Bonsaify | Important Work on an Imported Chinese Elm Bonsai

Join Eric as he reviews the structure of and works on an imported Chinese Elm. The video begins after he spent nearly 8 hours thinning leaves and trimming shoots to reduce the leaf mass by about 80%, allowing him a clearer look at the branches.
00:00:51 Assessment of branch structure and analysis of how to improve the tree.
00:01:32 Gian gap and flat pad below.
00:02:11 Creating more dimensionality to the negative space created from the gap.
00:02:42 Wiring to bend, plus a tip about wire length.
00:05:07 Results/effects from this work.
00:06:00 Primary branch also needs a bit of separation and trimming to break up pad.
00:07:07 Future planning to enhance dimensionality.
00:08:10 More wiring to break up additional pads.
00:09:08 360-degree view.
00:09:27 What's next for this tree.
Thank you for watching! Please give this video a like and share it with your bonsai friends. We'd love for you to subscribe to our channel. Share your experiences working on imported elms, in the comments below.

[@cb6778]

Thanks

[@Akatsuki-En]

That is an amazing specimen. All the trees i got from you are doing very well

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

I enjoyed your approach to this speciman. i was lucky enough to get two this size and about a dozen more smaller imports at an extremely good price in 2016. I took them all back to there primary branches and regrew everything. I used wire in the same manner you discuss and it does work well. These older imports can be very difficult to keep going forwards sometimes. The first task for me is ALWAYS to cut away all of that tangled growth they normally come with :)

[@HarisWoodshop]

Interesting video. Will use the information to (re)shape my Chinese Elm a little. Thank you.

[@OjaiBonsai]

That tree is amazing. Great work. Thank you and cheers from OjaiBonsai

[@margaritalalinde5528]

Felicitaciones excelente trabajo , existe una posibilidad de traducir en español. Soy admiradora de su trabajo , gracias maestro. Gracias por transmitir conocimientos. Admiración y respeto

[@Justin-PLLD]

I don't think deciduous trees have pads like pine trees. Deciduous trees with pads, to me, look kind of strange or like topiary. I commend your effort to change the pads to a different position and shape. I do think that it's sad that imported trees have this "commercial shape". Good luck.

[@realifenow4485]

I would disagree with you to an extent. While deciduous trees do have pads, they tend to grow in an upward angle and weigh down at the tips, causing the branches to overlap to an extent. If you were to try and grow a tree with no pad like structure, the plant would naturally die back to restore that somewhat pad like structure. In bonsai, we over accentuate the padlike structure to achieve a desired aesthetic, which results in that weird 90 degree outward angle we see on this tree if executed in a certain way.

[@Justin-PLLD]

@@realifenow4485 I appreciate this discussion. You are absolutely correct about deciduous pads. I never looked at it that way, though. I try to grow deciduous bonsai as natural in shape as possible. This natural shape is very hard to recreate and takes more time to style. When I see Chinese Elms this way, I like to let them grow completely out and then restyle them. Chinese Elms are stiff and have too many branches if cut back too hard. Once you open up the secondary trunks, which are the main branches, then you can have the view be easier on the eyes and the form be more realistic.

[@pansepot1490]

@@Justin-PLLD If you don’t already know him check Walter Pall’s work. In his words he makes “bonsai that look like trees, doesn’t take a tree and make it look like a bonsai”. There’s videos on KZbin where he explains his technique and shows some of his beautiful and natural looking deciduous trees. 👍I agree: shaping every sort of trees with flat pads and triangle shape like pines is not great.

[@robmartelli]

Exquisite

[@Bristolnick100]

Thanks for this. I have the same problem and I wasn't sure how to take it forward.

[@johnholloway691]

Flagging tape works well as a reminder that a tree has wire on it that needs monitoring.

[@DakotaWayne-iu2yx]

Its silohette is nice. The structure is totally broken.

[@9daywonda]

It is almost as tall and chunky as you ERIC!

[@Bonsaify]

I'm easily twice the height and 4x the girth of that tree!

[@themichaellerner]

I like what you did with it... looks a little more naturalistic. How old would you guess this tree to be?

[@Bonsaify]

Good question. Probably 30-40 years.

[@blueridgebonsai9155]

Is this a recent import or has it been knocking around California for a while? I ask because the styling looks like a commercially styled tree and not one developed by a bonsai garden. Given how quickly these can grow out new foliage I suspect you will be able to achieve your goals fairly quickly and I look forward to seeing updates on it. Also is that a big chop scar on the bottom of the first bend to the left? There seem to be some other chop scars as well which begs the question of what kind of nursery developed this tree and who imported it?

[@Bonsaify]

I think an import from 10 years ago or so. And yes, a lot of the Chinese elms have this look. There are scars on the left side in two places, and another near the top, showing sacrifice branching that's been removed. I'd really like to see more character in the primary branching, but that would entail giving up on the entirety of the foliage and rebuilding it. So I'll save that for a smaller tree or make others from scratch.

[@realifenow4485]

That branch on the inside turn is loathsome. If it were me, I would cut that off and either let that gap exist as it does, lending itself to that odd symmetry, or try and pad down one of the higher limbs to add movement. Maybe I’m crazy though, it is a heavily ramified limb.