Corky Bark Elm direction Help.

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Nos72
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Corky Bark Elm direction Help.

Post by Nos72 »

Hi,
would anyone like to input style advice for my Elm please, most of its last 14 years with me have been in a small pot and leaning over. im thinking its time to change direction and stand him up possibly, all i know is he could look alot better than now.
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Re: Corky Bark Elm direction Help.

Post by shibui »

The branching is still small enough that you should be able to bend it to whatever shape you want.
:imo: vertical trunks don't look good except for broom style so I would not make it too upright if you want to keep informal upright style. Photo 3 shows that the existing branches might be ok to make broom style elm but you'd probably need to cut all 3 back hard to get better secondary branching closer to the trunk to match the branches and trunk.

I notice that the roots I can see are quite twisted and tangled. I'd start out cutting all the roots short to get rid of the sudden bends and tangles. Even if you end up with a tree with only short stubs for roots it should still grow but you will need to decide how brave you are. Plant a bit deeper so the new roots can grow without getting too dry or sunburnt.
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Nos72
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Re: Corky Bark Elm direction Help.

Post by Nos72 »

elm.jpg
okay so ive repotted in a more informal upright position and removed on branch, i think for now its made a massive difference to the look.
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Last edited by Nos72 on August 28th, 2016, 6:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Corky Bark Elm direction Help.

Post by Andrew Legg »

Well oh well. Now at least we can see it! :-)

I'd be tempted to take it off at the first double branching on the main branch going out to the right. I think that branch is very straight and barren beyond that, and a bit too long too. That's just from this angle though.

Cheers
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Nos72
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Re: Corky Bark Elm direction Help.

Post by Nos72 »

Andrew Legg wrote:Well oh well. Now at least we can see it! :-)

I'd be tempted to take it off at the first double branching on the main branch going out to the right. I think that branch is very straight and barren beyond that, and a bit too long too. That's just from this angle though.

Cheers
thanks Andrew and yes previous pics did make it hard to see, i also though about cutting at that point too. just wanted input again
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Re: Corky Bark Elm direction Help.

Post by Andrew Legg »

Cheers mate. I think you need to encourage lower branches as well. Looks a bit odd to me with those three sparse branches. Wait til it's growing nice and strongly and then cut it back hard. Elms are apically dominant, so you are going to want to keep the top grown trimmed back too.
Last edited by Andrew Legg on August 30th, 2016, 4:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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