TJ’s Big Siberian Elm

[Colorado]

I drove down to Colorado Springs yesterday to pick up this large Siberian elm from a buddy downsizing his collection. I took a backroad highway through the foothills, in the sunshine, while listening to the new Mirai podcast episode with Todd Schlafer. It was beautiful! Anyway, the tree…

Elm collected in August 2018 from a riparian area near Colorado Springs. I’m told the area was going to be developed, and he had a chance to collect 6 of these elms at the time. Apparently they’ve gone their separate ways over the years and this was the last one remaining.



Nice chunky base and thick bark. A little too big for my photo background at the moment! I set it up with a nice dose of Biogold and fish and kelp.

I think I will prune the branches back significantly in the next day or two to get back budding on the trunk. I would have preferred to do this a couple weeks ago, but I think we have enough growing season left and the tree is very healthy. Planning to repot into a shallow box in spring 2022 for a year or two before a bonsai pot.

Any Siberian Elm advice is welcome!

 

[hinmo24t]

sweet tree, love the bark and the cuts look purposeful.
after having elms and some hophornbeam for the season i think theyre
some of my favorite or are going to be, fall color, growth rate, etc.

 

[Colorado]

Thanks, I love the bark too! The guy I purchased from is a very talented practitioner, and has it started off on the right foot, for sure.

 

[SilverShoe99]

Is this potted in "bonsai" substrate in the nursery can, or is it in more of a growout mix?

 

[Colorado]

I believe there is a core of native soil and the remainder lava and pumice.

 

[BobbyLane]

there is a nice natural tree in there, if you keep the fork. but yeh needs a hard cut into old wood.

 

[Colorado]

there is a nice natural tree in there, if you keep the fork. but yeh needs a hard cut into old wood.

Agreed! Would you hesitate to do that cutback at this time of year on an elm, Bobby?

First frost is usually about October 1 here, but I can protect from the first few cold fronts to prolong the growing season a bit if necessary.

 

[BobbyLane]

Agreed! Would you hesitate to do that cutback at this time of year on an elm, Bobby?

First frost is usually about October 1 here, but I can protect from the first few cold fronts to prolong the growing season a bit if necessary.

i have done it but not often. i think its a bit late mate. like i wouldnt do it here considering the shit summer we've had but ive hard pruned maples in aug and they responded. sometimes it can take up to 4 weeks or more for elms to sprout from hard chops. much also depends on the power in the roots. i hard pruned a nursery maple last month but it has a pot full of roots.

 

[Colorado]

i have done it but not often. i think its a bit late mate. like i wouldnt do it here considering the shit summer we've had but ive hard pruned maples in aug and they responded. sometimes it can take up to 4 weeks or more for elms to sprout from hard chops. much also depends on the power in the roots. i hard pruned a nursery maple last month but it has a pot full of roots.

Thanks! This what I suspected was the truth but tried to convince myself otherwise for the sake of saving space in my very small garden!

 

[rockm]

Agreed! Would you hesitate to do that cutback at this time of year on an elm, Bobby?

First frost is usually about October 1 here, but I can protect from the first few cold fronts to prolong the growing season a bit if necessary.

I would not cut back this late. Too close to autumn for you. any new growth will be killed with the first frost most likely. In late pruning, you're forcing the tree to spend energy on new growth, when it's also trying to reserve for winter.

 

[Colorado]

I would not cut back this late. Too close to autumn for you. any new growth will be killed with the first frost most likely. In late pruning, you're forcing the tree to spend energy on new growth, when it's also trying to reserve for winter.

Thanks for weighing in! I will heed this advice.

 

[ponderingsage]

When you do cut back...(spring) don't worry it will throw tons of buds at the cuts and below.
They are fun responsive trees.
Looks like good material.

 

[tuffryu]

Great looking elm! I have plenty of siberian elm seedlings and look forward to getting them to something like this.

 

[LanceMac10]

Note the basal/sucker growth. Are you figuring this clue into your observations?

 

[Colorado]

Note the basal/sucker growth. Are you figuring this clue into your observations?

Absolutely. I will keep a close eye on the suckers and prevent them from from becoming too strong. They will likely be removed altogether when I do the hard prune in the spring.

 

[LanceMac10]

And something to take note of in regards to any drastic prune in the future. The tree is showing signs of being likely to throw MORE basal suckers after a drastic prune.

In the future, make sure to give keeper branches good sun. Can drop a good size branch in favor of higher/newer growth.

 

[Colorado]

Thanks, Lance! Great point, and I totally agree.

 

[LanceMac10]

With your climate, keep it in the shade as long as possible come spring. Super hardy, but a few closely spaced thaw/freeze cycles can lead to loss of many roots or worse.

 

[Colorado]

I ended up making some cuts on this tree late summer. We had a long, warm fall. I fertilized heavily and the tree had plenty of time to acclimate after the late summer prune. I made more cuts after leaf drop. I also wired the primary structure at that time.

The tree did great over winter and I did not experience any dieback whatsoever, including on the finest branching.

I repotted it this weekend. I removed 10 GALLONS of bonsai soil and mud from the rootball! I did not bare root - I left the shin intact. I will replace that next repot. I left a conservative amount of roots.

I also wired some of the secondary branching today. But the buds are swelling and I was damaging too many buds so I stopped. It will get a full detail wiring this fall!

 

[Colorado]

This elm exploded with growth this spring:



I cleaned up excess growth and pruned it fairly hard, especially in the apex. This took it a step backwards for now but I think it will be for the best long term structure. I also removed wire. It was already biting in severely in places.



Back out on the bench with a fresh application of Biogold.