Oklahoma collected winged elm-First work

This winged elm was collected 2 years ago outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma from an old quarry that had been converted into grazing land for cattle. The rocky low nutrient soil and constant munching by the cows have resulted in many stunted old trees with loads of character. Large old scars had been rotting for sometime and needed carved. Carving is not quite done yet...I just removed all of the rot and connected the three hollows to allow for water to drain.



Thanks for looking.











My goal

Hello Neil.Like the look of your tree but its a bit out of focus. Any chance of a better pic. Whats the latin for this Elm?

Ulmus Alata

That is a very nice representation of the species when the wings start to form on the branches it will look stunning.This tree is on my list of need to collect this year.

Will,
What about this one. You can also check it out on the blog I started this spring.
http://broken-arrow-bonsai.blogspot.com/







Here's a different one right after collecting this past late winter.
http://broken-arrow-bonsai.blogspot.com/

Thats better. These trees are excelent. Im a huge fan of Elms anyway. Seems like those cows are doing a great job and you've found quite a goldmine.

Will,
I am also a fan of elms, as long as they are not shaped like an "s"!

Its quite a place, many hackberry (celtis) there also. But, the cows have been gone for awhile and the trees are getting a bit leggy. This summer I went to the site with a saw and pruners and began hard pruning the trees I will be collecting this February. Its interesting that while some of these trees form wings very early, others do not. Bark character is also highly variable for so many trees in such a small area.

Winged elms are almost indestructible. A great tree for beginners.

I supose the variation depends largely on whether they sucker new growth or are mainly seeded trees. We in Suffolk lost nearly all the large Elms from the landscape in the late 70's. the only reason it is still here is its ability to sucker. A whole hedgerow of elm wil be genetically the same from one end to the other, but will be slightly different in the next field or village. Seed fertility is extremely poor in English Elm.

Will,
Thats too bad. Sounds alot like the American Elm.

These winged elm are inigenous to Oklahoma and much of the US. They do not sucker though. All new trees are by seed. I suppose if you cut one down, new sprouts would emerge from the roots. I just have not seen evidence of that in this specific collecting area. These particular trees have very few roots and are essentially gigantic cuttings.

Not sure if anyone has ever tried it with winged elm, but I may attempt a couple of airlayers next year for shohin sized trees.

As a side note, Chinese elm are so abundant here in the landscape that they are a nuisance in you flower beds.

Good luck with your elms!! I'd love to see a few sometime.

Lots of character in those trunks! Here is a Winged Elm I have had for several years...trunk not nearly so interesting!

NeilDellinger wrote:..

Not sure if anyone has ever tried it with winged elm, but I may attempt a couple of airlayers next year for shohin sized trees.

..

Yes, they do just fine.

-dorothy

John,
Nice elm! Wish there was one out there that had more red/orange in the fall! They are great in the fall. Yours is nice.

Here are a few other elms. Winged elm pre-bonsai in fall color, my herd of shohin seiju and fat 1 gal. cork bark elms.
Winged elm



About half of my seijus and cork elms


Seiju elm trunk close up. These guyys are in 4 1/2 inch bulb pans.



Cork bark elm trunks in 1 gallon pots. I will be repotting about 50 of these this spring. I have been growing branches and sacrifice shoots at the bases for a couple of seasons now to fatten them up.

Nice little supply of elms I currently have hocado , seju,zelkova, and will be collecting a winged bark this fall!

And I thought I had a lot of Elms!! Yes I will show you mine, when the last of the leaves have dropped.

hey neil
what an excellent collected winged elm tree you have !
i really like it.
reminds me of the old trees from sleepy hollow.
art rodriguez
vancouver, wa.

NeilDellinger wrote:Will,
Not sure if anyone has ever tried it with winged elm, but I may attempt a couple of airlayers next year for shohin sized trees.

I collected and airlayered a winged elm. I posted pictures about it here: http://bonsaistudygroup.com/deciduous-bonsai-discussion/wingedl-elm-airlayer/