BREST

Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia) is very common and widely spread species in commercial bonsai. Rare pieces in the West are good and quality is usually low. Nevertheless the Ulmus species are one of the best for bonsai use. We have three native species of Ulmus: glabra (Mountain elm), laevis (Long-penducle elm) and carpinifolia (Field elm). Ulmus has nice bark, small leaves, tiny shoots and is very vigorous: this are all great atributes for bonsai. This is a story about Field elm, nothing special, testing one, but just an example what can be done with elms. The tree came into the shop as gift from Gregor in winter 2014/15. I started to work on it in March 2015, so only 9 months ago.

 

Kitajski brest (Ulmus parvifolia) je običajna in zelo razširjena vrsta v komercialnem bonsaju. Le redki primerki na Zahodu pa so dobri in kvaliteta je nizka. Vseeno pa je brest kot vrstaena najboljših za bonsaj. V Sloveniji imamo tri avtohtone vrste brestov: glabra (gorski brest), laevis (dolgopecljasti brest) in carpinifolia (poljski brest). Brest ima lepo skorjo, majhne liste, drobne poganjke in poganja iz starega lesa: to so vse odlične lastnosti za bonsaj. To je zgodba o poljskem brestu, nič posebnega, gre bolj za test, toda je dober primer, kaj se da storiti z brestom. Drevo je v delavnico prišlo kot Gregorjevo darilo v zimi 2014/15. Z delom sem začel marca 2015, torej le 9 mesecev nazaj.

 

Ulmus carpinifolia, Field elm, March 2015

 

The main problem of this tree was nebari. It has reverse tapering, so I decided to use a radical technique: I take the tree out of the pot and dissected the lower part of the trunk. This was also a good test of how vigorous is this tree.

 

Največja težava tega drevesa je bil nebari. Imelo je celo nasprotno ožanje. Tako da sem se odločil za radikalno tehniko: drevo sem vzel iz posode in razcepil spodnji del debla. To je bil tudi dober test, koliko lahko drevo prenese. 

 

The problem was reverse tapering

The same area after work

 

After re-poting and work on the roots, I also made a selection of branches, then I wired all of them and started to work on structure of the branches. All in one day and the tree survived without a problem!

 

Po presajanju in delu na koreninah, sem napravil še selekcijo vej, ostale požičil in začel delati na strukturi vej. Vse v enem dnevu in drevo jepreživelo brez težav!

 

First step completed, March 2015

 

Elm reacted very well, after 9 months of growth it was time for the second step. I wired it fully again and just after one growing season the tree started to show the potential.

 

Brest je reagiral zelo dobro, po devetih mesecih je bil čas za drugi korak. Spet je bil v celoti ožičen in že samo po eni rastni sezoni je začel kazati ves svoj potencial.

 

Elm before second step, December 2015

Elm after second step, December 2015

 

In the future I'll concentrate on developing a proper roots for nebari, and also the transition between trunk and the top is still too obvious: the top must thicken a lot. This are main tasks for the future; I am planning to re-pot it in a bonsai pot in spring 2017.

 

V prihodnje se bom skoncentriral na razvoju korenin za nebari, tudi prehod med deblom in vrhom je še preveč očiten, vrh se mora odebeliti. To so glavne naloge za bodočnost. Presajanje v bonsajsko posodo načrtujem za pomlad 2017.

 

Elm (black background) before second step

Ulmus carpinifolia, December 2015 (black background)