First Elm

[erb.75]

I have purchased from Ken on various occasions. This is not a standard Chinese elm. I think it is some sort of cork bark elm. The material Ken sells is great for the price (IMO). It allows new people to have access to bonsai specific material vs. your big box store. Most of the material Ken sells that is less than $50 needs serious work to be an outstanding bonsai. But without people like Ken, it would be a lot more difficult to get ahold of cultivars that are great for bonsai, especially for people who are most interested in trees under $500. I'd say the most important thing is that you got a species that will be great for bonsai. If it were mine, I'd wait until next spring and air layer it off to make a twin trunk.

You could dig down a tiny bit to see if there are any interesting roots on the surface. Most Chinese elm varieties do not have good roots, at least without a lot of work. You could also ground layer it, let it grow wild (in the ground is even better) for a couple of years, and you'd have the good workings of a great species for bonsai. Elms are so nice because they develop and look really good in a short amount of time!

 

[Cable]

Oh don’t get m wrong, I’m not badmouthing Ken at all. I like him a lot and his selection ranged from sticks in pots to some that I thought had real potential (and a price tag to go with it!). I thought he had something for everyone.

Interesting ideas @wsteinhoff

 

[Steven1969s]

I would start from scratch and chop it to a stump.

 

[Cosmos]

I would start from scratch and chop it to a stump.

My opinion so far too.

But first, cut off the top of the container above the soil and take pictures at soil level. And clean the trunk and base as much as you can.

 

[Cable]

Ok, here are a bunch more pics. It's not root bound. I'm thinking the best plan at this point is to backfill some bonsai soil on top and then leave it until spring. Then do a repot and see how the roots are doing. If it is growing strongly after that I decide what to do about air-layering, chopping, whatever!

 

[Saddler]

It looks like it was recently slip potted. Be prepared for major surgery haha. I would try for a couple of airlayers next summer.

 

[Cable]

...and wasn't cared for properly as pre-bonsai.

I'm curious about this comment. How can you tell and what should I have been looking for?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I'm curious about this comment. How can you tell and what should I have been looking for?

In a perfect world, a good pre-bonsai offers tons of options, with a minimum of big problems. The hardest thing to "fix" on a bonsai are the nebari and base of the trunk, so good pre-bonsai will have initial rootwork done, and a decent trunk taper with lots of low branches to choose from. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it should look markedly different from what you would see in a garden nursery pot (which usually has no root work done, and all low branches removed so you have one long spindly trunk).

When the first advice you are getting from people is "prune it all off" or "air-layer it all off" it is sign that the tree wasn't developed properly and you need to start more or less from scratch.

In your case all you see is a sling-shot trunk that is too high for a twin trunk design, no root work, and all the low branches removed. I am not trying to make you feel bad because ANY problem can be fixed as long as the tree is still alive But with pre-bonsai you are paying a price for a headstart. Good pre-bonsai will save you years of development work. Bad pre-bonsai just means you start from scratch.

 

[Cable]

In a perfect world, a good pre-bonsai offers tons of options, with a minimum of big problems. The hardest thing to "fix" on a bonsai are the nebari and base of the trunk, so good pre-bonsai will have initial rootwork done, and a decent trunk taper with lots of low branches to choose from. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it should look markedly different from what you would see in a garden nursery pot (which usually has no root work done, and all low branches removed so you have one long spindly trunk).

When the first advice you are getting from people is "prune it all off" or "air-layer it all off" it is sign that the tree wasn't developed properly and you need to start more or less from scratch.

In your case all you see is a sling-shot trunk that is too high for a twin trunk design, no root work, and all the low branches removed. I am not trying to make you feel bad because ANY problem can be fixed as long as the tree is still alive But with pre-bonsai you are paying a price for a headstart. Good pre-bonsai will save you years of development work. Bad pre-bonsai just means you start from scratch.

Cool, thanks, I'll know for next time!

 

[Cable]

I can't really tell from the photo but maybe there's a tree in this area too:
View attachment 201472

I was down in the root cellar looking at my trees this morning that this is the best plan IMO. I'm going to repot to a pond basket within the next two weeks and then do an air layer for this red section. I forgot to take a pic but now that it is defoliated I can see amazing ramification in that section. This should be a great little tree.

While that is going on I'll work on fattening the trunk and next spring I'm chopping under the Knobby Fucker™.

 

[Cable]

Ok, I went with @wsteinhoff's suggestion and I think it came out very nice. If the layer takes will be a great little tree.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Excellent
Whether this is cork bark elm or a different cultivar, really doesn't matter, the horticulture is the same, and they all make decent bonsai.

A lot of the reverse taper can be fixed simply by controlling growth as the tree develops. This is particularly true if your plan is to increase the diameter of the trunk, the greater the planned increase, the easier it will be to fix reverse taper. In ''narrow zones'' encourage, or keep any back buds that pop, let a few sacrifice branches develop. Near the knuckles, keep branches tight, slow growing, by pruning much more often that the rest of the tree. only let branches extend at most one or two internodes, let the rest grow more. It's do-able.

 

[Cable]

@Leo in N E Illinois thanks for the tips!