AusBonsai

As you can see the trunk is dead straight

I was thinking of chopping at the red line below and developing a new leader to add taper and movement.

Hi,

I have a similar elm with a straight trunk about the same height. I have decided to trunk chop it but will wait till late winter to do it. Then will try keep it short and develop branches.

Why not just let it grow for a couple of years ? You can chop it when its thickened a bit.
In the mean time I would develop the apex with a plan to airlayer it in the future.
That way you get 2 trees perhaps more at repot if root cuttings are keepers.
The top tree will be well under way and the base much thicker for a better start.
If you decide to chop now I would cut lower under your red line reducing strait bit more.
Hope that helps

Why not keep the straight trunk - it is, what it is, at any height.
Good candidate for developing broom style - especially being vigorous CE.

I'm in a similar situation as you as one_bonsai and bonsaeen but have decided to let it grow and work on pad development with the view of air layering later or keeping it as is. Here's a couple of photos from a bonsai show I went to in November,

The first on has a straight trunk like your's with beautifully developed pads
And this one is a raft, the tree heavily favoured one side with branches which sort of seems like yours does too. I'm by no means an expert and I dont even know if you can do a raft with an elm at the stage yours is at but its a cool alternative.

Keep Calm and Ramify wrote:Why not keep the straight trunk - it is, what it is, at any height.
Good candidate for developing broom style - especially being vigorous CE.

That's not a bad idea. So with a broom style is it a matter of fanning out the branches?

one_bonsai wrote:

Keep Calm and Ramify wrote:Why not keep the straight trunk - it is, what it is, at any height.
Good candidate for developing broom style - especially being vigorous CE.

That's not a bad idea. So with a broom style is it a matter of fanning out the branches?

Do a search here on "broom style" (or Hokidachi) & I'm sure you'll find many examples, as well as getting to know what other community members have tried & feedback on the subject.
Chinese elms lend themselves to being very good candidates for Broom style, as they are fast growers & love being trimmed. They respond really well to clip & grow method.
See link below for many examples of trees that are very "traditionally" Broom style while others have simply borrowed elements of the style, to best suit the material at hand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ_vJwmDub4