Corky Bark Elm

[Neverenoughtrees]

Corky Bark Elm (1).jpg

Corky Bark Elm (8).jpg

Corky Bark Elm (11).JPG

Hi All,

I just joined Ausbonsai yesterday and thought I'd jump straight in with my first post.

Although I've practised bonsai for 4 years, I still consider myself a total rookie with plenty to learn. I've never wanted to purchase someone else's finished art because I find it most satisfying the build my own trees I can be proud of and call my own. All of my trees were purchased as pre-bonsai or as standard nursery stock.

This Elm was my first tree. It has a beautiful trunk but the branch structure and placement never thrilled me. So after my first pathetic attempts to style the tree, I chopped everything off after a year and a half and started again so I could bring the foliage back to the trunk. I'm happy with the results so far but I'm not convinced the branch placement is showing the tree in it's best light. It just doesn’t look right.

Any advice on how I can improve the image would be greatly appreciated. Also, any suggestions what shape of pot might be suitable?

Cheers
Tom

P.S. Fantastic site you have going here. Keep up the good work.

[Ray M]

Hi Tom,
Welcome to Ausbonsai. There are some very talented people on this site. I'm sure you will learn a lot.

I wouldn't worry about a pot yet. Keep working on the tree, and when you feel it is close to what you want, then choose a pot.

Regards Ray

[shibui]

Hi Tom and welcome to Ausbonsai.
Your tree is off to a pretty good start but it will take some years to develop the tree of your dreams - do not be too impatient.
A couple of observations on your tree at the moment that may be impacting on your sense of something not quite right:
Lack of taper - The trunk is quite thick up to about 3/4 height then tapers. Not much you can do about this in the short term, it is a product of the way the tree was originally grown but be careful not to make it any worse. Just where the trunk starts to narrow I can see 2 branches nearly opposite that are wired with the same wire. The one on the left is likely to thicken the trunk on the inside of that narrow part and possible reverse the taper. I would remove it soon. There are plenty of others in that area. as they develop you will not need another branch there.

Branches at different angles: Some branches emerge from the trunk horizontal, some rise upward and one or 2 grow slightly downward. Bonsai look vastly better if you use the same theme for all branches so see if you can wire them to conform to a similar angle now while they are still moveable. All the branches are about the same thickness too. It will look much better when the lower ones are thicker.

Other than that the branches just need to grow so take Ray's advice and leave it in a grow box for a while yet. Plenty of feed and water will help it develop quicker. You will need to keep the top well pruned to control the size of the branches but let the lower ones grow a bit between pruning to encourage them to thicken a bit. I have learned the hard way not to try to develop branches too quick. You still need to prune, even though it seems you are going backward because pruning gives valuable movement and taper to the branches as they develop.

Have fun with your tree.

[Neverenoughtrees]

Hi Ray and shibui,

Thanks for the warm welcome and excellent advice guys.

Yeah I'm not getting too far ahead of myself, I understand it's going to take time. Thankfully I'm fairly young compared to your average bonsai tragic so time is what I've got.

When I purchased the tree it did concern me that the trunk had almost no taper, but the bark looked so mature and the price was more than reasonable, so I couldn't knock it back.

I had a feeling I had too many branches but my biggest fear as a beginner is cutting off a critical branch and killing the design (which I've done plenty of on my other trees). After I stripped the tree back to a bare stump, I thought I'd grow and retain as many branches as possible, keep my options open and avoid a massive dummy-spit if I were to cut the wrong branch off. Thankfully you guys are here with your words of wisdom.

Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated.

If anyone else has any ideas, I'd love to hear them. Don't feel you have to tread carefully because I'm a newbie, be as harsh as you like. I'd rather hear honesty so my knowledge can progress.

Cheers
Tom

[GavinG]

I suspect that after a few more years the branches will get meatier, and balance the strength of the trunk better, and you'll be quite happy with what you have. Good start. For me, because the trunk is quite plain and straight, a bit of variety in the angles of the branches could be quite pleasing - if they are all parallel and doing the same thing it might look a bit clunky. It's a very fine line, having just enough variety. That's just my 2c. Don't forget to take plenty of cuttings each spring, and ground-grow them for a good powerful trunk that does what you want.

Gavin

[Grant Bowie]

I would pot it into a very shallow broad glazed pot and keep the branches short and sparse.

A really beaut tree.

Grant

[Neverenoughtrees]

Gavin, Grant and previous posters,

Thanks for the all tips guys. Very helpful. It's great to get direction from such experienced artists. Your profiles are quite impressive!

Can anyone give me info regarding clubs, upcoming shows/events, digs etc in the Sydney/NSW country regions?

Tom

[FatMingsBonsai]

I like the second pic but would dismiss the lowest branch.

Nice bark character.

[Grant Bowie]

Gavin, Grant and previous posters,

Thanks for the all tips guys. Very helpful. It's great to get direction from such experienced artists. Your profiles are quite impressive!

Can anyone give me info regarding clubs, upcoming shows/events, digs etc in the Sydney/NSW country regions?

Tom

Keep an eye out for Bonsai By The Harbour this year;there is an extra treat in store.

Grant