when do I prune back the chinese elm?

Deci22

Yamadori
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So...Jan 15th I got bored and trimmed the CE back to two leaves on each branch, because I was watching you tube videos LOL. I thought for sure I had killed it! poor thing looked like a wet cat. I took it out of the mucky smelly stuff it was planted in last week and put into good draining substrate. The little branches that had two, now have about 8-10 pairs of leaves. I am pretty much convinced that I could run it over a few times with a semi truck and it would still live, however I wanted to know, since I did just move it into better substrate, should I hold off on pruning and let it recover?
 
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Yes, I think general rule of thumb is to only prune foliage when it has hardened off. That way the energy that was used to make the foliage is regained through new foliage by time it has hardened off. Also make sure you don't just cut back to two leaves every time. Need to cut back to a bud when your pruning so sometimes you might have 4 leaves. Also I'm glad your tree is durable but always remember, at least for me, to respect the trees; Better safe than sorry!
 

19Mateo83

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It’s best to let it regain vigor before you prune it back again. It needs time to adjust to its new soil and grow roots. Let it be. The rule of thumb is to stick to one major insult a year. Chinese elm is a hardy species but they can have die back.
 

Deci22

Yamadori
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It’s best to let it regain vigor before you prune it back again. It needs time to adjust to its new soil and grow roots. Let it be. The rule of thumb is to stick to one major insult a year. Chinese elm is a hardy species but they can have die back.
Yes, I'm trying to learn patience. I need more trees, so I have something to do while i wait!
 

dbonsaiw

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Yes, I'm trying to learn patience. I need more trees, so I have something to do while i wait!
That becomes an infinite regression. More trees, exercise patience, so buy more trees. Rinse, lather, repeat.
 

Shibui

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Chinese elms are definitely resilient. The semi you mention may do some damage but my experience is they will recover from almost anything.
That said when and how often to trim depends much on the tree. I've found that 'rules of thumb' are more of a safety net than valuable advice. Sometimes letting a tree grow is a very useful technique, sometimes more regular trimming achieves better results. Each situation can be different even with the same species. Climatic conditions also have much to do with how plants respond so trying to transplant techniques that work in NY to trees in Florida can have unintended consequences.
When unsure letting the trees grow is the safest bet but not always the only way to do it.
Pictures can let more experienced growers see way more than a few words and will usually get you much more useful advice for the tree in question at the time in question.
 

Deci22

Yamadori
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Chinese elms are definitely resilient. The semi you mention may do some damage but my experience is they will recover from almost anything.
That said when and how often to trim depends much on the tree. I've found that 'rules of thumb' are more of a safety net than valuable advice. Sometimes letting a tree grow is a very useful technique, sometimes more regular trimming achieves better results. Each situation can be different even with the same species. Climatic conditions also have much to do with how plants respond so trying to transplant techniques that work in NY to trees in Florida can have unintended consequences.
When unsure letting the trees grow is the safest bet but not always the only way to do it.
Pictures can let more experienced growers see way more than a few words and will usually get you much more useful advice for the tree in question at the time in question.
growth1.jpg here is the tree in question. I am awed by 16 days growth from thistrim1.jpg
 
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You cut back to two leaves when you already a structure set and you want to maintain a silhouette. If you want to thicken, you don’t cut. Let it run. Other times (generally in late autumn/winter) you cut back to improve branch taper, not necessarily to improve ramification. All in all, it depends and there are different reasons to prun (or not) a tree.

After tree repotting, we generally allow plants to grow a bit to help them grow some roots. Yet, this is a Chinese elm, so I am sure you would get away with pruning with no harm to the tree if that was the case. At least, in my climate.
 

Shibui

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That new growth shows the tree is recovering just fine so no need to follow 'one insult'
Allowing some initial growth on shoots will strengthen and thicken them.
After that, regular trimming - grow to 6-10 leaves cut back to 2-3 leaves and repeat as often as the tree grows.

Yearly thin out to select better placed shoots and remove those growing in undesirable direction (or wiring to better direction).
I follow similar program as above from @Gustavo Martins. When and how to trim/prune depends on what results you want.
 

Séan Warnick

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So...Jan 15th I got bored and trimmed the CE back to two leaves on each branch, because I was watching you tube videos LOL. I thought for sure I had killed it! poor thing looked like a wet cat. I took it out of the mucky smelly stuff it was planted in last week and put into good draining substrate. The little branches that had two, now have about 8-10 pairs of leaves. I am pretty much convinced that I could run it over a few times with a semi truck and it would still live, however I wanted to know, since I did just move it into better substrate, should I hold off on pruning and let it recover?
That depend, what is your geographical location?
 
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