Developing taper on Chinese Elm

[BirchMan]

Hi,

I just wanted to post up a skinny, straight elm i bought from a bonsai nursery during the winter. I thought it had nice nebari, and this will be improved when root trimming is done at potting up. At the moment it's in a garden bed for 1-2 years trying to thicken up, and with its lack of any movement i'm left with only really the broom style to go for, but there are some good examples around for inspiration (e.g. Craig's one).

All branches at the moment will be sacrificed, but i'm wondering how detrimental to taper the thick branch at the right hand top (at the flat cut) will be. Has anyone had experiences with high branches causing inverse taper? It'd normally be gone straight away but it seems to be full of leaves so it's providing good growth. Does anyone have any tips for getting it bottom-heavy fast, other than feed like crazy?

[hoang nguyen]

Hi
Have you ever thought of bending the trunk!!The outward bend will be at the first branch .
It is hard to kill an elm so give a go


Cheers
Hoang

[bodhidharma]

At this stage i would let it grow with consistent feeding and watering regimes and leave as many sacrifices on the bottom as you can. Next time you dig it up (2 years) trim and put a large flat plate under it for it to grow a more pronounced Nebari. Put it back in the ground for a further 3 years, Welcome to the patient world of Bonsai

[Craig]

Hi Birchman, what you could do is use the lower branch as a new leader, scollop the area out so it heals better and wire the branch up. Give a better start to a good taper and then let it go crazy for a few years. Maybe look at getting rid of the root that i've marked with a red cross,and try to keep the roots buried under soil,it looks like yours are above,

maybet1-.jpg

This is a Pin Oak done in the way i described,,,,,,,,,,

oakt1-.jpg

Craig

[GavinG]

One way to build an interesting, angular trunk, would be to cut back to the lowest branch, and let it grow long and thick. Then next year cut that back to about 3-5cms, and grow one shoot from that one, long and thick. Do that for five years or ten, and be careful with the angle of each shoot. You then get a thick, dynamic trunk which tapers. When you have the trunk you want, feed well, cut back and wait for the budding all over the trunk - this time, you select the 3-6 buds in the right place for branches, and develop from there. Standard Clip and Grow method.

I'd also cut back the second layer of roots under the visible layer, as they will take strength from the ones you want. And bury the top ones until your tree is ready for a pot.

Elms do get interesting trunks, with the help of cold-blooded thuggery.

Gavin

[Graeme]

Birchman, the first thing you have to decide on is, what sort of tree do you want?
Would you like a Broom style? Then just let the tree grow on in the ground until the trunk has the thickness you like and cut it back to the height you want and then start growing the top on.
Want an informal upright style tree? then cut the trunk off just above first branch and plant the tree at an angle back into the ground and grow on till you attain the trunk thickness you would like. Cut it back again and grow on once again until you get the tree you like.
Remember, even although you are growing the tree on to acheive some girth to the trunk, you should still dig the tree up yuearly and root prune, before planting it out again.
One last thing, make sure you cover those roots with soil if you want them to improve. Uncovered they will mature and bark up.

[craigw60]

If you want to develop taper you need to get the sacrifice branches down low not at the top of the tree, the sacrifice branches will thicken any part of the trunk below them so if you have them at the top of the tree it is kind of anti-taper. When growing a tree such as yours you need to start at the base and work your way up don't try to develop the whole thing at once.
Craigw

[BirchMan]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I forgot to add the dimensions, just the trunk that will be retained is 25cm high and about 3cm (~1 inch) thick at the base. I know there are some fine roots above the ground, it was basically "slip-potted" from it's bag into the garden bed in a bit of a mound. I'll be sure to pack some soil around the roots this weekend.

Graeme, I guess the style i want would be informal upright, but i didn't consider taking it down by 3 quarters because the stock cost me $75! I guess i was that much less informed as to what stock is worth only a few short months ago... I'll give some thought to a clip and grow informal upright rather than a broom, as i've got plenty of stock of other species that are more committed to the broom (thicker and straight).

I'll be sure to post the progression of where i take it.

[Asus101]

I remember someone at the canberra bonsai club saying its very hard to branch thicken on elms....

[Taffy]

Birchman - at that price, if you think cutting it down to the first branch is too expensive an exercise, how about air-layering the top off just above that first branch. That way, you'd end up with two trees for your $75.00 - and have double the fun working with both of them.

[kcpoole]

Birchman - at that price, if you think cutting it down to the first branch is too expensive an exercise, how about air-layering the top off just above that first branch. That way, you'd end up with two trees for your $75.00 - and have double the fun working with both of them.

I was going to suggest doing just that.

Layer off the top ad make an inpformal out of it, and use the bottom as the start of a broom

Best of both worlds

Kne

[Ray M]

Hi BirchMan,
I agree with the last to replies. I have been doing a lot of Air Layering on Elms. They are very successful. Here is the article I wrote on the subject. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6154

Regards Ray

[Ray M]

Hi BirchMan,
Sorry I forgot to mention that I am putting a new article together showing two of the Elms after removing the layers. I will let you know when I post it.

Regards Ray

[shibui]

Graeme, I guess the style i want would be informal upright, but i didn't consider taking it down by 3 quarters because the stock cost me $75!

Why do people assume that cutting a tree makes it less valuable? Keep an ordinary $75 tree entire and it will continue to be an ordinary tree. A cut in the correct place should be seen as adding value. The tree will certainly be better in future and therefore worth much more.

Another point is that informal upright trees definitely look better if the trunk rises from the ground/ nebari at an angle rather than vertically. Too many trees are planted vertical from the start and by the time they get to reasonable size like this one the nebari has set and is hard to alter. Try planting seedlings and cuttings at an angle from the start to get better informal upright trees for the future. Fortunately elm roots are really flexible and it could still be possible to get the trunk at an angle.