Chinese elm help, dropped all leafs!

[rockm]

View attachment 616773
It’s incredibly beautiful in my opinion! Was a present for my birthday off my partner!

I am going to order some wrap so i can overwinter it! It’s still around 15/17c in the day in england currently

Get rid of the humidity tray. It's useless and a potential problem.

Second find a sheltered spot in your yard with a garden bed. Next month, after a few frosts put a brick or two on the surface of the mulched garden bed, place the pot (it should be as level as possible) on the bricks insuring the drain holes aren't blocked. Then pile mulch up a couple of inches over the top of the soil surface in the pot. Leave it be until spring. Make sure it doesn't dry out.

 

[Jack12342]

Get rid of the humidity tray. It's useless and a potential problem.

Second find a sheltered spot in your yard with a garden bed. Next month, after a few frosts put a brick or two on the surface of the mulched garden bed, place the pot (it should be as level as possible) on the bricks insuring the drain holes aren't blocked. Then pile mulch up a couple of inches over the top of the soil surface in the pot. Leave it be until spring. Make sure it doesn't dry out.

Hummidty tray is now gone!!

I literally had just watered the plant before the photo! It was beginning to get a little bit dry! It’s been 15/17c all week here!


So i currently live in a new build area so don’t have any flower beds just area’s with bark and some flowers!

What do you mean by mulch? Soil?

I can move the bark and create a little area of soil!

Do you have a link or a picture so i can try to visualise what you mean? I have seen people burying there bonsai’s in the garden! My soil here is very clay heavy!

 

[rockm]

Hummidty tray is now gone!!

I literally had just watered the plant before the photo! It was beginning to get a little bit dry! It’s been 15/17c all week here!


So i currently live in a new build area so don’t have any flower beds just area’s with bark and some flowers!

What do you mean by mulch? Soil?

I can move the bark and create a little area of soil!

Do you have a link or a picture so i can try to visualise what you mean? I have seen people burying there bonsai’s in the garden! My soil here is very clay heavy!
View attachment 617102

You do NOT want to bury the pot in the ground. It's unnecessary and can harm your tree. When you dig a hole in the ground, putting the pot below soil level, you have basically created a bowl that will fill with water when it rains. That will rot and kill roots in the submerged pot.

Simply placing the pot on gravel on the ground will work as a foundation. The trick is to make sure the drain holes in the bottom of the pot ARE NOT BLOCKED by the soil surface. I put my trees on paving bricks to keep them from coming in contact with the ground.

Once in place, try to make sure the pot is level and drains.

THEN get a bag of shredded hardwood mulch or three and BURY THE POT IN MULCH UPTO THE FIRST THIRD OF THE TRUNK. Bigger mulch piles protect better, so don't just make a small mound around the pot. What you are doing is creating a covering that traps ambient "heat" from the ground. Heat is relative. The ground is warmer than the air. The mulch prevents air from getting at the pot. The more surface area of an object exposed to cold air, the quicker and more deeply it will freeze (And BTW freezing isn't really a bad thing for overwintering temperate trees, as long as temperatures don't get below 20 F or so in the root zone for days at a time.

Being in the UK, this might be overkill. Here in the states we tend to have more temperature extremes. I'm in USDA zone 7-which is relatively mild winter-wise for the U.S. We do get subzero F (-17C) occasionally in Jan. and Feb.

This is one of the best videos on overwintering out there.

and this provides some extra info on the actual mechanics of how things work:

Over Wintering Bonsai

 

[Wulfskaar]

That's a very nice Chinese Elm! Most I see are not that nice.

One thing I'd like to point out is that the soil looks really wet in all your pics. Now that it has little to no leaves, it doesn't need as much water. Make sure the top inch or so of soil dries out before watering again.

Also, research repotting into granular bonsai soil in early spring just before the leaves come up. Giving it better soil will help with overwatering issues.

 

[Jack12342]

That's a very nice Chinese Elm! Most I see are not that nice.

One thing I'd like to point out is that the soil looks really wet in all your pics. Now that it has little to no leaves, it doesn't need as much water. Make sure the top inch or so of soil dries out before watering again.

Also, research repotting into granular bonsai soil in early spring just before the leaves come up. Giving it better soil will help with overwatering issues.

It’s currently in westland’s bonsai mix, with added pumice! I literally drenched the bonsai before the photo hence why it looks wet! Will be the last water now! I will look into the soil

 

[Jack12342]

That's a very nice Chinese Elm! Most I see are not that nice.

One thing I'd like to point out is that the soil looks really wet in all your pics. Now that it has little to no leaves, it doesn't need as much water. Make sure the top inch or so of soil dries out before watering again.

Also, research repotting into granular bonsai soil in early spring just before the leaves come up. Giving it better soil will help with overwatering issues.

I have been scared of letting it dry out! How dry should the soil get?

 

[Jack12342]

You do NOT want to bury the pot in the ground. It's unnecessary and can harm your tree. When you dig a hole in the ground, putting the pot below soil level, you have basically created a bowl that will fill with water when it rains. That will rot and kill roots in the submerged pot.

Simply placing the pot on gravel on the ground will work as a foundation. The trick is to make sure the drain holes in the bottom of the pot ARE NOT BLOCKED by the soil surface. I put my trees on paving bricks to keep them from coming in contact with the ground.

Once in place, try to make sure the pot is level and drains.

THEN get a bag of shredded hardwood mulch or three and BURY THE POT IN MULCH UPTO THE FIRST THIRD OF THE TRUNK. Bigger mulch piles protect better, so don't just make a small mound around the pot. What you are doing is creating a covering that traps ambient "heat" from the ground. Heat is relative. The ground is warmer than the air. The mulch prevents air from getting at the pot. The more surface area of an object exposed to cold air, the quicker and more deeply it will freeze (And BTW freezing isn't really a bad thing for overwintering temperate trees, as long as temperatures don't get below 20 F or so in the root zone for days at a time.

Being in the UK, this might be overkill. Here in the states we tend to have more temperature extremes. I'm in USDA zone 7-which is relatively mild winter-wise for the U.S. We do get subzero F (-17C) occasionally in Jan. and Feb.

This is one of the best videos on overwintering out there.

and this provides some extra info on the actual mechanics of how things work:

Over Wintering Bonsai

Would a mini green house work?

 

[rockm]

Would a mini green house work?

No. Small greenhouses are notorious for “heat gain” in winter. Greenhouses trap heat pretty effectively turning a 32 degree day into a 70 degree one. That drives trees out of dormancy and early bud break in mid winter. That means you can’t keep the tree in the mini greenhouse without adding a heating element. When the sun goes down small greenhouse lose heat just as quickly as they gain it in daylight.

You’re making this too complicated and overthinking it. No need for greenhouse or bottom heat where you are. Simple mulch in the garden with adequate drainage will do

 

[Wulfskaar]

I have been scared of letting it dry out! How dry should the soil get?

The top inch should get dry before watering again.

Some people use a chopstick like a dipstick. Keep a chopstick in the soil and pull it out to check the water. You'll find that the inside of the soil stays wet a lot longer than the top of the soil.

I've been doing this for 5 years now, and I'm still trying to get the hang of it.

In early spring, consider repotting into granular bonsai soil. The granules retain water and let all the excess flush out. Contrary to common sense, roots like air. So, by using bonsai soil, it's much harder to overwater, and the roots will get some air to keep them healthy and prevent root rot. There are tons of youtube videos on repotting, as well as a ton of people here who would love to offer advice.