My free elm

[jedge76]

Hey everyone,

The owner of the local bonsai nursery gave me a Chinese elm today for helping him out. I thought I'd throw it up on the forum to see what ideas people might have for this tree. I am looking formal upright and thinking that clump of branches on the left side in the 1st pic need to be dealt with--they have started a knuckle it would seem on that portion of the tree. Any thoughts on that? There are some crossing branches, but no biggie, and I may want to thin and then wire some movement into the branches before long. I repotted it in our local calidama mix with maybe 20% bark mixed in. Thanks for any and all advice!

--Joe

 

[Smoke]

Nice elm. Should do well.

 

[jedge76]

Nice elm. Should do well.

Thanks Smoke...btw, I got a chance to go out to tree cutter's place with Glenn. I helped Glenn sift some calidama, which didn't go so well as it turned out. It was fun to see Steve's grow field.

 

[Smoke]

There are a lot of trees at Steve place...thats for sure.

 

[Gaitano]

Looks like a good start to a broom style. It's this a zelkova?

 

[jedge76]

Looks like a good start to a broom style. It's this a zelkova?

I think so too Gaitano....I asked that same question, but it's actually just parvifolia.

 

[edprocoat]

That is a nice elm and it looks like its budding out too. What are the white upper branches in the first and second picture, or is that just from the camera? In the view from the last picture, do you plan on wiring that lower branch on the right (long one) out to the right with some movement or will you chop it off?

ed

 

[jedge76]

That is a nice elm and it looks like its budding out too. What are the white upper branches in the first and second picture, or is that just from the camera? In the view from the last picture, do you plan on wiring that lower branch on the right (long one) out to the right with some movement or will you chop it off?

ed

Hey Ed...I noticed the white branch when I loaded the photos onto my laptop--it's just the flash reflecting back No fungus or anything like that!

For me, at this point at least, I think what I do with that branch depends a little on the front. I was thinking of shortening it, but you make a good point about wiring it. Maybe I could shorten with some wired in movement. Hmmmm....

 

[Lee Brindley]

It might sound a bit drastic but I would prune everything at the red line and regrow the ramification properly.

 

[berobinson82]

Hey everyone,

The owner of the local bonsai nursery gave me a Chinese elm today for helping him out. I thought I'd throw it up on the forum to see what ideas people might have for this tree. I am looking formal upright and thinking that clump of branches on the left side in the 1st pic need to be dealt with--they have started a knuckle it would seem on that portion of the tree. Any thoughts on that? There are some crossing branches, but no biggie, and I may want to thin and then wire some movement into the branches before long. I repotted it in our local calidama mix with maybe 20% bark mixed in. Thanks for any and all advice!

--Joe

The sooner you get rid of that knuckle the better. Get the axe out.

B

 

[jedge76]

It might sound a bit drastic but I would prune everything at the red line and regrow the ramification properly.

I was thinking of a large pruning and I think you have a good idea here. These things grow like weeds, especially around here with out 9-10 month growing season here in central California. So it'll grow branching quickly. Your picture is kinda small, Lee, but it appears like you've cut above that knuckled area--maybe I can remove that at the same time and get it on the right path all at once.

The sooner you get rid of that knuckle the better. Get the axe out.

B

Thanks B...I agree...it's bugging me! I think I'll do something along the lines of what Lee has suggested and remove that knuckle at the same time.

 

[jedge76]

I may also pick one as a new leader if I decide to put some movement in there. Kinda tough not to remove a lot of good branches when I take out that knuckle.