AusBonsai

I collected this English Elm raft in late August this year. It is still young with immature bark, but over the next 10yrs I hope it shows some age.
I figured they are tough trees so I gave it a very basic wiring to help put some movement into the long straight smaller trunks. It needs a lot of work over the next few years to shorten the roots and thicken the trunks and the main leader etc, but there is plenty of time for that.
I am just going to let it grow to put on roots at this stage, but I have already rubbed off some new buds that won't be in the design.
It has leafed out well and I will get a pic of this soon.
The flow of this raft will be from left to right and I will re-evaluate the initial wiring and positioning of the smaller trunks (especially the ones to the left of the main trunk) when I repot it next year. I will see how it goes, but I can always remove the second trunk on the far right, but at this stage I like it as it is.
I used this plastic container because the base of it made it easy to tie down the raft into the container. It was still a little flimsy though, so to strengthen it I mounted it to a wooden base that will also keep it off the ground.
I have also put some wire tourniquets on the thick roots to hopefully get some roots starting further back.
At the moment it has seven trunks. Cheers, Dario.

Hi Dario
Looks very good so far best of luck keep us updated with its growth. Being an EE it will surely strive in that pot for years. Feed it heaps and it will shoot like crazy .
cheers

Hi Dario
Looks very good so far best of luck keep us updated with its growth. Being an EE it will surely strive in that pot for years. Feed it heaps and it will shoot like crazy .
cheers

Early days Dario, but I'm seeing potential. Look forward to a bright future.
Your idea of the flow is exactly my first thought, the main tree being tallest all flowing to the right. Will you be aiming for one large canopy or let each trunk do the talking?

Thanks Meagi and Jeremy
Meagi I started giving it a light feed a couple of weeks ago and I will increase the amount soon to get it really pumping.

jezz_39 wrote:Will you be aiming for one large canopy or let each trunk do the talking?

Jezz I am mainly going to concentrate on growth at the moment as I need lots of roots. I do want the leader on the main trunk to thicken a bit before I chop it back.
Also at the moment the smaller trunks are all about the same thickness. So I think it will take a few years to get some variation in thickness and eventually height too, once they are also chopped back.However I do want to keep a couple of them on the thin side though.
I would like to keep a degree of separation between the individual trunks, but as it grows over time I am sure I will get a better idea of exactly what direction to take.
Cheers, Dario.

A long way off but this is how I see it with the directional flow http://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t6851 ... nglish+elm

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Thanks for the link Jeremy
Yeah that is a world class EE raft and it is my favourite. The one in Aus comes a very close second though ...viewtopic.php?f=112&t=6784&hilit=English+Elm+raft
Yeah I hear you re direction/flow of the tree. As we have both said it is a long way off, but in the years ahead I hope to make it into a acceptable image.
Thanks for your interest.
Cheers, Dario.

It is certainly a project Dario and in its future you could grow it on in a large container once it is established. I have found that EE's need to stretch their legs to get good trunk growth. These are usually collected settings but you will have a lot more control this way. Probably a 10-15 year project. look forward to progressions.

bodhidharma wrote:It is certainly a project Dario and in its future you could grow it on in a large container once it is established. I have found that EE's need to stretch their legs to get good trunk growth. These are usually collected settings but you will have a lot more control this way. Probably a 10-15 year project. look forward to progressions.

Hi Bodhi, thanks for your advice I know you have lots of experience, especially with this species.
Absolutely a project tree as many of mine are, and I am hoping for 10 yrs, but it could well be more.
The container is rather shallow but as vigorous as elm roots are they should still have a bit of room to run for the time being as the container does have a lot of width to it. As you say it may need something bigger in the future to fuel the trunk growth though...will see how it goes.
Sorry I did not understand what you were referring to when you said that these are usually collected settings?
Cheers, Dario.

I mean they are normally collected in the wild or Yamadori. Your favourite tree is a collected Yamadori. Nature has done the trunk thickening and provided the gnarly look.

Ah, I am on the same page now Bodhi.
I hope to one day find an old specimen that can be a beautiful raft, but it has alluded me thus far. In the meantime this will have to do, but I will keep looking.
Cheers, Dario.