Chunky Hokkaido Elm - where's the front?

[Bonsaiforest]

Hokkaidos root just as quickly as other Chinese elms. You should have plenty of roots to remove layers by mid - late summer most years.Normal rules for layering as Ken pointed out but just be a bit careful when doing your layers. Even Ray's 'strong' Hokkaido is still quite brittle and you'll often end up with the layered parts in one hand and the tree in another while trying to ringbark or tie the plastic on.

Cuttings are easy to strike. If you put in cuttings now they should have good roots by October or November.
Even quite large cuttings will root well. Last year a 2cm thick branch came off my stock tree so I put it in as a cutting and it is growing well now.

Root cuttings also grow easily from Hokkaido elm and are a good source of nicely shaped material.

Above ground growth is slow because this variety is a genetic dwarf. It is full grown at around 60cm tall. Taking 10 years to get to full size is not unreasonable? That's around 6cm per year where a full sized elm might grow 50 - 90 cm per year.

In my experience Hokkaido elm does not do well in deep shade. I've lost quite a few strong cuttings that were kept under the benches in shaded areas. Give them plenty of light to get best growth.

Hey Shibui & Ken, Thanks for all the info... now please excuse the novice, but was really surprised when you said that I could put cuttings in now. It's pretty cold up here and I thought that cuttings are generally planted before spring just before it warms up, or have I just got it all wrong...? What would be the best medium to plant cuttings in...? If I cut back heavier branches to sections without foliage will that area re-shoot in spring & should I use cut paste on wounds or just leave to its own devices..?

[kcpoole]

You can take Hardwood cuttings thru winter.
I usually use a mix of sharp propagating sand and peat moss ( the block of black stuff)

Ken

[shibui]

re cuttings - what Ken said I generally use a coir peat / perlite mix for cuttings. It's probably easier to buy a small bag of Propagating Mix at a nursery. Dormant winter cuttings are much easier to grow than cuttings with leaves in the summer - no need for humidity control, etc. Just takes longer but both will work with proper technique and facilities.

Elms shoot readily when pruned back to bare wood. This one will have been looked after and fed well recently so no problem with vigour. In spring it should shoot all over after pruning.
I try to seal any cuts larger than 8-10mm diam. Most wounds will heal without sealer but I have found that healing is far quicker when they are covered. Also less chance of infection, rot, etc. No need to worry about smaller cuts. They heal quick enough anyway.

[Bonsaiforest]

Thanks Ken & Neil... Clears up every up, I now know everything I need to proceed... Time to get started. What I'm going to do is going to be pretty drastic so that it all works in my favour. Will be cutting back pretty hard to then start a total re-shape. Long term project (even longer being a Hokkaido) but will definitely be worth it in the end.

[Thymetraveller]

So......emboldened by all the advice and suggestions, particularly the talk of cuttings, and further propped up by a trip to Ray Nesci's in the howling tempest, I went for...........................
This!

hokkfront.jpg

I think it works rather well.
Many thanks again for everyone's input; I would never have made such bold moves on a pricey piece of stock like this without your backup.
Having never attempted an airlayer, I was reluctant to have my first go on this tree. I have a Moreton Bay Fig lined up for that dubious honour next spring.

Looking forward to this one filling out over the coming years....now the hunt for the right pot is well and truly on!!!

PS. My daughter approved of the chops to ;@}

[kcpoole]

Now await till spring and cut back the long branches and you will get lots of back budding too use as well
Ken

[Thymetraveller]

Potted up, pruned back, bring on spring!

potty7.jpg

[Boics]

What soil are you using tt?
It doesn't look like the type of potting mix one should use for bonsai. Check some of the many threads on this topic or the wiki.

[melbrackstone]

Looking forward to the progressions, TT! (And hearing about how the cuttings go.)

[Jarad]

Now await till spring and cut back the long branches and you will get lots of back budding too use as well

Is there any particular reason you didn't wait till spring?

[Jarad]

D-D-D-DOUBLE POST!

[Thymetraveller]

Is there any particular reason you didn't wait till spring?

Hi Jarad,
When I went to pot the tree I noticed that the largest remaining branch was in fact snapped, and only held in place by the wire - blimey these things are brittle! With that one gone, and with the tree shut down for the winter, it seemed logical to whip off the other two as well. They went straight into cutting pots with a dab of hormone gel so, with any luck, there'll be several cool little mames to go with the big one.

I'm really happy with the extended trunkbelow the soil line and the nebari. If it pulls through, it's going to be a very enjoyable tree!

[Thymetraveller]

I thought I'd post an update on this thread. The pic is already on another post, but for the sake of progression, it belongs here too.

IMG_20161119_190422.jpg

The new growth is actually pretty flexible, so I put some wire on to go give it a less "surprised" silhouette. I'll be cutting the wire of verrrrrrrry carefully when it sets...