Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
A couple years ago I picked up this Catlin elm. Ugly. And I knew the roots were going to be in bad shape.
Moved it into a large pond basket and trimmed it to reveal the branches. Uglier than I expected
A big knob on the top and a pinwheel of branches that were far too thick radiating from the same point in the center of the tree. They all had to go... and there were going to be a lot of them... so what do you do with a lot of elm branches? Make a forest!
I let the tree gain strength and grow new roots in the pond basket for one season, then I waded in to tackle the apex knob.
This photo of the air-layer girdle is not the final one... I actually trimmed the top of the girdle up a little higher so the roots would develop higher. When elms throw roots from an air-layer the entire area flares substantially.
About a month later, the air-layer was ready to be separated.
Voila! And the new air-layer was potted up in a pond basket.
Sealed the removal site, and then you can clearly see the thick branches that need to go. They are all about to become tree trunks
Because of timing, weather, etc, I waited until this spring for the next round of air-layers. My elms are budding early, so I started early with the layers in order to get a jump on the season.
Six more layers... ready to go. I expect they will be ready to remove in early March.
Moved it into a large pond basket and trimmed it to reveal the branches. Uglier than I expected
A big knob on the top and a pinwheel of branches that were far too thick radiating from the same point in the center of the tree. They all had to go... and there were going to be a lot of them... so what do you do with a lot of elm branches? Make a forest!I let the tree gain strength and grow new roots in the pond basket for one season, then I waded in to tackle the apex knob.
This photo of the air-layer girdle is not the final one... I actually trimmed the top of the girdle up a little higher so the roots would develop higher. When elms throw roots from an air-layer the entire area flares substantially.
About a month later, the air-layer was ready to be separated.
Voila! And the new air-layer was potted up in a pond basket.
Sealed the removal site, and then you can clearly see the thick branches that need to go. They are all about to become tree trunks
Because of timing, weather, etc, I waited until this spring for the next round of air-layers. My elms are budding early, so I started early with the layers in order to get a jump on the season.
Six more layers... ready to go. I expect they will be ready to remove in early March.
