Why would you want such a piece of plant material? Layering is also going to delay work on producing the real bonsai here by 6-12 months.

Shibui know's what he's talking about, but i also love the look of this tree (compliments of Google). Possibly something similar could be done with the top of yours if you were to layer it. Just an idea.