Chinese Elm bonsai pictures for appreciation, with many exquisite styles for reference
Chinese name: Chinese Elm
Other names: Small-leaf Elm
Latin scientific name: Ulmus parvifolia Jacq.
Family and genus: Ulmaceae, Ulmus
Because of its graceful tree form, elegant posture, and fine, dense branches and leaves, the Chinese Elm is considered an excellent material for making bonsai, so Chinese Elm bonsai is also very popular among bonsai enthusiasts. This article collects and organizes several pictures of Chinese Elm bonsai for flower enthusiasts' reference. The Chinese Elm is a deciduous tree, or in winter its leaves turn yellow or red and persist until they fall after the new leaves open the following year. It likes light and tolerates drought. It can grow in acidic, neutral, and alkaline soils, but the most suitable habitat is a warm climate with fertile, well-drained neutral soil.
Chinese Elm bonsai making Chinese Elm bonsai pictures
Chinese Elm bonsai making
(1) Botanical knowledge: Belongs to the Ulmaceae family, Ulmus genus. Deciduous tree, bark brown, peeling off in irregular scale-like flakes, mottled and lovely; branchlets gray, slender and soft. Leaves small and hard in texture, elliptical, base oblique, surface dark green, slightly glossy. Between summer and autumn, small yellow-green flowers cluster in the leaf axils. In October the samaras mature, yellow-brown, round like small coins. The Chinese Elm is produced in the central and southern provinces and regions of China and is a suitable tree species for the subtropics. It is most commonly seen along riverbanks and roadsides in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and other provinces. It is also distributed in Japan. It likes light, is slightly shade-tolerant, and is suitable for warm, humid places. It tolerates barren and dry conditions, and can grow in acidic soil, neutral soil, or calcareous soil, without being demanding about soil quality. It has a relatively long lifespan and a medium growth rate. It has strong resistance to toxic gases and smoke and dust, and also strong sprouting ability. (2) Material collection and cultivation measures. Artificial propagation: Chinese Elm is usually propagated by sowing. Seeds mature from October to November, and the fruit wings are yellow-brown. They should be collected promptly, spread out to dry in the sun, the debris winnowed away, and stored dry in bags. Sow in March of the following spring, either by broadcasting or drilling. For drilling, the row spacing is 25 cm. Choose a windless, sunny day for sowing, cover with fine soil just until the seeds are no longer visible, then cover with rice straw. In about 30 days they will sprout and emerge, and the straw should be removed promptly, with appropriate thinning. During the growth period, water and fertilizer management should be done well, weeds removed, and soil loosened. In the same year, seedlings can reach 30-40 cm in height. Young saplings have thin trunks and sparse branches, and their leaves are relatively large, so they are generally not suitable for making bonsai. It is better to cultivate them for several years, prune and shape them, and then pot them. In addition, the Chinese Elm can also be propagated by root cuttings to cultivate stump bonsai material, with relatively quick results, and this is widely used in South China. Collection from mountains and fields: Chinese Elms grow in many mountain and field areas and beside water in Jiangnan, and are even more common in limestone mountainous areas. You can select old stumps that have sprouted repeatedly after many years of cutting, especially elm stumps growing on barren slopes, beside ditches, or in mountain rock crevices. Those that grow slowly, are long-lived, have been shaped by natural wind and waves, with exposed roots and thick trunks, vigorous and twisted, branches slanting horizontally, small leaves, and an aged, simple, and unadorned posture are best. Collect before spring sprouting, cut off unnecessary roots and branches, protect the secondary roots and fibrous roots, coat with mud slurry, and wrap with wet moss. After digging them back, choose a ventilated, light-transmitting place with loose, moist soil for deep burying and cultivation, called "raising the embryo." Wait until the root system develops and the new branches and leaves are luxuriant, then pot them and shape them. Using old stumps as bonsai material can shorten the bonsai processing time, and the form is also natural and simple, different from ordinary specimens, and easy to keep alive.
When Chinese Elms are collected from wild old stumps for cultivation, they generally need at least 2-3 years to take shape. Here is a rapid cultivation method, especially suitable for the growth of bonsai. The Chinese Elm stumps dug back in early spring are first planted in clay pots for cultivation. After they survive, pay attention to removing unwanted buds at any time. Begin shaping from late April to early May. When the branches grow to 15-18 cm long, use fine metal wire for bending and shaping, and pay attention to care and management. When new branches sprout and grow 4-6 leaves, pruning can be carried out. Generally, only two leaves are kept on each small branch, and then a nitrogen fertilizer is applied immediately to encourage new buds to sprout again on the new branches. By repeating pruning and fertilizing many times, the leaves can grow dense as quickly as possible. As the branches continue to thicken, the metal wire must be removed promptly to prevent "wire bite." For branches that have not yet been finally shaped, they can be bent again to fix their form. In this way, by September a Chinese Elm stump bonsai can basically take initial shape. The key to this rapid shaping method is mainly to bend and shape while the branch xylem has not yet hardened, so special care must be taken during making. The thickness of the metal wire must also be chosen appropriately, and when wrapping it should not be pressed too tightly, to prevent bruising the tender branches. In addition, the work of "raising the embryo" must also be done well, so as to achieve the goal of potting and making a bonsai one year after digging up the stump. (3) Potting process. Choosing a pot: Chinese Elm stump bonsai generally should use a glazed ceramic pot, and a purple clay pottery pot can also be used. Pot shapes are diverse and depend on the tree form, with rectangular pots being the most common. Plain and elegant colors are best. Soil: It is not strict about soil and has strong adaptability. For pot cultivation, loose and fertile garden soil or leaf mold is suitable. Good air permeability and water permeability are conducive to root development and growth and help maintain the luxuriance of the old stump's branches. Planting: Usually plant from February to March in spring before sprouting, and it can also be done in autumn. When planting, trim the roots appropriately, cut off overly long roots, and they can be raised appropriately. The Chinese Elm has a well-developed root system and is suitable for root-on-rock bonsai. Planting on rock is relatively difficult. Generally, choose stone material with relatively deep crevices (porous stone material can be manually carved to make stone crevices), trim and arrange the tree roots, then insert them into the stone crevices, and tie the main thick roots with palm fiber to fix them. When rooting, be careful not to bruise the root system as much as possible, and use green moss as padding. After rooting, smear wet river soil on the outside of the stone, then wrap it with moss, then plant the tree roots together with the attached stone into the pot soil and carefully maintain for 3-4 years. Wait until the root system embedded in the stone crevices grows fully and fills the stone crevices, then the binding can be removed. At this time, the root system and the stone form one body, and a Chinese Elm root-on-rock bonsai is basically completed.
(4) Shaping techniques. Processing: Chinese Elm can be shaped by pruning, and can also be processed in combination with bending. For bending, palm fiber or metal wire can be used. Because Chinese Elm branches grow quickly, the bending material should be removed promptly to avoid "wire bite" and affect appearance. For old stumps collected from mountains and fields, overly thick main trunks can be carved and shaved to reduce bulk, match the side branches, and at the same time add an antique flavor. The shaping of Chinese Elm is best done before spring sprouting or during the plum rain season. Tree forms: Chinese Elm has strong plasticity and is suitable for processing into many kinds of tree forms. Common ones include formal upright style, slanting style, semi-cascade style, cascade style, root-on-rock style, and group planting style. The branches and leaves can be both wired into pads and pruned into a natural-form crown. Especially when creating a root-on-rock Chinese Elm bonsai, when conceiving the idea you can select a corner of the natural world and allow a certain degree of exaggeration. In order to heighten the charm of a certain part, you can place the tree above the mountain stone, with the tree as the main element and the stone as secondary, without being limited by "a zhang for mountains, a chi for trees." In Chinese bonsai, the Lingnan, Su, and Yang schools often use Chinese Elm as a main tree species. (1) Maintenance and management. Placement location: Chinese Elm should be placed in a place with ample sunlight and circulating air. In summer it does not need shading. In winter it can be placed outdoors; to prevent the pot soil from freezing dry, the pot can be buried in soil together with the pot. Watering: Chinese Elm likes moisture by nature, so watering should be sufficient. In summer, when temperatures are high and light is strong, water once in the morning and once in the evening, but do not let water accumulate in the pot. In autumn, watering can be reduced. In winter, if the pot is buried in soil, watering may not be necessary. Fertilizing: In winter, apply manure or cake fertilizer once as a base fertilizer. From April to October (except during the plum rain season), apply a thin organic fertilizer once every half month to maintain the nutrients needed for normal growth. Fertilizers are mainly nitrogen and potassium fertilizers. Pruning: Chinese Elm branches and leaves grow quickly, so pruning should be done frequently to maintain the bonsai shape. Generally, when new bud branches extend to 5-6 cm, only keep 2-3 leaves and cut off the rest. To control growth, buds and shoot tips can also be pinched off at any time. Repotting: Do it once every 2-3 years, with the best time being before spring sprouting; autumn is also acceptable. When repotting, remove about 1/2 of the old soil, cut off some old roots, and fill with fertile, loose cultivation soil. Pest and disease control: Chinese Elm has many insect pests, commonly including elm leaf beetles, scale insects, longhorn beetles, slug moths, and bagworms. Spraying 80% dichlorvos at 1500 times dilution can be used for control; for longhorn beetles damaging the trunk, lime-sulfur mixture can be used to plug the insect holes. (2) Appreciation. The Chinese Elm has an elegant tree posture, mottled scale-like bark cracks, curved trunk and branches, and soft drooping branchlets. When the new leaves first open, the whole tree is tender green, which is the best viewing period. After leaf fall in autumn, it can also be viewed as a winter tree. In addition, if all the old leaves of the Chinese Elm are removed in early autumn and a quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer is applied once, new leaves can grow in about half a month, so there are two best viewing periods in one year. Old stump bonsai have aged roots and stems and a simple, unadorned posture, like withered wood meeting spring and still towering, and are the most worthy of appreciation.
Casual talk about bonsai
I was once obsessed with the art of stump bonsai. Addicted to it, unable to extricate myself. Among the various schools of bonsai, the one I admire most is the Lingnan style. Whether it is the poetic school of Monk Suren or the realist school of Kong Taichu, I like them all and appreciate them all. Lingnan-style bonsai learns from nature, stays close to nature, and rises above nature. It has poetic sentiment, pictorial meaning, and spiritual charm. It is less artificial, less vulgar, and less marked by the chisel. It withstands close looking, repeated appreciation, and aftertaste... The most commonly used root materials in Lingnan bonsai include orange jasmine, Taiwan firethorn, Chinese Elm, Japanese maple, red maple, small-leaf banyan, and various pines and cypresses. The shaping technique commonly used in Lingnan bonsai is "storing branches and cutting the trunk, reducing the scale to inches." The methods are unique, the branch forms are particular, and the branch lines are clear. As for their forms, there are many kinds, such as slanting style, large-tree style, cascade style, water-shadow style, curved-trunk style, forest style, and cold-forest style. Branch forms include falling branches, floating branches, turning-back branches, dot branches, deer-horn branches, crab-claw branches, and others. The greatest characteristic of Lingnan bonsai is this: when there are leaves, view the leaves, lush and vigorous; when there are no leaves, view the branches, with interplay of solid and empty, branches overlapping; viewed close, the branch methods are rich and the bone strength is deep; viewed from afar, a sparse, wild air rushes to the face. Looking at these works will make your heart race and your thoughts wander endlessly. These works, less than a chi tall, nonetheless have the momentum of towering great trees. They make you feel as if they were old trees of many years on cliffs, on plains, at the foot of mountains, beside small hills, or in waterside marshlands: weathered by vicissitudes, as if once known. And also as if they came from the freehand landscape paintings of ancient literati: is it the brush idea of Liu Songnian, the brush idea of Ni Yunlin, or the brush idea of Huang Gongwang? It is hard to distinguish, and you are enchanted and bewildered. Body and mind receive the nurture of beauty, elegant interest arises at once, and vulgar worries are all forgotten.In a corner of the living room, on a tall corner flower stand, place a cascade-style bonsai, or on the coffee table place a slanting-style bonsai, and immediately the room will be filled with a lively spirit.
In those years, from late autumn to early spring, whenever I had free time, I would take a handsaw, small pick, flower shears, small shovel, and other digging tools and go up to the mountains and down to the villages, searching everywhere for tree stumps and root material to make bonsai. It penetrated bone and marrow, and I delighted in it without tire. To make a good bonsai, besides the importance of selecting material, you must also have literary accomplishment, painting accomplishment, aesthetic taste, botanical knowledge, and a theoretical foundation in bonsai making. Making a bonsai takes at least several years, or more than ten years, and requires enough patience and perseverance to complete.
I have summed up a three-character formula for making bonsai and write it out to encourage fellow enthusiasts: roots should be exposed, bark should be wrinkled, the base should be twisted, the lines should be clear, the branches should be elegant, the pot should be old. As for the pot being old, let me say a couple of words: unless one is from a family of flower growers or a family of antiquities collectors, it is hard for ordinary people to achieve. Ming and Qing purple clay antique pots are rare treasures and extremely expensive. Where can they be found? Even if found, if one's economic strength is insufficient, one can only look at the pot and sigh.
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