New chinese elm bonsai

eugenev2

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Hi All,

I got this new Chinese elm the past weekend and tried to apply bonsai "techniques" on the tree i bought, ie see if i've learned anything in regards with buying better material. The price was equivalent to $28/29. So i want to ask for critique/advice and as well as whether anyone thinks i over paid/got a decent deal?
Later on, possible ways to improve the tree
 

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Frozentreehugger

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Well trees are like real estate . It’s location location . That tree in Canada is a steal at that price . There really only used for bonsai here . There not common as a landscape tree . So rare in any large size hence expensive . As for styling advice I’m the wrong person to ask . It’s a personal taste thing . 90 percent of the ones you see are in that S style . Nothing wrong with that I just find it boring . But you have a nice tree .
 

Paradox

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I also think you did OK for that price.
As for styling advice, what ideas do you have for what you would like for it to look like?
 

eugenev2

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Well trees are like real estate . It’s location location . That tree in Canada is a steal at that price . There really only used for bonsai here . There not common as a landscape tree . So rare in any large size hence expensive . As for styling advice I’m the wrong person to ask . It’s a personal taste thing . 90 percent of the ones you see are in that S style . Nothing wrong with that I just find it boring . But you have a nice tree .
Yea, i not 100% happy with this s shape (i recently found out these type of massed produced trees are referred to as mallsai), it felt very generic, especially as there were literally a 1000 others that looked similar. There was another tree that really caught my eye, that was in a slanting shape, but it had some bigger flaws such as deep wire cuts. This one I based it on that there were very few scars or wire bite marks, it had a slightly thicker trunk then all the trees in its price range (about half a cm), had branches in most of the correct places and most importantly it looked like it was more vigorous than the others. Although this might just mean they missed it on the last trim.

@Paradox styling wise, i'm looking for general advice how to improve it, ie make it less of a generic tree. I was also thinking of correcting some of the "flaws", i'm not sure how visible it is on the pictures, but picture 2 looks to me the best possible front, based on trunk base flare that is not visible in this picture (although i'm not going to finalize this decision until i'm able to see all around the trunk), but one of the flaws is a crotch branch that has been bent to fill the space on the right of the tree. I want to rather attempt to grow a branch on the elbow to replace this and would like suggestions on how to force budding on the trunk to achieve this. I've read that elms react well to scaring and was wondering if this could be attempted to achieve this goal?
If so, how do you go about making such a scar? Do you just cut away a chunk of the bark? How deep do i cut, until i see sap wood or stop when i see cambium?
 

Godschick

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I have a couple like this and both were gifts. I think you got a pretty great deal with the price that you paid and it’s a pretty cool Elm. I’m not that incredibly fond of the S shape either, but so far both have been really hearty and great trees. I’ve actually come to really enjoy the Chinese Elms. I currently have them in large colander type pots and I am just letting them grow and fill out as much as possible. My goal is to have enough growth to cover at least part of the S shape and have more styling options when I’m ready to actually style them. I also want to thicken the trunks so that becomes one of the focal points.
 
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Frozentreehugger

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They practically grow like weeds all forms of propagation work . Cuttings root easily . If you really dislike the s shape you can air layer the top off the tree or a section and create a different tree . Most likely still have the original to also create something besides the s . If a decent size S tree came into my Possession this is the path I would take 2 trees with 1/2 a S
 
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chop it to the first live branch and take it from there!

(you could also airlayer the top to get 2 for 1)
 

thebonsaiproject

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If I am ever unsure about a tree and stumped for what I can do with it, I try to add some visual interest by creating tension. Most often this is making the trunk tend towards one direction and the apex and branches tend towards the other. I know its not a crazy expensive tree like this and a different shape but this is an example of that https://bonsaimirai.com/bonsai/california-juniper-no-4
 
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