Here is a short progression of a winged elm I bought a couple years ago. It had a bad base and I wasn't happy with the branch structure either.
Last year I decided to ground layer it to fix the base. I let it mostly grow wild to help grow roots.
The layer was successful and I separated it this spring. I had roots mostly all around and I spread them out in the new pot and chopped the trunk to about 3 inches or so. I neglected to take pics unfortunately.
I thought I had killed it but it finally budded out all around the chop site. Here it is today growing strong. My plan is a shohin broom.