Styling advice for broom style Zelkova

[MikeNickerson88]

Hey guys I just scored this nice zelkova at the Portland nursery today. As you can see in the photos below that it has a nice fat base with some nice taper to it. Last photo is my inspiration and direction I’d like to take this tree. What do you guys think? Any advice getting it to look more the photo is welcomed. I’m new to deciduous trees and broom style so and tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks photos won’t load correctly so I have to load them as a file unfortunately

 

[MikeNickerson88]

 

[SeanS]

Hey guys I just scored this nice zelkova at the Portland nursery today. As you can see in the photos below that it has a nice fat base with some nice taper to it. Last photo is my inspiration and direction I’d like to take this tree. What do you guys think? Any advice getting it to look more the photo is welcomed. I’m new to deciduous trees and broom style so and tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks photos won’t load correctly so I have to load them as a file unfortunately

Your inspiration tree is owned by @MACH5

Your starting material may not create an exact replica. Generally for formal broom style you need a dead straight trunk and radial, even nebari. You could go with a more informal natural looking broom, using the gentle movement in the trunk and replicating the movement in the branching

 

[MikeNickerson88]

Your inspiration tree is owned by @MACH5

Your starting material may not create an exact replica. Generally for formal broom style you need a dead straight trunk and radial, even nebari. You could go with a more informal natural looking broom, using the gentle movement in the trunk and replicating the movement in the branching

Ah! yes informal natural broom style would fit this tree much better. Guess I should have looked for a better reference picture that would better suit my tree. The nebari definitely needs some work though. Here’s a better picture of the trunk line

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

Hi,
This is my starter Chinese Elm broom. Not very big girth, say 1 inch, but you can see where I am going.
Your material is a bit challenging from a broom perspective even informal broom in my opinion.
Nice stump to get started with.
Charles

 

[sorce]

I'd layer it straight away.

Sorce

 

[TomB]

The leaves on that look more like a Chinese elm than a Zelkova serrata. In the UK, elms are often deliberately mislabelled as Zelkovas to get round import restrictions.

 

[BobbyLane]

yeh its your typical chinese elm mallsai, we all had one at some point.

 

[MrWunderful]

The leaves on that look more like a Chinese elm than a Zelkova serrata. In the UK, elms are often deliberately mislabelled as Zelkovas to get round import restrictions.

Yeah its a chinese from what I can see. Zelkova tend to have red stems.

 

[MikeNickerson88]

I'd layer it straight away.

Sorce

Air layer at the base of the trunk or the canopy?

 

[MikeNickerson88]

N

Hi,
This is my starter Chinese Elm broom. Not very big girth, say 1 inch, but you can see where I am going.
Your material is a bit challenging from a broom perspective even informal broom in my opinion.
Nice stump to get started with.
CharlesView attachment 369354

Nice bark on that elm!
what would you suggest then? The base on my tree is just shy of 2”

 

[MikeNickerson88]

The leaves on that look more like a Chinese elm than a Zelkova serrata. In the UK, elms are often deliberately mislabelled as Zelkovas to get round import restrictions.

I’m hoping you guys are wrong lol

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

N

Nice bark on that elm!
what would you suggest then? The base on my tree is just shy of 2”

I agree with the others, re ground layer and then build the canopy. This latest photo gives me confidence in your plan.
Charles

 

[sorce]

Ah! yes informal natural broom style would fit this tree much better. Guess I should have looked for a better reference picture that would better suit my tree. The nebari definitely needs some work though. Here’s a better picture of the trunk line View attachment 369347

That pic shows the place to layer!

It just doesn't make much sense fussing around with roots been in such a small diameter pot.

Well, except for digging them out and making root "cuttings".

Sorce