Project seiju elm

brentwood

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I saw this at our club meeting, vendor brought a lot of young stock, couple offer trees - this kept dragging me back to it. I have started removing the massive amounts of moss from this already, and I think the next stop is a carving workshop with Will Baddely, but some day I think this will be a crazy tree. Compared to my current collection.. just cut the pot down, wanted some pictures of the whole trunk. More to follow, I hope

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brentwood

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I picked up a larger pot from a friend, repotted it, got it out of basically field soil.. Had to cut back on a very fat root, curled up under the trunk, still a lot of good roots into the new soil. Looks like a different tree, hope it is ok with the move. Note: I added a chopped moss top dressing after this pic...
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brentwood

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It's looking pretty happy, didn't work it too hard after the initial repot and root work. Next spring I'll work the top hard, try and generate more action on the sparse side, get some cuttings going - squirrels only left me one root cutting.
Thanks for asking, really excited about this one,
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pandacular

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do you have any design ideas for this? Branch structure looks setup for windswept/windblown, but I usually see that with much less bulky trunks.
 

brentwood

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To quote every buddy movie of the 1980s, that idea is so crazy, it might just work...

I had planned on cutting the top back hard, hoping for backbudding, but I can hedge and leave the rest of those branches a while. The logistics of getting it on its side like that are hard to pictures right now, but that really does give me pause

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pandacular

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that second and fourth branch in particular already look like great small trees. I wanna see it for sure.

I've seen folks construct rafts by planting the existing root mass in a constructed pot-on-a-pot, similar to how you would do a ground layer.
 

brentwood

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that second and fourth branch in particular already look like great small trees. I wanna see it for sure.

I've seen folks construct rafts by planting the existing root mass in a constructed pot-on-a-pot, similar to how you would do a ground layer.
I might lose that lowest branch, focus on the upper sections - if I edit pictures of it like that, started looking less one sided. That was my original thought, all depends on how much growth I can get on the lower parts of the bald side

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Maiden69

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I am a big proponent of propagating your own material. My seiju is getting to the point where I can start making layers out of it while reducing the main trunk to a manageable size, while trying to use the layers/pruning to give interesting proportions to the tree. If this one was mine I would definitely air layer the top as a twin trunk, then utilizing either one of the other two branches to continue developing the next line of the trunk. This is what was done with the yatsubusa elm trees that Mirai have/sold. And in the end that main tree will be a best... kinda like Mach5 elm.

This would be my first layer... that would be a very good twin trunk

1693402274701.png

Below are possible options to planting on the ground. Blue would be extensions from bud back after the cut.

1693402606597.png

On this one I would choose one of the two branches to continue the trunk line.

1693402938965.png
 

brentwood

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I have been looking at that twin trunk option, have had mixed results with air layers lately - might try and do that in a workshop, see where I'm messing up. I always looked at that section as kind of top heavy, reverse tapered - sounds like you maybe see same.

Love those virts, thank you!
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Maiden69

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Corkers tend to develop inverse taper when not kept in check... There is a little below that top node. As far as the layer, elms are easy to work with, but you have to make sure you remove all the cambium and allow enough space so the callous forming don't bridge with the bottom edge. You can use heavy gauge wire, plastic trimmed around the cut, etc. I plan on testing aluminum foil tape over the bottom cut to prevent any callous forming there to reach above towards the layer.
 
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