Ulmus parvifolia urban yamadori

This was collected in 2009 from a demolition site, chopped in 2010, and today was it's first styling. It is about 15" tall and 3" across at the base. I am going to lift it to determine whether I want to repot it this spring. It's been growing vigorously but I think it might be able to go another year. Updates to come, I'm excited to see this one come along this year (which means I will surely find some way to kill it).
The top of this one was so straight that I didn't think it was worth much but I threw it into a sand pile just for kicks (hate to see material thrown away) on the chance it would root and I think it did so I might try and get a nice large broom style out of it.
Advice/opinions always welcome, thanks.



How it looked this morning:


Other side:


How it looks now:


Base:


The chop:

In the last photo the change in taper from the stump to the new leader is quite drastic. Would it not grow faster leaving as much foliage above it as possible, as shown in photos 2 and 3, and style it later? I like the possibilities though.

Jim, Good start - I made a similar chop 11 years ago on a Florida Elm.

One thing to consider in the future would be a design based on the approach explained by Robert Steven in his book Transformation. The bottom line is not to chop to make a standard Informal Upright but to get creative to show how a mature tree has survived a transformative event. For this tree that would have entailed some degree of carving.

Jim,

it looks good, and I would have just focused on healing the wound with the two branches on either side of the cut.
I am presently doing the same with an ironwood I am working on. Healing a large wound, that is.
Thanks for posting.
Khaimraj

Your tree looks good...you did make a drastic chop there maybe you could have went a little higher..no matter the carved trunk should heal fast..keep us posted on this one...take care john

Thank you all for your responses, I thought this post had been long buried until an update. I apologize for the delayed reply this is the first moment I have had to sit down while my brain is fully functioning.

In the last photo the change in taper from the stump to the new leader is quite drastic. Would it not grow faster leaving as much foliage above it as possible, as shown in photos 2 and 3, and style it later?

I think your right lordy, it is a bit drastic. I may have jumped the gun a bit in that respect it must have been the excitement of the early spring. I should probably have my wife hide my cutters before May. I was thinking I might let the leader/upper branches go (taking the wire off of course) while keeping the lower branches trimmed for a few more years.

you did make a drastic chop there maybe you could have went a little higher..no matter the carved trunk should heal fast

I was kind of thinking the same that it would heal pretty well since these are such fast growers.

The bottom line is not to chop to make a standard Informal Upright but to get creative to show how a mature tree has survived a transformative event.

I really like that approach to it and with this tree I was actually thinking of drilling into the chop to create a hollow trunk and opening up a smaller hole in the front so you could see the light of the larger chop through it. See drawing below. I the large chop heals over in time then I would just have a nice sealed-off hollow trunk. There is also a dead root jin-like spot at the bottom that I was thinking of incorporating.



Anyway, thanks again I will post updates as spring continues.

Jim Doiron wrote:Thank you all for your responses, I thought this post had been long buried until an update. I apologize for the delayed reply this is the first moment I have had to sit down while my brain is fully functioning.

The bottom line is not to chop to make a standard Informal Upright but to get creative to show how a mature tree has survived a transformative event.

I really like that approach to it and with this tree I was actually thinking of drilling into the chop to create a hollow trunk and opening up a smaller hole in the front so you could see the light of the larger chop through it. See drawing below. I the large chop heals over in time then I would just have a nice sealed-off hollow trunk. There is also a dead root jin-like spot at the bottom that I was thinking of incorporating.

Good concept, if it heals over, hollow it out again.

I did some carving on this today and then I was stymied by the chuck on my carving tool not allowing me to change the tip.
I want to do some more work on it once I figure out the problem with the tool.

wow, I'm interested in seeing the development of this tree.

Had a good time repotting this yesterday at a club meeting. The roots are developing nicely but I might do some grafts to help it along. The pot is just a transitional one. Looking forward to working on it this year. Enjoy.

The top of this one was so straight that I didn't think it was worth much but I threw it into a sand pile just for kicks (hate to see material thrown away) on the chance it would root and I think it did so I might try and get a nice large broom style out of it.

This worked out after all. The top rooted and was potted up last year then repotted this year to get it into a shallow training pot. The roots have a great flair. I wired up the branches and I'm going to let them run for a year or two to get them thickened up and get that wound covered. Pretty happy to get two for one on this collection.



Thanks

So I was studying a taxus for design ideas when my daughter was looking at this elm and said, "daddy there's a white worm coming out of this tree" I looked at it and saw it was a grub of some kind and when I poked at it the whole of the bark around it squished down and was soft. I picked a little further and this was the final result. The tree is pretty healthy otherwise and the surrounding bark seems to have already healed into the dead area so I don;t know if it was a water/inactive growth area that lead to the death and the grubs found it that way or the grubs caused the death. Either way there will be a design change come spring.

I like the concept. Nice progression so far. It could be interesting with the bark removed, you don't see many deciduous trees like that in bonsai but it happens in nature.