Chinese Elm root cuttings and air layers

[alpineart]

Inspired by Craigw60's post on his Elm's from cutting's , i thought i would give a few a go . These are the root cutting from a few Elms i acquired for a wind break and to help with the radiant heat here in Summer , that's my excuse anyway . These are from 3 trunks , i purchase 5 trees as a job lot

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and have planted them already , well i put them in pots and boxes just so they can be moved around

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to serve there purpose to keep the heat off Karens Anigozanthos-Kangaroo Paws garden bed and hopefully protect the Tridents in the front grow bed . All up i managed to salvage 75 nice pieces like these

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, the rest of these

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were just thrown and scattered onto a fresh dug area and covered , if the shoot well i guess i will have to pot them up . Now they are a bit leggy so rather than just prune them back i have suggested to Karen that i could layer them off, at least 50 odd at best , that way they will stay the same height over the hottest months and shade her garden . As usual she thought it was a good idea .

Cheers Alpineart

[Dario]

Hi Alpine
I haven't tried root cuttings from a Chinese elm yet but I think I will give it a go now after seeing Craigw60's rippers and these ones you have just started.
You have some really interesting shapes there and I will be very interested to see them in another year or so
Will you be checking the ones with wire on them to monitor the swelling etc, or will this add to their interest if the wire digs in a bit?
Cheers, Dario.

[alpineart]

Hi Dario , mate i have quite a few small root cuttings kicking around , most have been used in Penjing or Root over Rock . I did loose i lot last year but they where only 10-15mm thick roots .

These are to die for , the biggest chunk is close too 200mm in diameter . The wire can stay on to help the roots fuse together , the ones that don't fuse together will make for some very nice exposed root , Penjing or hollow trunk type trees .With 70 odd pieces there is bound to be a variety of shapes and styles .

I will set up some of the layers today on my day off , after i go back to bed for breakfast .

Cheers Alpine

[Bougy Fan]

Now they are a bit leggy so rather than just prune them back i have suggested to Karen that i could layer them off, at least 50 odd at best , that way they will stay the same height over the hottest months and shade her garden . As usual she thought it was a good idea .

Alpine you are all heart. Fancy growing all that bonsai suitable stock just to shade your missus's garden. There could be a nomination for hubby of the year here

[Brian]

they will make excellent trees one day Alpine. I wish more people would try this technique for turning root cuttings into great growing stock.

[Dario]

They are bigger than I realised, just looked at the pic again.
Cheers, Dario.

[alpineart]

Hi Bougy , mate the things i do for the wife would have to get me a nomination for hubby of the hour, that's 1 hour i'm asleep . Karens excited that her Kangaroo Paws won't get burnt to a crisp this year . If i do this to all those shade trees they will fit nicely over her garden bed and i will end up with 100 plus trainers to play havoc with . I got a bit carried away here with 30 layers

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but i just can't seem to bring myself to prune them back yet , under supervision from the Bride .

Hi Brian , its the topic from CraigW60 that motivated this latest trial . I had a few others from a grafted trunk set into the terrace , but not as keen as i am with this bunch .They should make for some interesting stock in the years to come .

Hi Dario , thats a Silicon/No more gaps tube at 50mm diameter so they are quite impressive as root cuttings .

Cheers Guys Alpine

[alpineart]

Here is a couple of large root cuttings 40-50mm thick that have began to sprout just 6 weeks after i put them into the grow bed

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. These were set around 100-150mm out of the ground in order to get some warmth around the bark , the others are set close to ground level and are rolling up under the bark and beginning to swell . I dare say in another few weeks there will be many more shooting up .

Cheers Alpineart

[PAUL2229]

looking good Alpine

I took some elm root cuttings that are much thinner than yours and they are starting to bud now as well.

also had success with a crab apple root cutting that was taken in winter.

[alpineart]

looking good Alpine

I took some elm root cuttings that are much thinner than yours and they are starting to bud now as well.

also had success with a crab apple root cutting that was taken in winter.

Hi Mate , all the various crab apples i have trimmed over the last couple of years grow well from root cutting , they are so prevalent they look like noxious weeds, absolutely everywhere in the grow beds . Cant tell which is which now until later when the grow somewhat as i have numerous with different leaves .

Cheers Alpine

[alpineart]

With the weather heating up i have decided to remove the layers

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and plant them out into the ground

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.From the 70 set 56 have made it this far . I removed 20 yesterday and 36 today and yes

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there are always a few failures but that's bonsai

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.I'm very happy with the new stock to play with next season , many have excellent movement , utilizing the fork of each branch to produce the desirable movement and taper .

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Now all i need is to slip them into the grow beds somewhere , and start the next set of layers on the trunks . I estimate another 40 layers could be set rather than just hack the tree's back to a suitable trunk line , keeping in mind Karen wants some shade for the front garden . .

Cheers Alpineart

[alpineart]

Well there is at least 30

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of the root cutting's

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growing amongst the material in the grow beds

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. The big sumo root has struck this week

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so they are still thinking about shooting , got to be happy with the results on this lot .

Cheers Alpine.

[alpineart]

These are the mix of root cuttings and layers from the 5 main trunk

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. Some have developed quite well others have struggled , numerous died . All the survivors were trimmed and placed into a new location in a re-worked grow bed

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There is a few different configurations here from single trunks , multi trunks and turtle back .

Cheers . Alpineart

[boom64]

Hi Alpine ,Great work as usual , like getting a present, you never know what you will get .Hope they all power on .Cheers John.

[alpineart]

Hi Boom , there certainly is a mixed bag /lucky dip in here . They should do well in this grow bed with a different soil blend than last year .

Cheers .Alpine