AusBonsai

Here's a Chinese Elm I picked up in July and as a novice I'm stoked I found one which had awesome movement in the trunk for a shohin bonsai.




After cutting back hard July 28, with some wiring assistance from Leon, SOB.



Buds August 19



Growth September 6



And more growth October 1



Still a few years till a proper bonsai but happy I made the trunk chop on this one early.


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Banong,
You'll be trimming continually in no time by the looks of that vigour.
Keep posting the progress shots - have fun ( & don't be too concerned about making a "proper?" bonsai)

Well done. I’ve already cut my cork e back twice and defoliated once this season!


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Thanks guys!
im assuming would only completely defoliate once im up to the ramifaction stage for smaller leaves?

I am concerned about the reverse taper but im told it will rectify itself over the years as the top part of the tree will have more foliage and should thicken up.

Update.

New angle for the tree.
I know best time to repot deciduous trees is winter, but can I slip pot just for the new angle?






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Looks like a good start elms are pretty good to start off with.

Looking Good Banong.

So you mentioned you have already cut back twice and defoliated? So did you cut back two or three nodes on the branches you wanted to keep? And by defoliation, did you remove all leaves?

My Elms have been flourishing this season and I was wondering if I should start trimming now?

seephil wrote:Looking Good Banong.

So you mentioned you have already cut back twice and defoliated? So did you cut back two or three nodes on the branches you wanted to keep? And by defoliation, did you remove all leaves?

My Elms have been flourishing this season and I was wondering if I should start trimming now?

Chinese Elms will need constant pruning over the growing season.


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Looking at the amount you're wanting to change the angle, why would you want to bother going to the effort? A few degrees shouldn't affect the way the tree grows toward the light from where it already is, but repotting can slow down growth. If it were mine I would just let it grow unhindered under the soil until winter. If you were planning on changing the angle completely that would be another story, but for something so minute while it's in training I can't really see any pro's to it. Just my opinion.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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Pearcy001 wrote:Looking at the amount you're wanting to change the angle, why would you want to bother going to the effort? A few degrees shouldn't affect the way the tree grows toward the light from where it already is, but repotting can slow down growth. If it were mine I would just let it grow unhindered under the soil until winter. If you were planning on changing the angle completely that would be another story, but for something so minute while it's in training I can't really see any pro's to it. Just my opinion.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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thanks for the advice, i guess i see others just placing something underneath to have it at that angle, but you're right, shouln't make much diffence as the tree still training and a few years away from a bonsai pot
Cheers Pearcy

your little tree would hardly notice if you just repot enough to change the angle like you have proposed. I can understand that it is easier to see the tree if it is at the correct angle so if you want to make the change I would go ahead.

Absolutely - I would have probably done about 3x angle changes already!!!...have fun with this now.

i've received a few responses and i guess i could go with either way and repot at the new angle or not.
if it will slow down it's growth i'd be leaning more towards leaving the tree till the right time i can repot, which is when the tree is dormant.

which lead me to my next question, can i repot when the tree when it is in summer dormancy?

I always thought spring was the 'ideal' time to repot Chinese Elm.
In fact, I think I have re-potted them whenever the urge arises .
They are pretty hardy & forgiving of many forms of torture.
I doubt you will be slowing your tree's growth down at all by doing your proposed angle change now.
(You may eventually discover once your foliage silhouette is well established, you'll wish you could actually slow it down! )

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong???

Keep Calm and Ramify wrote:I always thought spring was the 'ideal' time to repot Chinese Elm.
In fact, I think I have re-potted them whenever the urge arises .
They are pretty hardy & forgiving of many forms of torture.
I doubt you will be slowing your tree's growth down at all by doing your proposed angle change now.
(You may eventually discover once your foliage silhouette is well established, you'll wish you could actually slow it down! )

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong???

ah yes, you are correct, deciduous trees are to be repot just as the buds start swelling which tells you the energy from the roots are being pushed to the tips.
it would be awesome if we all had a play, pause and ffwd button haha.