New tree, needs better soil

[macdad]

So, I bought an elm tree a couple weeks ago from Menards. The trunk is about 1.5-2" in diameter. I wanted something to experiment with a trunk chop. Here is my questions:

The soil in the pot sucks! I need to get better soil in it. My plan was build a tree box. I was going to try to spray out the potting soil and retain as much of the root ball as possible. Only want to flatten it out some. I was going to do this in the fall after leaf drop.

Will it be safe to do this in the fall?

I know that in general, you want to repot/root prune in the spring.

Secondly, I was going to wait till late winter/early spring to trunk chop it. Everything that I read seems to point to this as the proper timing.

 

[october]

So, I bought an elm tree a couple weeks ago from Menards. The trunk is about 1.5-2" in diameter. I wanted something to experiment with a trunk chop. Here is my questions:

The soil in the pot sucks! I need to get better soil in it. My plan was build a tree box. I was going to try to spray out the potting soil and retain as much of the root ball as possible. Only want to flatten it out some. I was going to do this in the fall after leaf drop.

Will it be safe to do this in the fall?

I know that in general, you want to repot/root prune in the spring.

Secondly, I was going to wait till late winter/early spring to trunk chop it. Everything that I read seems to point to this as the proper timing.

If you post pics, better assessments and answers can be given.

Rob

 

[macdad]

Here are a couple pics. The tree is about 8' tall.

 

[jk_lewis]

If you're going to chop it, do NOT transplant it now.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

And, even bad soil can be ok if you are careful with the watering. This looks a little soggy.

 

[macdad]

And, even bad soil can be ok if you are careful with the watering. This looks a little soggy.

Thanks guys. I just watered the tree last night, maybe I overdid it a little. I worry about the standard potting soil. It is like a sponge, but once it dries out, there seems to be little hope for it.

 

[Poink88]

If this is mine, I'd wait for spring and treat it as a newly collected tree.

For now, remove excess soil from top until you expose the nebari. Note that you may encounter tiny roots up...keep going until you hit the bigger roots proportionate to your trunk (about 1/4" diameter on this tree).

If you are up to it, you can also apply tourniquet to the bigger roots now to induce development of roots near the base. I'd apply the tourniquet about 2" from the trunk. Note, you could also just strip the bark (like layering) around the roots. Cover with 1" soil.

Come spring, if the soil is fine...do as jkl suggested and just chop the trunk.

If you want to replace the soil, chop the trunk, chop the root ball leaving only the top 3" or so, clean as you planned, and plant with new soil.

Good luck!

 

[JaaParan]

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[macdad]

If this is mine, I'd wait for spring and treat it as a newly collected tree.

For now, remove excess soil from top until you expose the nebari. Note that you may encounter tiny roots up...keep going until you hit the bigger roots proportionate to your trunk (about 1/4" diameter on this tree).

If you are up to it, you can also apply tourniquet to the bigger roots now to induce development of roots near the base. I'd apply the tourniquet about 2" from the trunk. Note, you could also just strip the bark (like layering) around the roots. Cover with 1" soil.

Come spring, if the soil is fine...do as jkl suggested and just chop the trunk.

If you want to replace the soil, chop the trunk, chop the root ball leaving only the top 3" or so, clean as you planned, and plant with new soil.

Good luck!

This is excellent! I started to dig down the other day, just looking to see what it looked like below the soil line. I like the idea of removing the soil till I get to larger roots and replace the top soil with an inch of bonsai soil.

Someone else pointed out that they follow the "one insult per year" philosophy. That sounds like a good practice, but I really want to chop it next spring

 

[Poink88]

Someone else pointed out that they follow the "one insult per year" philosophy.

Good rule but this is mostly for pine and juniper. Elm is more forgiving but following that rule is not bad esp. if you are not sure what you are doing. Better safe than sorry.

 

[macdad]

Good to know. I will see how it fairs this winter and gage how much I can do next spring. Thanks again for the advice Dario.