AusBonsai

I collected this elm 2-3 years ago ? Instead of chopping it down and waiting a life time till I was too old to lift the tree by the time it developed. I decided to try a Penjing style I believe to be from the SUZHOU School.
The idea is they are large trunk trees with some carving and delicate cloud like pads of foliage.
I planned on a bigger pot to start with but this was all I could afford to buy from Leigh (even though he gave me a great deal Thanks ) I thought I was going to have to be a little creative to make the tree fit but all it took was a couple of trims of useless wood with the chainsaw and it was almost a perfect fit.

Here is a screen shot from Lindsay's WOB series 1 of the type of tree I am trying to create.

Quite a monster there Brett
Lovely roots too

Ken

Get your carve on and turn this sucka into a bonsai

Nice tree and nice growth!

Thanks Guy's. Sorry Joel I think this tree will be happy as a penjing, at least for my life time

Hi there Bretts,

How have you been? I think the roots are very nice and looks "finished" as they are in the photos.

Please keep us updated. I will bookmark this one.

Best regards.

Bretts,
I really like this, and the way you intend to go with it. I find English Elms quite responsive to bonsai treatments and will reward you if you give it just a little TLC. A bit of inteligent carving of the top and you will have a winner.
Like others, would like to see it progress.
Watto

Thanks Daiviet,
I am great

I can't take too much credit for the roots so far, most of the work was done by the tree until I collected it The tree was in a grove that I believe was all created by suckers. This sucker had one massive sucker root that I think helped create the natural Taper. I didn't like this sucker root much at the time as it took forever to chip away at it with a large straight crow bar like a slow motion jack hammer The Orange club member I was collecting with thought I was a little nuts when he saw what I was collecting.
I have spent a couple of hours untangling and soughting the roots today though so that should pay off in the future

Thanks Watto.
I am still learning with the English Elm. Some of the advice Will Baddeley has been giving me gives me some hope that I can get them more responsive through the year. I and some others have found they may only have one growth spurt per year. I plan on giving it lots of water and fert through the year and also a very early prune/tipping to see if I can keep it growing. Might leave it until next year before I muck around with defoliation to keep it going.

For the last year or so I have been debating which leader to use on this. The one at the very top or the one slightly lower towards the front. As you may see I ended up going for the one at the very top which some may not agree with. I enjoyed watching the tree come together today as I was concerned about how to create a balanced tree with really only one curve to the left but I am very happy in the form for now and looking forward to what I can get when branches thicken and it fills out.

I am not keen to carve just yet so I guess that might have to wiat until it is out of leaf next year

G'day Bretts, I think your vision for this EE is great. The chosen leader looks natural and will aid in a very appealing final composition

Whoa thats awesome now I understand why you've got minimal space this one 'll keep you busy

Thanks Guy's, I am liking that leader more all the time Siddhar and glad I took that option with the callousing already on it's way.
With the collected trees getting their roots reduced CB the space issue is getting better Now this one is in a pretty pot I don't have to think about hiding it from view

Good to see Brett,

This tree is well suited for Suzhou Penjing,
Keep it up & enjoy

Glad you like it Phillippe I guess that means I got the name of the school right at least

The tree has been growing well so far this season. It takes a fair bit of watering so it did dry out a little on occasions which can be seen in some dull leaves.
It had practically stopped growing as I have found the norm with this species mid way through the growing season so I decided to defoliate it and see how that goes.

It still needs a fresh wiring and prune and I hope to get that done soon (maybe a couple of guy wires at the moment) but it did take several sessions over a few days to defoliate fully