chinese elm on rock

[bodhidharma]

As i said 8 years so far and i am just about to bury it to the top of the rock for another couple of years. My plan is to get the trunk to absorb and grow over the rock and become indistinguishable from each other. The problem i am encountering is that the tree itself matures much faster than the root system and to find the balance is difficult I have to keep wounding the bark to get it to grow over the rock. I reckon another 10 years should do it That will make the tree over thirty years old. I think that is pretty normal for this style. My nickname for it is ......Tree humping rock

[Jamie]

thanks bodhi!

im surprised that the canopy isnt more developed? i guess you have been concentrating on the roots and rock first to get them right. do the chinese elms get a good length gowing season down there? up here they are semi deciduous, sometimes going dormant, sometimes not. the elm do get a rest up here every now and then

[bodhidharma]

Yes, i have had to cut back branches hard all the time and sometimes completely off. I will probably have to do this a few more times yet as the tree changes and thickens over the rock. I thought it would be easy but now i do admire a good specimen of root over rock and i now know they are one of the most difficult to design

[Jamie]

hi guys just a little update, i virted a new plan for this one i was looking at the tree a while ago and thought it would be boring in the style i first thought, so heres the new plan

elm on rock virt.jpg

unfortunaly the rock isnt that colour, but i couldnt get a pic of the rock its on as it is completly buried

jamie

[Jamie]

hi guys,

just a little update on this elm, i posted a couple of pics in Taffy's collected rocks thread. since april this year I have been training this tree, it is still in its collander, I took it out as I felt it was staying a little too damp with the organic mix i had it in.

as you can see the roots are really shaping to the rock nicely, I reckon come mid to late summer this one is really going to be flying, since taking these pics the other week it is covered in new swelling buds plenty of option, plenty of growth to come, I intend on leaving a sacrfice as low as I possibly can get one to reall push the roots along and get them to thicken and swell against the rock. I have reapeated the same procedure with the grafting tape to hold the roots in place where i want them, there is plenty of gaps where the fibrous roots can come out

chinese elm ROR 1.jpg

chinese elm ROR 4.jpg

chinese elm ROR 6.jpg

I have also removed the wire of the tree for a little bit it was looking messy and i didnt like it

jamie

[archie1979]

That is coming along pretty well Jamie, I had a nice little cutting from my larger elm I was going to use for a root over rock. I ended up trying something completely different with it, now I am kicking myself it had great spread I buried it about 2 years ago with a upturned pot underneath it, worked a treat and I chopped em all off damn it