AusBonsai

Sometimes it's nice to just get lost in a forest. Pruning fast growing elms this time of year is my little hedonistic joy.

Some really nice old bark there. Forest looks great

Good stuff Andrew.
More please!

You asked for it Boics!!!

A couple more for the records...

This is the same tree as the one in the first page of this thread. It's a Senegalia burkei, or Black Monkey Thorn. I have recently repotted it into this Louis Nel pot. He was a local potter here. I though that if I am going to have a tree that is so synonymous with Africa it may as well have an African made pot.
This next one is a juniper procumbens nana. It was grown from normal nursery bag stock about 5 years back now. I did it as part of a demo at a bonsai show back then. It probably needs a repot. I like it because it feels a bit Chinese to me.
Next up is a Ficus natalensis. This was donated to me about 3 or 4 years back as a fig on a rock in a 50l paint bucket. It had two long branches with no foliage. It was cut right back, and the rock was angle ground in half to reduce it's size and weight. The canopy it a bit immature and still needs more wiring and shaping but it is taking shape now.
Righty ho. Next up is the elm forest I was working on a few days ago. It has a few gremlins and I must address these with a good wiring session, but I think I will let it grow on for a bit first. A few wild branches here and there, but these are ones I am trying to thicken up.
Then we have an olive. This one was dug in a farmer's field on a club dig a few years back. Took a while to sprout, but I'm very happy with where it is headed. All deadwood is entirely natural. It is a bit loose in the pot, but not much foliage to promote root growth, so I guess that's understandable. I really need to work on getting more definition and pads going in the upper foliage section.
This juniper procumbens nana was bought a few months back from a buddy of mine here, Phil. Kudos to him for the majority of the design work. It had loads more branches and was a bit of a carpet of foliage, so I reduced that a lot to create pads and have also moved it from a big plastic bucket into this lovely top end Chinese pot. I did get the potting angle a bit screwed up, so the pot's feet are not displayed in the correct position. I'll correct that at the next repotting.
This Chinese corkbark elm is one I bought as a field grown tree from Stone Lantern Nursery here in Cape Town. My guess is that it has been field grown for about 6 to 8 years. I cut the roots back hard and took a lot of the thicker branches off. Lots of scars to heal, but like the other elms I have posted in previous pages of this thread I think it will become an interesting tree. I love the movement in the trunk, and bare rooting it has meant finding a lovely flare that was hidden before. Fingers crossed.

Thanks Andrew, some really cool trees, nice to have a short intro with each as well. Like the elm, going to be a nice tree.

I remember Louis well, had a couple of his pots as well at some stage. Sold everything before leaving SA.

When did the Black Monkey Thorn change names, was this not part of the Acacia family?

I love that olive Andre, So dramatic!! And the first pot is a stunner too, are they hard to come by?
Cheers
Ben

Thanks for making the effort Andrew.

* Field Elm will be a ripper in time.
* Olive is indeed very dramatic.
* Vachellia is my favourite of this bunch though.

You have a knack for tree and pot combo's I've noticed and the Vachellia has really shown some age now over the years.
The aging bark and appearance has really lifted this one.

Keep up the good work!

CraigM wrote:
When did the Black Monkey Thorn change names, was this not part of the Acacia family?

Cheers Craig. There was a change of name a year or two ago. There was quite a fuss about it as some Aussie botanists proposed the changes. It made folks here feel quite sore as they felt Acacia was very much an African tree. But hey, what's in a name?

ben17487 wrote:I love that olive Andre, So dramatic!! And the first pot is a stunner too, are they hard to come by?
Cheers
Ben

Thanks Ben. Ja, they are a bit tricky to find now, and one needs to be really careful with them as they have a habit of chipping. Something about the clay type or firing temperature.

Boics wrote:Thanks for making the effort Andrew.

* Field Elm will be a ripper in time.
* Olive is indeed very dramatic.
* Vachellia is my favourite of this bunch though.

You have a knack for tree and pot combo's I've noticed and the Vachellia has really shown some age now over the years.
The aging bark and appearance has really lifted this one.

Keep up the good work!

Cheers Boics. I must confess to having a bit of a pot fetish! The Vachellia was may first tree in this collection, so it has great sentimental value to me. I must say, I'm looking forward to getting my teeth into the elm.