How old is my English elm?

[Bush bunny]

English Elm 4 years old Photo0250.JPG

I bought this for $10 from the Armidale Bonsai society, in April/May 2010. I liked its gnarled trunk it had only a few branchlets from it at the time and the trunk was about 6 inches high.
But it did well. These pics were taken last summer. It needs a repot soon, the only thing I have done to it it clip the end of branches in shape. It has two daughter root sprouts that I have left, but trimmed them slightly. Seems it is the only way the propagate. It was my second pre bonsai, my first was a needle juniper bought for me at Christmas 1999. That is now telling me it wants to be a semi-cascade. Hope the pictures work this time. It's approximately 18 inches high from base to apex. Trunk a couple of inches in diameter.

[Rory]

I can give you 2 answers, but neither will help you.

a. 17 years, 4 months. Because it was pot grown in bad conditions that have stunted the growth significantly.
b. 9 years, 1 month. Because as it was field grown with ample light and food and dug up prior to being sold to you.

The problem with this old chestnut of a question is, you will never really know because you would need to know about where/how/what it was grown to give any rough idea. But again, it is a rough idea, and a rough idea can be very, very vague, almost so to the point of useless information.

The impressive response you will find from an enthusiast is when it has significant visual age, regardless of actual age, and how long it has been treated as a bonsai for. Yes, it is always nice to know when it was struck / grown / layered, for your own knowledge, so you can add a little tag with the 'date of birth' But more often, the answer is going to be speculative and an assumption.

[Bush bunny]

Well I asked the chap who potted it, and he couldn't remember. But one expert like you said, it could be 8 - 10 years old. Given it was 4 years old when I bought it. Anyway, I like it and it's all part of the learning curve

One thing the confuses me when buying starter bonsai is they don't label them sometimes. It's OK saying it is a pine or cedar, but what genus? I have a pine bought from the ABS, 2010, said just pine. I've struggled to find out which species, and settled on Pinus radiata. It has gone wild since re-potted. As it wasn't doing too well in a small plant pot. So I named it Wild Willie.
Yes I candle cut last summer, and it is doing ok, sending out smaller needles.

Thanks for the advice, I am glad I joined Aus.Bonsai. It's my only contact with experts. I am not exactly stupid, and very scientific too, but you can read books and then adapt advice to one's own environment, considering most books are written in the Northern hemisphere, where temperate regions experience far lower temps than in temperate regions in Oz.

[Boics]

Classic example of how treatment of a tree can affect the appearance here:

viewtopic.php?f=104&t=13186&hilit=+want+more+roots

As discussed the tree in that link is actually around 20 years old!
If you were to look at it now you would think it is 5 at best.

Pot culture, climate, cutting / trimming, care, sun (or lack of) all have a massive effect on growth and appearance of trees.

Letting the tree grow more freely in a larger pot with no branch cutting / trimming has put more trunk girth and age in a single year than I have noted over the past 15!

Hard to believe but true.

[Bush bunny]

Thanks - but this pre bonsai, I think was a cutting that had rooted. The branchlets were only about 6 inches long but it sprouted two daughters in the first year and I left them. It had no leaves on it when I bought it. Like you I prefer to let a pre bonsai do its own growing rather than cut it down to nothing. I only cut about one inch from the ends of the branches at the most. But I think it needs a re-pot but it has a strong root under the soil. I know the chap who did it, is known to have picked up rootless cuttings large ones and they took off well.