How big of a chop can a Chinese elm take?

[henrykiser]

I have no idea about your environment/weather/conditions etc.. so take this with a grain of salt but in my experience, you can pretty much cut/chop where you like and start from scratch. Here's an example :
This spindly elm was over 2m tall (around 7' tall) with a very narrow trunk. I cut it to about 5cm (2") from the base at the end of winter (which for me is August) in 2016. The last shot is how it looks from about 4 months or so ago (my most recent pic). I find chinese elm to be very resilient trees and you can do quite a bit to them and they will bounce back quickly. Good luck with it, I agree that taking out the 'S' can only improve it!

That looks amazing! Feeling more confident about chopping my "S" shaped elm or air layering next year...

 

[penumbra]

Put it in the ground and forget about it for a couple years.

 

[David L Whitehurst]

You've done the bonsai world a great service by drastically chopping your S-curve mallsai Chinese elm. The biggest challenge you face right now is getting it through the Idaho winter. Expect it to pout indoors. Give as much light and humidity as you can. Chinese elms are tough customers, so hopefully it'll come through fine.

Now, the next challenge you face is the need for vigorous growth. You won't get much of that in a shallow bonsai pot, so you might want to consider putting it into an oversized nursery pot and letting it grow out for a while. At some point or other you'll see a promising new leader and you can chop to it and regrow the whole tree.

Good luck with your project!

Zack,
You have answered my newbie question. I'm telling my wife that they wired my s-trunk Elm so much it's scarred and I want it to be unique. The place in San Diego sent it to me in NC and I bet it was wired up with 1000's of others in China somewhere. I dont have the patience to give mine a whack but I really wish they hadn't made it into a nursery shrub S shape because it doesn't look like a natural tree. I'm new to this and do you know how I can get another that's not an S shape. I like a formal or slanting upright. A real elm tree look.

 

[leatherback]

do you know how I can get another that's not an S shape

Take cuttings from yours, plant them in the yard for a year?

 

[SininCincinnati]

You've done the bonsai world a great service by drastically chopping your S-curve mallsai Chinese elm. The biggest challenge you face right now is getting it through the Idaho winter. Expect it to pout indoors. Give as much light and humidity as you can. Chinese elms are tough customers, so hopefully it'll come through fine.

Now, the next challenge you face is the need for vigorous growth. You won't get much of that in a shallow bonsai pot, so you might want to consider putting it into an oversized nursery pot and letting it grow out for a while. At some point or other you'll see a promising new leader and you can chop to it and regrow the whole tree.

Good luck with your project!

Chinese Elms can be overwintered with no light in an unheated garage. They come back stronger in the spring if you overwinter them and allow leaf drop.