Elm Is Sick!

April 18, 2009. This elm that I repotted about 40 days ago has some kind of insect damage. At least, I think it's insect damage. I saw some very tiny black things on this tree and my seju elm about 8 days ago. I blew them off with a stream of water. Now I'm wondering if these are some type of eggs.

Of course, it could also be disease. I really don't usually have health issues with my trees. I suppose I've been lucky until now. But the point is that I'm not sure what it is, nor do I know how to treat it!

APRIL 25 UPDATE:

I learned after visiting the county extension office that this is a gall caused by a mite. It may be in the eriophye category, but I don't remember exactly what type she said it was. She did mention several times that it resembles the nipple gall which often affects hackberries.

My plan now is to innoculate those plants that may be susceptible by spraying them with an insecticidal soap. Around late June I will leaf prune the elm and spray it with the soap. I hope that this works.

Acer Palmatum (Uknown Species)

Acer palmatum (species unknown)

March 28: I dug this Japanese maple (species unknown) out of our flowerbed. This actually came from a cutting of a tree I’d bought my mother for Mother’s Day, perhaps in 2002 or 2003. It grew well, but slowly, in a pot until I put it into the flowerbed in spring 2006. I placed a tile underneath it hoping to keep the roots from pushing downward too far. I should have tied it to the tile because it seems to have pushed up from it a couple inches. It has not seemed to thicken by much.

I did very little branch or foliage maintenance, and so there is the occasional awkward-looking spot here and there. I pruned it as I repotted it, and I hope it will grow well into the shape I’ve tried to give it.

I have tried to provide two ways to view this tree. I tried to keep in mind the idea that a really good tree doesn’t necessarily have a single ‘front’. I like the idea of trying to make the tree viewable from any point.

I hope to post pictures in the fall showing some progress with this tree. We’ll see.

Repotting Lonicera

Lonicera (honeysuckle, unknown species)




This Lonicera was obtained in fall 2006 during a dig with my local bonsai club in a forest that had been zoned for clearing near a cemetery. I liked the bark on this plant, but never saw one with such a heavy-looking trunk that made it worth digging up.

March 8, 2009: Dug up the Lonicera that had been growing in my Limerick Community Garden plot. The forecast said rain today and off and on for most of the rest of the week. I decided to go dig the tree up now because I’ve heard that repotting when a tree has already been watered is not desirable. I still haven’t learned exactly why. Perhaps it is more stressful for the tree because so much water is lost in root and branch pruning.

This tree’s root ball was incredibly heavy! It hadn’t grown very deeply into the ground, but had many fine hairs and they held a lot of dirt. I set it into the back seat of the car and drove it home. It sat with it’s root ball exposed for about 25 minutes while I prepared to pot it up.

I spent a long time just spraying the root ball with a steady stream of water to loosen up and remove the mud as best I could. The roots were mostly flowing out laterally, but some were very thick and needed to be cut back fairly hard for the tree to fit into the large wooden box I’d prepared (approximately 16" wide and 8" deep).

The top was cut back to about 2-2.5 feet (61-76 cm) tall. The trunk is approximately 3 inches wide, with one obvious main trunk going straight up. The other trunks are of various smaller sizes, some seeming to graft onto the larger trunk.

I used Turface as soil and nothing else. The particles were small--those falling through the small sifter (the size of typical window screening).

It took extra effort to be sure the soil was getting in between and underneath some root systems in the tree.

One worry is that because the branches are hollow, those I trimmed might allow water to enter them and rot the branches out. However, many of the current branches might not be wanted anyway, in the long run.

I just love to study this trunk. The rough yellowish bark is so warm, yet tough. It has a nice twisted look, too. I would like if I could learn more about hollowing out sections of a trunk to enhance it's appearance.