The Slabby Evolution of My Truckstop Elm with John Geanangel

Source Material: March 2022-March 2024

            Over the last few years, I've been styling what I call my "Truckstop Elm" Yamadori. It came to me while I was driving through Pennsylvania and stopped at a rest stop to take my dog out. There was a wooded area and a lawn that came up to it and there this elm lived on the border. It had clearly been runover several different ways over the years by the lawnmower. I didn't even need a shovel to extract it, the roots were already loose except for one which needed a simple snip to enable its hitchhiking. The photos chronicled here document the last two years of its initial potting, recovery, a few cycles of pruning, and most recently planting it onto a rock slab under the guidance of John Geanangel of Gaston, South Carolina. I became aware of his slab rock planting workshops among others through his Facebook profile (more info here). Below you see the final product of two years of work. It looks great on that rock but I'd like to continue developing its taper and ramification before considering showing it formally anywhere. One step at a time anyways...

Sections:

1. March 2022: Initial Potting
2. Spring-Late Summer 2023, Initial Pruning Cycles
3. March 2024: Slab Planting Workshop with John Geanangel
4. Final Thoughts on Rock Slab Bonsai

In Vivo Bonsai / Columbus Bonsai Announcements

1. My next workshop is Sunday 7/21, I will be teaching the basics of slab plantings using ficus (a beginner-friendly species that can be repotted in summer). The idea is to teach you the materials needed, mechanics, watering considerations, and so on which will empower you to use this method next spring on more advanced trees of your choosing if you are so inclined! Contact me with any questions! Observers are welcome. Sign up here.
2. The Columbus Bonsai Society's next meeting is 7/20-7/21, our 52nd Annual Show. This year it will be held at a new venue - Chadwick Arboretum at Ohio State University near downtown Columbus. More info will be coming this week and can be found here. 
3. You can also find me vending at the Waterfront Botanic Gardens Bonsai Show in Louisville, KY August 24-25 and the Cincinatti Bonsai Show October 4-5 this year. Due to limited space when I drive to these events, it is best if you reach out to me with any special requests you have for things I should bring. I expanded my offerings this year into bonsai soil, wire, tools, pots, and I have a few trees listed online here (and many more not posted yet). Feel free to browse the yews, boxwoods, barberries, and consignment trees available or let me know if you are looking for anything in particular.

2 springs after digging, recovering, potting, initial styling, and now repotting onto a rock slab. This tree has developed quickly! Thanks again to John Geanangel for hosting me in a workshop and sharing his methods with me. 

I. March 2022 - Initial Potting of the "Truckstop Elm"

II. Spring-Fall 2023: Initial/Successive Pruning, Starting to Ramify.

            After allowing it to recover for 1 year, the tree showed exuberant growth. It probable elongated by at least 1 foot in all directions and had ample backbudding showing it was healthy and could be styled now.

First styling. Forgot to take a before picture. This pruning must have been around May.

Second styling before.

Second styling after. You see more fine twigs already!

Third styling before. This must have been a in September, a bit before the leaves would turn color..

Third styling after.

III. Spring 2024: Slab Planting Workshop with John Geanangel

            I will take more time to write up my notes from John's workshop later but essentially you must consider many aspects to plant a tree on a slab. Much like a pot, the aesthetic of the slab must match the tree. It can't be too thick as to be distracting, nor can it be too regularly shaped as to be boring. Also the rock likely has a best front and its overal shape from that view must align with a shape the rootball can conform to in order to fit the tree in properly.

After browsing John's garden we settled on this rock slab as the best match for the elm. It was roughly the right size and had interesting aesthetic components.

John's custom muck recipe. He plants his slab trees 100% in muck especially for smaller trees as they dry out much faster in a rock slab than a conventional pot, you need more water retention.

John with elm. He suggests for people working on slab plantings to place the rock on a big piece of foam like so. This allows you to press the muck into the roots without risking damaging the rock.

Make the muck into uneven shapes. The moss will also help with this but it all adds visual interest.

John has lots of great moss he had handy for rock slabs. The moss adds an excellent contrast to the rough rock. This view here used to be the back of the tree in my thinking but with this view of the rock and roots I think it is my new favorite front!

This is the second possibly front. There are more substantial roots on this side if viewed overhead. The branching still has a ways to develop so I don't need to decide yet though!

IV. Final Thoughts on Rock Slab Bonsai

            As someone who prefers the naturalistic style of tree, I can say that whether using lava rock, a la Dan Robinson's rock plantings, or using granite slabs a la John Geanangel, rock slab plantings do wonders to make a small tree more impactful and make the tree appear much more rugged. This is an excellent technique to have in your bonsai toolbelt and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn it from John this past spring and I'm excited to pass it along to more people in the Columbus areas as few people are showing trees in our annual show in this style presently.

            With that said, the spring would be the best time to do this technique on the temperate bonsai species we mostly grow in Ohio, but unfortunately, I am usually busy in spring with digging new wild bonsai and repotting my own trees so I don't guarantee I will be able to host another rock slab workshop then. Instead, I highly encourage you if you are interested in this technique and in the area to take my slab planting workshop using tropical ficus at the show and you will come away with all the knowledge needed to execute the technique on your own with any tree of your choosing in the future. I hope to see you there at our 52nd Annual Columbus Bonsai Society Show next weekend, 7/20-21/2024!