'Yatsubusa' cultivar of elm

[cmeg1]

Well I just had to post about'yatsubusa' elm.I have decided to start propagating this cultivar.Where I got my stock from,I was told by the grower that they strike from cuttings easily.We will see.I made 36 semi-hardwood cuttings of them today.No matter to take any pictures of them yet.I will post if they root.
Anyway,I fell in love with this cultivar cause' it performs really well with the rigours of amateur tactics of bonsai.I bought it in autumn of 2011 and it is still alive today after an absolutely marauding root prune this spring.It survived on my deck in 3 gallons of potting soil in a pretty cold winter.It fell in the teens at night for about two weeks straight.I thought for sure it was a goner.Then I gave it the brutal root prune in spring.It is flourishing.The cultivar is always back-budding on a regular basis for no apparent reason.On a 10 year old tree I am continually removing shoots from quite old trunk.They are quite vigorous also.I really hope some of the cuttings take so I can develop them.I am going to develop trunks and then cut back hard every so now and then.They seem to really take to that well.I know I always post the same trees all the time,I am sure you will have seen them on another post.The one with the brutal root pruning,then a picture as purchased in 2011,then the 10 year old struck by cutting and purchased by me in 2012.
I would love to see any pictures of some yatsubusa elm purchased from Evergreen Gardenworks.Them specimen ones were awesome.anyone have any?

 

[davetree]

I am glad that you found a variety you really like. I have regular Chinese elm, J. Hillier, corticosa, yatsubusa, seiju, and Caitlin. All of these are tough and back bud like crazy. They all root cuttings with ease. So if you want to branch out, you could do it easily. You will have an army of elms in no time.

 

[bonsai barry]

Looks like its thriving, it will make a fine bonsai.

 

[Anthony]

I am glad someone said that they also grow from root cuttings, as often the roots have more personality and are much thicker.

There is another yatsubusa, that you might enjoy, if I can find an image I will post it here for you. The leaves reduce well to say almost a 1/4" and budding can be abundant, but is easily controlled, the only problem is getting the trunk to really thicken. Source for us was Canada.
Good Morning.
Anthony.

An image from 2010 with a very long branch for trunk thickening, I will for look for one from this year 2013.

 

[catfish chapstick]

if they root successfully plant some into the ground and let them grow wild or use some in your landscape.

 

[cmeg1]

if they root successfully plant some into the ground and let them grow wild or use some in your landscape.

That is a very good idea.Thanks Catfish.I could let them go wild and then air layer many trees from one.

 

[cmeg1]

In my book by Peter Chan,Bonsai Masterclass,He sais' elm,zelkova and trident maples can be made from hardwood cuttings up to a half inch thick in early spring when using bottom heat.I definately have to give that a try.

 

[Poink88]

In my book by Peter Chan,Bonsai Masterclass,He sais' elm,zelkova and trident maples can be made from hardwood cuttings up to a half inch thick in early spring when using bottom heat.I definately have to give that a try.

Even bigger.

Yes, try it...just don't make very long cuttings, remember you need to feed that piece with just absorption from the bark and stored energy at first. The bigger the volume to feed, the higher the risk of failure. Volume goes up considerably as you get thicker diameter.

I have several 2" plus yaupon holly & crabapple cuttings that survived. Working on 2" Trident maple cuttings now that were flooded for 2 weeks. Some died due to it but a few are still struggling. Also have other bigger cuttings going just to experiment.

I need to try and give it better treatment next year and report back.

 

[cmeg1]

I am definately getting excited about layering.Harry Harrington said' now is the best time to startnlayering so you have abetter chance to separate the tree before winter.He recently posted a nice article on the subject.I want to go to the surrounding nurseries tomorrow to check out the trees and shrubbery.Harry said' the trees that back-bud a lot send out the most roots from what would normally be dormant adventurous buds.I bet you that 'yatsubusa' elm layers nicely cause' of the freak back-budding.If my cuttings make it I am definately going to ground grow and really try to push growth on them and make trees on trees for future layers.On Harry's website in the article he shows a 5" trunked air layer of an English elm.Bonsai4me.com.Really great article.Hope I find something interesting tomorrow.

 

[Poink88]

I pulled one of the dead 2" trident maple cutting (due to flooding) and checked. It already calloused all around and even have a few roots already when it died. What a shame but proves it can take. I still have a couple but they are struggling. We will see in a month or so if they make it.

Layering is totally different so your chances are higher but may slow the development of your main/mother tree more.

 

[cmeg1]

Well,no elm cuttings.I think if I would of put the cuttings under full spectrum fluorescent they would of stayed green longer and rooted.About half of them calloused,but eventually lost the leaves.I felt very confident at first cause' they stayed green for quite a while,but I think they needed more light.Well if I desire more of the yatsubusa's I will travel to Maryland to the bonsai nursery and buy them.They are quite fun.I have two of them now that I am training.I will update the two below in their own threads as these photos are from earlier in the season.