JonW
Shohin
I don't even have a good space to mulch it in. Definitely was planning on the rebuilding route, but at that, I agree with not being more drastic then necessary.Trees I have to bring into my unheated well house for winter, I tend to keep smaller. Trees that I can just leave on the ground for winter, I allow to be larger. Bending and lifting are not my thing. (curse of being a fat man).
I'm in zone 5b, and I winter the normal form of Chinese elm simply on the ground. No added protection from our typical -17 F for a night or two in winter. So given you are in zone 6, the 'Seiju' should be hardy without necessarily having to bring it into a shelter for winter. Just mulch it in on the ground. Which mean winter storage issues should not limit the size you choose.
My natural inclination is to use as much of the tree as possible when I design a tree, I'm not getting any younger, so drastic chops to just a stub don't excite me. Though with 'Seiju', it grows fast enough that you can rebuild something nice in as little as 5 to 10 years.
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