New Ulmus Parvifolia - Almost ready for a pot?

[Rodrigo]

This weekend I went to a bonsai auction where they had some amazing and very old Junipers up for auction. As much as I'd love to have snagged one (or three), with my current space limitations and limited knowledge of Juniper I didn't think it'd be a smart decision right now. I settled instead for a shohin sized Ulmus Parvifolia that I couldn't pass up for $45. From the top of the soil line to tip of the tree is 7.5". I can already see it in a very shallow, long oval pot in the near future.
Trunk:

The roots have some work to be done on them apart from reducing the root ball for a shallow pot in the next couple of years.


It has some roots growing a little high on the trunk but I see a nice flare under them. Once I remove those and lower the soil line a bit it should look better.
Right now I don't like the roots being exposed the way they are and I'd like to address that but I remember @Adair M mentioned on another post that Up-potting into bonsai soil from nursery soil is a recipient for disaster. What would you suggest I do in this case while I wait to do a full repot?

 

[Rodrigo]

So I found a blog post on Dallas Bonsai talking about refining Chinese Elm but I'd like to run it through you guys. It's talking about how there's two different ways to refine a Chinese elm, the "Japanese way" where you see more of the branch structure. Example from the post:

And then there's the "Chinese way" which is basically hedge pruning to shape causing a very tight foliage pad:

In the future I'd like to get my "flat top" pads looking like the chinese way but I've also always heard that hedge pruning is not the way to go. Any thoughts on this from anyone?

Here is the post:
https://blog.dallasbonsai.com/creating-chinese-elm-bonsai-part-1/

 

[bonsaichile]

Hey Rodrigo! I think your tree needs some work before going into a shallow pot. The way I see it, it is still in development, and not yet ready for refinement. The trunk has very little taper, and it consists mainly of straight sections. If you look at the examples you provided, the trunks have a softer, less angular movement. Also, the main branches are too heavy (thick) to look proportionate to the trunk, and they have large bare sections. Your tree might benefit if you prune back hard those three heavy branches and rebuild the canopy from there. You are in Texas, you should be able to get a lot of growth per season. Check @markyscott's posts on his elms. He is in Houston and his threads are treasure troves of information. Good luck!

 

[Rodrigo]

Hey Rodrigo! I think your tree needs some work before going into a shallow pot. The way I see it, it is still in development, and not yet ready for refinement. The trunk has very little taper, and it consists mainly of straight sections. If you look at the examples you provided, the trunks have a softer, less angular movement. Also, the main branches are too heavy (thick) to look proportionate to the trunk, and they have large bare sections. Your tree might benefit if you prune back hard those three heavy branches and rebuild the canopy from there. You are in Texas, you should be able to get a lot of growth per season. Check @markyscott's posts on his elms. He is in Houston and his threads are treasure troves of information. Good luck!

Yeah I can see what you're talking about from the pictures I posted, it does look a little better in person though. I guess I was looking at how tightly packed with fine branches it already is in the foliage which you can't really see in the pictures but you're right-there isn't much taper in the trunk and main branches.
If I were to make the chops, most likely next year, do you have any suggestions on where to make them?
I have read through many of his posts and you're right, they're great sources of information!