My Little Nire Elm

I picked up this little group at a garden center almost 20 years ago. The trunks were a lot thinner and I was just starting out in bonsai. I guess I should be thankful they survived the first few years of my bonsai ignorance while I was learning on them.

They've been through a lot with my indeciviness in how they should be styled throughout those long years. I'm quite happy with what I have now since my last restyle about five or six years ago. I decided to keep the four trees rather than lose one even if it does break the rules of odd number trees only.

In case anyones interested, this is what I purchased almost 20 years ago.

Wow thats a good transformation. I don't mind the even number of trees here, the two in the center have such similar lines that at first glace they tricked my eyes into thinking they were just one tree.

Jon this is NOT a transformation but a great example of development. Proving once again that good bonsai is a result of development over time... and Thomas... Time very well spent.

A really 'natural' group as for having four trees... you could always plant a small one towards the back to keep the purists happy.

Beautiful work Thomas J! Just goes to show it’s not where you start that counts but where you intend to finish. This is also a wonderful example of breaking the rules successfully imo…..Beautiful composition.

Thank you for sharing.

It certainly is a great example of development but I think transformation is a reasonable term as well. One definition of transformation is a qualitative change and I think we can agree there is a definite change in the quality of the composition between the starting material and the most recent image.

jon hultgren wrote:It certainly is a great example of development but I think transformation is a reasonable term as well. One definition of transformation is a qualitative change and I think we can agree there is a definite change in the quality of the composition between the starting material and the most recent image.

Agreed

I'd like to see the planting from the side. It seems to be lacking some depth. You are breaking quite a few rules actually but from the front it seems to work. A side view might be more revealing.

Nice ramification as well, looks like you might have given a couple of them a real good chop sometime ago?
Rob beat me too it...... as I was going to suggest that a slight turn to the right, which might align the two centre trees into an allusion of one and provide more depth? Just a thought.
Cheers G.

I like it Thomas!! Perhaps its time for a little nicer container. I can see something a little more rustic...something that maybe compliments the character this planting has developed over time. Thanks for sharing!
John

Hello Thomas – thank you for showing us this group of elms, they really express “treeness.”

I like them a lot, and your long effort and care is well demonstrated. This is a very evocative planting, but I have to agree with John that the container leaves me flat and does not add to my appreciation of the idyllic scene you have created. Have you considered putting them on a slab, or other naturalistic container? That would be my inclination.

Thanks again for sharing these trees and your obvious dedication,
David Brunner

The quote that David used "really expresses treeness" is exactly what I was shooting for when I restyled the group. The original back of the group is now the side and the two right trees are now the front with the other two fading back to give it depth. I'm not concerned about how many rules were broken, but that the group itself evokes a little cluster of trees that look just like you would see in their winter pose in real life.

As for using a slab for this, that is absolutely correct, as I feel every group of trees used for bonsai should be on a slab. That's not to say that there aren't some nice ones done in a pot, but that's just my feelings towards group plantings. That being said, I haven't yet pursued a slab that would be the correct size for this little group, and really wouldn't know where to begin looking. I do in fact have a slab that's been sitting in the corner of my bonsai area since 2001, but I think it would a bit big for this group.

Thanks again Thomas – and best of luck in finding a suitable “slab.” Good things come to those who wait (apologies, perhaps not required but offered, to Heinz ketchup and Guinness stout…)

This little grove takes me back to my younger years (oh so long ago) as a field botanist in Paraguay staring up through the tracery of branches in the canopy at the filtered light of the moon and stars and wondering at the amazing juxtaposition of order and chaos, randomness and harmony. Thanks for that! Of course those trees were not deciduous, but the fine tracery of branches and orderly canopy shape take me right there.

David Brunner

David Brunner wrote:

This little grove takes me back to my younger years (oh so long ago) as a field botanist in Paraguay staring up through the tracery of branches in the canopy at the filtered light of the moon and stars and wondering at the amazing juxtaposition of order and chaos, randomness and harmony.

Nice piece of writing that! I went all dreamy reading it!

Thanks.