AusBonsai

soda wrote:Wow this is amazing Grant.

Any chance you could post a brief precis of a year calander to develop elms. i.e. best months to defoliate (2?) etc.

I haven't personally owned an English elm for about 20 years(until I purchased one off Leigh last year) so I am only going by best practice down in Melbourne. A lot of great English elm reside down south so some of the owners might like to chip in at this point.

Anyhow mid December seems to be a popular time to defoliate English elm.

Now that this tree has had its spring growth we can see any inner growth that did not survive winter or was shaded out during summer. We trim out this growth now and do a light trim back to encourage new inner buds to form.

Another defoliation in late December should solidify the gains and set it up nicely for autumn and winter.

Grant

Hi all,

This morning we have started the internal tidying up of the tree.

All dead twigs are carefully removed with very fine tools. Where a slightly thicker twig has died back to a branch we don't cut back flush as there are often buds able to sprout from very near the branch. If it doesn't sprout this year you would then tidy it up next year.

We do nothing to alter the character of the tree. All the major lumps and bumps on the trunk and major branches add interest and age to an already wonderfull tree and you don't want it to look highly polished.

Grant

Hi all,

The owner of this English elm (shy little flower he is) says that he doesn't regularly defoliate most of his other English elms as he loses many buds in the process of plucking and cutting with scissors is very slow on a big tree.

This elm is an exceptional tree and the leaves come off easily; so use your discretion on your own trees.

Grant

Hi all
I had the chance to drop in and see this tree in the bark today and I can honestly say that the photos really dont do it justice.
It is a wonderful tree and very inspirational for a beginner.
I also got a chance to chat to leigh and grant and pick their brains a bit.
Great guys with amazing trees.
Its good to know i can tap nto a weath of knowledge right here in Canberra.

Daniel

Tinmonkey wrote:Hi all
I had the chance to drop in and see this tree in the bark today and I can honestly say that the photos really dont do it justice.
It is a wonderful tree and very inspirational for a beginner.
I also got a chance to chat to leigh and grant and pick their brains a bit.
Great guys with amazing trees.
Its good to know i can tap nto a weath of knowledge right here in Canberra.

Daniel

Good to meet you today Daniel. I hope you make the most of having the collection in your city.

Glad you enjoyed the work on the trees as well.(we are also working on an old PJ Fig.)

Grant

Im goin with the general thought....
REALLY NICE..

Hi all,

We have completed the internal trim out after the defoliation and are now starting on the light trim back and sculpting of some of the outlines of the individual masses. Still many hours of painstaking work to do but Leigh and I are enjoying immensely working on this tree.

The tree will be back in full leaf in 7 or 10 days and so no large visible difference will be noticeable. However as the years go by each season and defoliation will add to the structure of this wonderful tree.

I hope the owner lets us have it back when we move to our new bonsai home in about 18 months time.

Grant

Good stuff guys.

When you look at the overall picture (outline) there doesn't appear to be much difference in the before and after, but when the two photos are compared, you guys sure have cleaned out a lot of the 'undergrowth'. It now looks a whole lot cleaner overall. Hope you take a photo after your final refinement and before the leaves begin to burst.

Tman wrote:Good stuff guys.

When you look at the overall picture (outline) there doesn't appear to be much difference in the before and after, but when the two photos are compared, you guys sure have cleaned out a lot of the 'undergrowth'. It now looks a whole lot cleaner overall. Hope you take a photo after your final refinement and before the leaves begin to burst.

Yes there is substantial difference between before and after but only when you look closely.

I hope to spend all day on it on Monday and get the trim back done in one day . Then take photos Tuesday.

grant

Hi Grant , this certainly is an exceptional specimen . Your efforts and the team of volunteers have inspired me to get a little serious with my efforts.Cheers Alpine

alpineart wrote:Hi Grant , this certainly is an exceptional specimen . Your efforts and the team of volunteers have inspired me to get a little serious with my efforts.Cheers Alpine

Hi,

Seeing all the beatiful trees that come into the collection inspire me; but this one in particular.

The build up of the ramification is wonderfull and being an elm it is very forgiving. It is budding all over the place!

It has been allowed to twig up so that no one area is dominant and it is very evenly healthy and vigorous.

Working, working, working.

Grant

Hi all,

This bonsai is an absolute stunner.

Hi all,

Leigh is currently preparing the bonsai for 360 presentation.

This tree is an absolute stunner and a delight to work with. We have spent about a combined 27 hours working on it.
About 6 hours to defoliate; about 15 hours of careful trimming out and finally about 6 hours of careful light trimming and sculpting.

I am glad to say that you can't see too much difference to the naked eye. Our goal is not to change in any way this superb tree but to do the necessary day to day maintenance of this wonderful world class bonsai.

In a weeks time it will be back in full leaf and then we will assess it it in 6 weeks time or so as to whether we do another defoliation and trim. That will be in consultation with the owner.

Grant

Its always interesting to see just how many hours it takes to maintain trees at this high level.