AusBonsai

I recently brought a chinese elm
I've noticed that on the lower branches as the shoots have extended to 4 or 5 pairs of leaves they have a pink flush to them
and i've not noticed this on other parts of the tree. Similarly i had another a few years back that I eventually managed to kill off, and i don't recall the leaves having a pinkish tinge to them. It is only on the newer leaves and not those closer to the branches. Is this indicative of some sort of pest problem
I notice a some die back of one or two shoots closer to the top of the tree which i believe was caused by allowing the soil to dry just a little too much, could these two issues be related.
Lastly, in terms of trimming, I will trim back the lower branches to 3, middle to 2 and top to 1, but i have read the best time to do this is after the fresh growth has hardened. Does this mean that the only ramification increase i will see this season is from the fresh growth, or is it likely later in spring after the shoots have hardened and i trim back that it will encourage a fresh batch of growth, and is this growth likely to be from all leaves or is it likely to only throw shoots from the bud at the base of the leave closest to the cut?
any advice would be geatly appeciated
cheers
Mark

The new growth of Chinese elm in the spring usually are pinkish or purplish. They will green up as they harden.
I like to trim branches after they have hardened as then you get better new buds down the branches. To stop the tree getting bigger and the leaves increasing in size you can trim new growth to 2 or 4 leaves before they harden.
Don't worry, Chinese elms are great for learning on and are very forgiving so just experiment with it and you will find out how to manage it without much harm.
Cheers,
Rowan