Which Broom - A Chinese Elm one

Here's the 2010 update of my Chinese Elm broom in a pot by Nick Lenz.

First a hasty shot showing how the roots have pushed the soil out of the pot.


Look at the stack of roots. I had to be brutal in cutting back the roots to fit in the pot. Entailed using a pruning saw.


Here it is repotted. I might need to work on the right and side - lower level branch. Getting a bit dense.


I found a photo from 2001 and scanned it. This is pretty much what I started with. Note how little the trunk has thickened in 9 years in a bonsai pot.

Rob: Thanks for posting some lovely images....rather humble beginnings for such a lovely tree... They remind me of what my teacher, Keith Scott used to say when asked about when to repot...his answer went something like "I don't consider repotting until the roots begin to push the tree up and out of the pot..."

Regards,
Tom

A very nice and natural looking tree Rob!

It may not have thickened much but see how the taper has improved

will baddeley wrote:It may not have thickened much but see how the taper has improved

True and the neabari has improved too.

Hi Rob.
They have a lot of energy, such as formed roots. It will be a beautiful tree.

Thanks for the photo.

Pavel

Yup they will do that! Some folks laughed when I mention that roots can actually push the tree out of it's pot. How long between repots Rob?

It wasn't until Will pointed out the taper that yes indeed it has/is tapering nicely and may I add naturally

She is doing beautifully and I like the pot choice for this tree.

PS: I would like to use both 1st and 2nd photos for future reference when someone giggles again when I say "the roots are pushing your tree out of the pot"

Rick Moquin wrote:Yup they will do that! Some folks laughed when I mention that roots can actually push the tree out of it's pot. How long between repots Rob?

It wasn't until Will pointed out the taper that yes indeed it has/is tapering nicely and may I add naturally

She is doing beautifully and I like the pot choice for this tree.

PS: I would like to use both 1st and 2nd photos for future reference when someone giggles again when I say "the roots are pushing your tree out of the pot"

No problem Rick,

I believe it was two years between repotting. I used the repotting sequence of this tree 2 years ago as an example in my book.

Thanks Rob much appreciated.

I have a couple that require repot as well. I have no idea what I am going to find under the surface. It was mid-summer last year when I was scraping the top layer that I realized the top layer was almost inexistent. The trees were healthy but on the list for this spring

Dear Rob,

Thank you for posting the pictures of this lovely tree. I really like it!

However, the more I look at your tree, the more I think to myself, "it would look great too if it was styled in the Pierneef style". Just because this style depicts better what deciduous trees look like where I live



Best regards,

Marlon Machado
Bahia, Brazil.

Thanks for the suggestion Marlon. While your style is doable (with lots of wire and pruning) the informal broom style, as the tree is now, very closely mimics a mature deciduous tree growing in a field in the Northern Hemisphere.

Hi Rob.

I hope it does not matter. I tried to move your tree around a year.

Pavel

I really like this tree but I think it could do with some separation and direction. The canopy is too big for the size of the trunk. Maybe it's time for a pruning and wiring.

Nice tree Rob! I am jealous of your long growing season! I still have 6 to 8 weeks to go before repotting.
Geof

Pavel Slovák wrote:Hi Rob.

I hope it does not matter. I tried to move your tree around a year.

Pavel

Thanks Pavel. You maybe have started a new trend - Retro virtual. That's what the tree looked like 8 years ago. But I don't have any photos.

will baddeley wrote:I really like this tree but I think it could do with some separation and direction. The canopy is too big for the size of the trunk. Maybe it's time for a pruning and wiring.

Concur. I did a little pruning but for the most part this one is clip and grow for now. I like the width of the canopy - more of a tropical look - perhaps a bit like a native Florida live oak.

Geof wrote:Nice tree Rob! I am jealous of your long growing season! I still have 6 to 8 weeks to go before repotting.
Geof

Bummer.
I hear lots of snow up north.
I played golf this eveing under the lights in shirt sleeves.

Rob Kempinski wrote:Thanks for the suggestion Marlon. While your style is doable (with lots of wire and pruning) the informal broom style, as the tree is now, very closely mimics a mature deciduous tree growing in a field in the Northern Hemisphere.

Dear Rob,

I am not suggesting you should restyle your tree, it looks great as it is right now, it just needs a little prunning to open up the canopy a bit more. As you say, your tree does mimic a mature deciduous tree growing in the Northern Hemisphere. But if the tree was mine, my styling of it would most likely mimic a deciduous tree growing in the dry semiarid areas of the Southern Hemisphere, because these are the trees I am more familiar with

Best regards,

Marlon Machado.

A quick update.

I repotted it a few weeks ago and it is leafing out nicely. Pot by Nick Lenz.

Sweet looking tree Rob! Great pot. The new green leaves really "pop" with the wet bark and pot.
Todd

Hi Rob.

the tree looks more matured now with more negative spaces. Hope you can post a photo with plain background!

regards,
jun

I agree with Jun, that is just a lovely presentation. It reminds me of the white and black oaks where I grew up in the Rogue Valley. I love the bright green new leaves. It helps me anticipate some of my own trees budding out, but spring is a few weeks away for me yet.

Rob, Love the tree!
Do you have more pictures of the tree's progress?
I'd love to see how you worked on it to achieve the ramification out of those branches.

-Ice

Ice_Templar04 wrote:Rob, Love the tree!
Do you have more pictures of the tree's progress?
I'd love to see how you worked on it to achieve the ramification out of those branches.

-Ice

Hi Ice,

Not too many. I posted a shot from its very beginning at the beginning of this thread.
I basically let it grow wild, use a bit of directional pruning and an occasional bit of wire. Every so often I thin it out pretty ruthlessly and let it regrow.

beautiful and very natural tree, i think that with a larger and more flatter pot in the future it will be better :
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