Hokkaido Elm Summer Clean Up

Hi all, I recently purchased this Hokkaido Elm. Just finished tidying up all my Ficus and thought I would do a general tidy up and arrangement of the new Elm while its still in leaf.
Trying to utilize the majority of branching with the aim of a more natural look. Im hoping to keep the canopy nice and open to let light in, still a few more branches that need a tweak and a lot of twigs to cut back and ramify. Maybe a few more years and into a pot for this one. It is the largest stock I have set eyes on and came from the only man in the country still growing Hokkaido's.

That's a damn nice Elm right there ! Did you get that from Brent at Evergreen ?

ed

edprocoat said:

That's a damn nice Elm right there ! Did you get that from Brent at Evergreen ?

ed

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He is down under, so I'm guessing not.

Very nice elm! Really powerful base.

I agree, it is very striking. I would remove the lowest branch on the right, the one at the soil line. It would make a very powerful twin trunk. But your still working on it and it might still look cool when you get finished with it.

John

Don't want to start something here or disagree about species but I think this may be a Seiju. The leaves look large for Hokkaido and branches are hard to wire and bend because of them being so brittle.
Whatever it is it is a very nice elm. Love the corky bark. How large is it?

That's is a beauty! I have to agree with John about the lower right branch based on the image we're seeing. However, either way it will look great.

Tom , down under I assume means he is in Australia ? I did not thi nk to look wjen I posted this, now there is no location thing like before.

ed

That is a beefcake! I would love to see it without leaves in the winter. Do you guys even have real winter where you're at in Queensland?

Mellow Mullet said:

I would remove the lowest branch on the right, the one at the soil line. It would make a very powerful twin trunk. But your still working on it and it might still look cool when you get finished with it.

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I believe this will be the eventual plan, for now I will keep it and study the tree and its growth habits. I hear they are touchy as bonsai subjects but I'm not one to dismiss good stock over hear say.

M. Frary said:

Don't want to start something here or disagree about species but I think this may be a Seiju. The leaves look large for Hokkaido and branches are hard to wire and bend because of them being so brittle.
Whatever it is it is a very nice elm. Love the corky bark. How large is it?

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I'm no botanist either but the leaves on this were smaller than any Seiju Ive come across - mature leaves being 2-3mm long. The grower calls this Hokkaido 'Strong', apparently a sport he developed in the nursery. Upon enquiring the differences it's still not clear, though what I am told is the branches are not QUITE as brittle, but believe me I snapped a few. And there is supposedly less problems with dieback. the general consensus is that it tends to respond to treatment more like a Seiju, whilst retaining ultra small leaves. The base is 100mm. Current height 380mm and width 600mm

KennedyMarx said:

That is a beefcake! I would love to see it without leaves in the winter. Do you guys even have real winter where you're at in Queensland?

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Not what you guys would call winter but its enough to send even Chinese Elms dormant and get decent colour on Trident Maples. I have a love for deciduous trees, what many would call zone envy but Ive had good success so far with Chinese and English Elms, Tridents, Chinese and Japanese Quince, Crabapple, Crepe Myrtle, and Bald Cypress. Japanese Maples are touchy but I make it work, its not our mild winter temperatures and humid summers, but moreso the drying winds that do damage and cause people to give up on certain species. Unfortunately I can never waste my time on cold loving Conifers and some of the more beautiful deciduous species. But we must work with what we can.

I was just wondering. They look just like my seiju elms. Same shape and size.

Coming to the close of spring, this tree is looking ok. Experienced minor dieback in the smallest of twigs over winter, not concerned as most needed cutting back harder. Back budding all over the place and a few shoots starting to run.
I feel its going to be a patient few years process of clip and grow. Need to unwire this thing carefully and just slip some simple guide wires on the main trunklines and sit back, relax.
Any thoughts on the tree/pot combination?

I think the pot color is nice.
But I'm into greys.

The size will be perfect.........

When........

I think you can/should bring the entire canopy in by halfish.

The fat completely badass trunk seems to give way to a little too long of branches, before the foilage.

I expect these aren't exactly fast to grow back, but I think it would be worth it.
Especially with such tiny leaves.
I think you can get your image tighter, and the trunk, visually monstrous!

Sorry, but the pot is perfect!

Sorce

Minor tidy up in prep for the upcoming growing season. I think I still need to bring the left side in and a few upper branches down slightly to open up the image. Felt a few dead twigs as I was running my hands through but its hard to pick them, will wait until it buds out so I can go in and clear all the dead stuff. I'm liking the low right branch, even though its thin in proportion to the left side. I apologise for the photo, my camera is not playing the game at the moment and wont focus reliably so it seems much more congested than in person.
I gotta bust out the vinegar tomorrow and get rid of that moss on the trunk before @Adair M sees this!

Summer foliage after a light trim, think I need to round out the canopy a bit more as its looking a bit square up top. Mealy bugs are my enemy on this tree, coupled with the slow growth rate I'm sticking to one trim during the growing season. A few more years or a decade may see a vast improvement. Still fighting moss in one of the driest and hottest summers on record!

There is a Mighty Mini down there.


Good Christ tell me you see it!

Holy shit....

2017 has shown vast improvements in BSD technology.
We have capabilities to move 1/2 ton of pumice from New Zealand so getting that tree out of your yard will be easy.

Remember that lock?

Yeah I was gonna say put it on it....
But I totally rigged an OxyAcetylene system on the improved BSD's...

I'll give you till 2019 to get it cut back that far.....

If not.....

Adios!

Please keep it in that pot for me!

Sorce

Jeremy said:

Summer foliage after a light trim, think I need to round out the canopy a bit more as its looking a bit square up top. Mealy bugs are my enemy on this tree, coupled with the slow growth rate I'm sticking to one trim during the growing season. A few more years or a decade may see a vast improvement. Still fighting moss in one of the driest and hottest summers on record!

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LOL you were talking about busting out the vinegar to rid yourself of moss back in August..I have some trees like this though, I give it the viegar toothbrush treatment and a few months later it's back again. Great tree too, very nice!

Really nice Jeremy. Moss is a pita.

Jeremy said:

Summer foliage after a light trim, think I need to round out the canopy a bit more as its looking a bit square up top. Mealy bugs are my enemy on this tree, coupled with the slow growth rate I'm sticking to one trim during the growing season. A few more years or a decade may see a vast improvement. Still fighting moss in one of the driest and hottest summers on record!

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That small branch/sub-trunk in the middle...does that come towards me? Away? Could you wire it to help it from appearing to "cross" my view in a weird way? Plus 1 on the moss!! Dirty bug high-rise!!

Pleasant imaged tree....can you see this face in the bark at the center?

sorce said:

There is a Mighty Mini down there.

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I do generally look for the smallest tree but this would be much too far IMO. I've got enough squat trees, I want something more believable.
Looks like I've got 2 years to work on home security

quietobserver said:

LOL you were talking about busting out the vinegar to rid yourself of moss back in August..I have some trees like this though, I give it the viegar toothbrush treatment and a few months later it's back again. Great tree too, very nice!

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I would like to say I DID treat it and the moss came back, fact is Ive been lazy and am only keeping up with watering atm. It will get the treatment this week though, I can't afford to lose any precious bark.

LanceMac10 said:

That small branch/sub-trunk in the middle...does that come towards me? Away? Could you wire it to help it from appearing to "cross" my view in a weird way? Plus 1 on the moss!! Dirty bug high-rise!!

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I think you're referring to the thin branch between the 2 outer main trunks? If so it is in the back but actually runs up the centre to form an apex. Bit of a 'rule-breaker' but is necessary in the design until I can get more growth.

I like it as it is.