winged elm

[catfish chapstick]

All I did was leave it outside. I'll bring it inside if nighttime temperature drops too low but our winters have been mild lately. Last year this elm didn't die back at all. I thought it would because where I dug it up, surrounding elms appeared to have died back previously. maybe it wasn't due to winter lows. If i can I'd like to collect more of these. There was a huge one with a lot of bonsai potential near the site but it looks to be impossible to dig up without a jackhammer because of very large rocks.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

For what it's worth, I have a moderate sized wing elm that I leave outdoors all year in Southern California. It drops leaves for about four months - from December through March - and has a longer dormancy than any of my other deciduous trees; it is always the last to bud in the Spring (it buds much later than my other elms). Aside from that, it is very hardy and has done very well down here in full sun and full exposure all year.

 

[Oliver Muscio]

For what it's worth, I have a moderate sized wing elm that I leave outdoors all year in Southern California. ... it is very hardy and has done very well down here in full sun and full exposure all year.

Oh, come on! You can leave it outdoors ALL winter in Orange County? Well, Duh!
Read: Winter envy from a former Californian!

Oliver

 

[GrimLore]

For the winter consider putting that pot in a larger ctn with about a foot of mulch in the bottom then filling around the pot with mulch and bring it up 2-5 inches above the surface of the soil - if the larger container is deep enough you will still provide overhead light and natural water with a rigid windbreak. Consider a cheap plastic garbage can. We do this with a few specimens for many years now and it seems to be our experience the frigid winds cause the most damage and the sidewalls stop that... We use pine chip horse bedding, it is cheap and pure pine available the the local Agway. If you really read what I stated you are insulating the pot and base of the plant and protecting the whole thing from those winds. A total investment of under 20 dollars will keep you "wintering" that plant for over ten years before you "might" need more Horse bedding...

Note: If we even really have Winter...

 

[catfish chapstick]

starting to get leaves

finally it's spring and this elm is showing its first leaves. two branches where dead, one being the leader I had wired to point up. I removed the dead branch and wired up a new leader hopefully this one survives and the tree can remain tall, otherwise I will probably shorten the tree to its second branch. I'm just happy the tree is healthy.

so, maybe it's not a winged elm, although there were winged elms (i think) growing near it. how long does it take to form "wings" on its branches?

here is a photo from today. I'm interested in making this tree look good from all angles.

besides telling me to shorten it, is there anything you think I can do to either improve the styling or improve the health (to prevent die-back) of this little elm? I am already considering another chop but I'd like to give it a chance to be tall first.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

I have a winged elm that I have had for about four years ( it is only about 3/4 inch at the base), it has had wings for as long as I can remember. I think they form them fairly early.

John

 

[catfish chapstick]

I have a winged elm that I have had for about four years ( it is only about 3/4 inch at the base), it has had wings for as long as I can remember. I think they form them fairly early.

John

well i'm not seeing any wings yet. if it's not a winged elm, what kind of elm could it be??

 

[Zach Smith]

finally it's spring and this elm is showing its first leaves. two branches where dead, one being the leader I had wired to point up. I removed the dead branch and wired up a new leader hopefully this one survives and the tree can remain tall, otherwise I will probably shorten the tree to its second branch. I'm just happy the tree is healthy.

so, maybe it's not a winged elm, although there were winged elms (i think) growing near it. how long does it take to form "wings" on its branches?

here is a photo from today. I'm interested in making this tree look good from all angles.

besides telling me to shorten it, is there anything you think I can do to either improve the styling or improve the health (to prevent die-back) of this little elm? I am already considering another chop but I'd like to give it a chance to be tall first.

It's possible this is an American elm. Winged elms are eager to put on wings, so if you haven't gotten any over the course of a couple of years I think you have to look at other possibilities. If you get some vegetative growth, snap a pic of the leaf and post it. Am. elm has a distinctive leaf shape (but only on the larger leaves, you can't pick it up when they reduce which they do better than anything else I know).

Zach

 

[catfish chapstick]

It's possible this is an American elm. Winged elms are eager to put on wings, so if you haven't gotten any over the course of a couple of years I think you have to look at other possibilities. If you get some vegetative growth, snap a pic of the leaf and post it. Am. elm has a distinctive leaf shape (but only on the larger leaves, you can't pick it up when they reduce which they do better than anything else I know).

Zach

Thanks Zach, you're probably right about it being an American Elm. The leaves do reduce easily and I have not seen any wings.

I don't know if you can tell or not but here is an image of the leaves.

 

[Zach Smith]

Thanks Zach, you're probably right about it being an American Elm. The leaves do reduce easily and I have not seen any wings.

I don't know if you can tell or not but here is an image of the leaves.

It's harder to tell when the leaves get small. When you get emergent buds, are they crimson? If so it's definitely American elm. Chinese elms have green emergent buds, as do winged elms.

Zach

 

[catfish chapstick]

It's harder to tell when the leaves get small. When you get emergent buds, are they crimson? If so it's definitely American elm. Chinese elms have green emergent buds, as do winged elms.

Zach

that's odd, im pretty certain that they emerged green.

 

[Zach Smith]

that's odd, im pretty certain that they emerged green.

Bear in mind I'm talking about trunk buds in spring. Once the first flush of growth is past, new buds on American elm are also green. It's just one of those subtle things.

Zach

 

[catfish chapstick]

So I guess this is actually an American elm and not a winged elm. It appears to be healthy. I probably don't feed it enough. I feed about once every who weeks with a liquid organic.

 

[GrimLore]

So I guess this is actually an American elm and not a winged elm. It appears to be healthy. I probably don't feed it enough. I feed about once every who weeks with a liquid organic.

Let one leaf grow and grow, American Elms, even the youngest, have much larger leaves 4-7 inches not uncommon. That seemed to be the only way I could figure out what our two saplings were. Also, American Elms are far and few in the wild since the Dutch Elm Disease pretty much wiped them out in the states so I at least consider them a pretty special plant

 

[Oliver Muscio]

I agree with the above. I had a small elm I was once told by a local agronomist was a winged elm, although it exhibited no wings (a variable characteristic he said.) Last year I was working on a new apex and let it grow out a lot. The leaves on the new elongated leader were much larger than when the tree was kept trimmed, and much larger than on winged elms growing in the ground--it was definitely NOT a winged elm. This also demonstrated how much the leaves reduced under normal bonsai culture.
Oliver

 

[catfish chapstick]

update

Here is a current photo of the elm, whichever kind it is (leaning towards American), as you can see the apex branch has died back last winter and rather than train a new branch straight up I let the top branches fan out for a nicer, more rounded canopy. I haven't attempted any carving on this tree but it looks like it could use it near the top.

 

[catfish chapstick]

just an update

the tree is healthy. I'd like to put it in a new pot because the one it's in has a large crack.

Once again, the buds appeared green. I have no idea what variety of elm this is but it gets nice corky bark.

 

[youngsai]

I like this tree and I don't think you should shorten it one bit, it has a nice wild feel to it with the scar on the right, removing that removes it's uniqueness imho, congratulations it is a lil beaut! Scar and all

 

[GrimLore]

Looks nice and old no matter what type of elm it is. I just checked to be positive but my American elms have Red buds pushing and any type I have do not have that bark. I would call that a "keeper" for certain.

Grimmy

 

[catfish chapstick]

Maybe a rock elm. Idk what else it could be but a winged elm. It barks up fast if it grows freely. The are where I dug this one has others like it of varying size. I'd like to go back and eventually get all of them. The leaves reduce well also. I think this is my favorite tree i own right now.