AusBonsai

This was just a stick in the pot, when I bought this at a Bonsai show. Newbie like me, thought "Elm", it was practically a give-away. Anyhow, the trunk had been chopped off and left 15cm of trunk. That was in November, 2015. I have used a trunk clamp and have a nice movement (or so I think), plus 1 branch trained up for the top. Can anyone offer any suggestions to make this tree look better. New leaves are coming at the end of the branches.

I think you are on top of it Hawkeyes. It needs branching now so i would be feeding it and letting it grow. You will be able to make branch selection in the next year or two.

Thanks Bodhi. Should the top be cut back a bit?

Dat ain't no Chinese Elm bud, dat dere is a Chinese Hackberry.

Andrew Legg wrote:Dat ain't no Chinese Elm bud, dat dere is a Chinese Hackberry.

Dat dere is Celtis Andrew, dead right (Should have looked closer) Makes a good Bonsai though. No H.E's i would leave it for a while to thicken and get some branching. It needs some food by the look of it too.

Well spotted Andrew To the untrained eye they do look similar so the confusion is understandable.

How you proceed depends what sort of bonsai you want to develop.
Large, thick trunked, impressive bonsai: let it grow to develop the trunk before trying to grow branches.
Smaller, delicate bonsai: start grow/pinch cycle now to develop ramification and foliage pads.

A few more months down t track, have defoliated some of the big leaves, but do I need to chop some off the top. Any other clipping I need to do. Any critique would be welcomed.