They are quite brittle. It left an ugly stump.  Well, one then tries to make lemonade from the lemon (from the stump). Since the trunk was about 1 inch in diameter, I decided to do an air-layer, wanting a short squatty trunk with a possible broom style canopy.  Hopefully the air-layer will be successful and will be separated when the tree becomes dormant. I want to get it into a pot of its own to protect the root system from freezing this winter. 

About 3 years ago, I grew some Crassifolia (Cedar Elms) that came from the roots of a tree that belonged to a Memphis Bonsai Society member. The roots on his tree needed to be pruned and one just can’t let such an opportunity of collecting good, viable roots for propagation pass by.  Then two years ago while searching for a Chinese Elm that was corky, I ordered and received Chinese Elm seedlings in 2¾ in pots.  You can tell from the size pots that the seedlings were small and would take years to grow, giving one plenty of opportunity to style the trees. The seedlings that were ordered were:  Catlin Contorta, Corticosa, Seiju, Fuiri, Yatsabusa and Ulmus Hollandica ‘Jacqueline Hillier’. Why did I do that? Well, I was still searching for a real corky-barked Chinese Elm. Also, I, like many of us, had bought trees that were already styled or semi-styled and were then primarily maintained. Getting those very young trees is permitting me to learn how to develop bonsai from seedlings and provides the opportunity to exercise the little creativity I possess. It has now been two growing seasons and the trees have really grown. Each of the trees are in their own 6 inch to one gallon pots in regular garden top soil mix.  As they have grown, they have been shaped, pruned, wired and trimmed in an informal style. These make up most of my Chinese Elm collection. BUT… more recently, I stumbled across a large seiju and an Hollandica ‘Jacqueline Hillier’ elm.  Both were in terrible shape and were not in any condition to be sold at any price.  The trees  (in 5 gallon pots) did interest me and I took both of them home. I saw the opportunity to do an air-layer on the seiju. The hollandica was about 4 feet tall but only about one foot of the tree trunk was alive.  The dead material was removed. Since that time, the tree trunk stub that remained has put on vigorous, healthy growth.  A single wire was placed on it about 3 weeks ago to direct the growth.

You would think this would be the end of it but I came upon an elm labeled Ulmus x ellegantissimo ‘Jacqueline Hillier’.  It was about a bit over one foot tall with a slightly less than one-inch diameter trunk, the foliage of which looked exactly like my hollandica. I found out later that the ellegantissimo name was the former name for the hollandica.  Anyway, I really did not need another Chinese Elm but how can one pass it up?  It is a young, healthy, well-shaped tree in a two-gallon bucket of garden soil. The trunk already had some natural movement. A few branches were removed and the top was lightly wired.

I lost the Catlin Contorta in late spring.  It was the tiniest of trees that I had received and a tree that is difficult to come by.  I was broken hearted and once again, decided that it was a victim of over watering.  But guess what, even though there is a waiting list for those tiny seedlings, I should hopefully have one again this fall.  It, too, will be very small, fragile and quite expensive for a tree of that size.  If I can get it to live, it ought to make a great bonsai because it is so small, the branches are naturally contorted and it has tiny leaves.  It can grow up to 12-18 inches in 10 years and can have as many as 15 nodes per inch.  Talk about short internodes. Wow.

These are the elms that I have to grow, style and enjoy.  It gives me great pleasure to work with these young trees that are growing cooperatively and bending to my styling wishes.  I like the small leaves (gives great proportion) and the fact that the bark can look “older” in just a few short years. One would think that one should give up on the Chinese Elm after the disastrous history I had experienced but the Chinese Elm still has great appeal. 

Are these the only babies I have? No, but they are the majority. The rest can provide for another story on another day. 

If you want to know a bit more about Chinese Elms and those particular varieties, click on the attachment.  These are descriptions provided in the Evergreen Garden Works plant catalog.

Perhaps you have a particular species you enjoy growing and styling or one of which you are particularly proud.  If you do, share that with me so that we can then share it with others. 

ENJOY YOUR BONSAI