AusBonsai

Popped up to Ray Nesci's today to check out the Nursery before their Annual Bonsai Show on the Weekend.(Unfortunately I'm missing out & will have to wait till next Year) Well let me just tell you that it's stocked with a huge selection of new trees & pots...as well as everything else Bonsai.
Found a very healthy Zelkova that looks quite promising with the potential to be a fantastic bonsai in the future years to come. Taper is good from half way up with nice movement. Canopy is already full with 100 & 1 choices for primary & secondary branch selection...Which ones to choose...? really not sure just yet... Hmmm. Tree sits pretty tall @ 80cmH with the trunk thickness @ base being 7.5cmW.
I'll be air-layering to reduce the tree's overall height. And as Ray said 2 for the price of 1 so lucky me...!!! I'll also be able to grow a broom style with current base after layer is removed ....
Below are some pics (apologise for the poor quality)... Have tried some virt's to show taper and movement of trunk & where I'm considering the air-layer.

All Virts...Opinions...Guidance...Welcome

Looks like a plan.
I have a couple Zelkova Serrata and find them to be fantastic specimens for Bonsai.
Random Twigs / branches tend to die on me over winter but they are vigorous tree's and replace anything readily.

Sizeable wounds tend to heal reasonably well and I'll be interested to see where you take this.
Broom style is very common for ZS and your plan will make a powerful base.
I wonder what the Nebari is like!?

Hey Boics...Glad to see that there are other Zelkova fans out there on AB...I too am very interested to find out what the nebari ... So it looks like I'll start scratching back the surface in the morning....

Went through with the air layer last week on the 17th. The sphagnum was only just moist when applying the to the layer. Un-wrapped the foil & checked today...Lots of condensation inside plastic wrap & moss seems to be quite wet...probably due to the heavy rains that we've just had in Sydney. There is some water under the air layer trickling down the outside of the trunk. Should I be concerned...? Seeing as its only been a week & I don't think any roots would of formed, should I unwrap, removing moss and squeeze out excess moisture then replace...?

Bonsaiforest wrote:Went through with the air layer last week on the 17th. The sphagnum was only just moist when applying the to the layer. Un-wrapped the foil & checked today...Lots of condensation inside plastic wrap & moss seems to be quite wet...probably due to the heavy rains that we've just had in Sydney. There is some water under the air layer trickling down the outside of the trunk. Should I be concerned...? Seeing as its only been a week & I don't think any roots would of formed, should I unwrap, removing moss and squeeze out excess moisture then replace...?

I'd say leave it for now. Once the weather warms up, the water will dry up quicker. Once there's some roots, the roots will drink up the water as well as it evaporating or trickling out the bottom.

Good on you for trying a layer, be patient and vigilant in keeping the moisture levels optimal. I find the young roots on a layer tend to dry out quicker than they rot - but that's just my experience.

My only concern would be the trunk rotting but that's probably not going to happen in a week or two on a Zelkova and from what I see the weather is started to warm up anyway?

Cheers,
Mo

Thanks Mo...You mentioned the trunk possibility of trunk rotting...haven't heard of this happening before...What should I be looking for...? & is there any prevention. I was really hoping to get 2 trees out of the 1...but if the trunk rots I may only end up with the top layer. Or would this mean that I may loose both...?

Hello Bonsaiforest.

I'm going to ground layer mine very shortly.
Question. Did the bark and cambium layer remove nice and cleanly from the heart/sap wood?

Boics wrote:Hello Bonsaiforest.

I'm going to ground layer mine very shortly.
Question. Did the bark and cambium layer remove nice and cleanly from the heart/sap wood?

Hey Boics...I found that it was quite easy to remove...Scored bark twice just to make sure that I had cut through deep enough & was really surprised that it came off with ease and very clean. Bark & cambium was about 4mm thick...Only had to scrape back slightly & apply moss. When ground layering, it is the same principle as air layering, do you use moss as the medium around the layer then back fill with bonsai soil...? All the best with your ground layer...

Hey,

If any exposed wood is left in a wet environment - it will eventually rot. But the reason I don't forsee this happening with a layer is that it won't be wet enough for long enough to cause it to rot.

Cheers,
Mo

Ahhh...Relief...You had me worried. I was told that because Zelkova's are in the Elm family that they produce roots quickly and are one of the easier species to air layer. I think that my technique was well applied so hoping that mine will be successful. Will keep you posted.