Advice on my English Elm re-pot.

[Bush bunny]

I am going to re-pot this elm, it doesn't appear to have buds as advanced as the maples, and there are roots coming out of the bottom? I've got a much deeper pot than it is in, and planned to do it anyway. Reckon this would be the right time of year. I know from probing it has a big root probably the tap root, and some nice surface roots and some daughters. I think it is pot bound and that's what holding it back. It's my favorite so don't want to kill it.

Any advice will be treasured.


Pat from Armidale.

[Bush bunny]

HELP! Can't get it out of the pot! I cut around the sides, and cut the roots from the bottom drainage hole. Watered it first to loosen the soil, So I will have to wait till No.1 son comes home from work, and it will be a two man job. We'll hold it upside down and try to push it out from the drainage holes. Maybe gravity will help?

[alpineart]

Hi Bush bunny , there wouldn't be an issue bare rooting your elm ,repotting won't harm it , they are rather tuff customers . I have numerous trunks laying around bare rooted due to reno's to the grow beds .They have been out for around 3-4 weeks along with Chinese Elms and Tridents , not in direct sun . They are still relatively dormant .

Try washing the soil out of the pot , to wet it makes the job harder as it expands the soil thus holding it tighter .

Cheers Alpineart

[Bush bunny]

Thanks alpineart, John works at night, so it won't be until tomorrow. Gee, I'll learn next time not to water it. I can't lift it, even on its side. Update tomorrow eh? Hope you like the landscape? I did that instead.

[rodm]

Hi Bush bunny,
Can you post some pics, might help to help with prep the elm for planting and training
Cheers Rod

[Bush bunny]

Yes Rodm, will do. I'm no expert though.

[Bush bunny]

English elm de-potted.jpg

John got it out easily, just tipped it on one side. I am very tired right now so won't be doing anything more today. I'll cover it with a tea towel, just in case we get any frost. It is still quite wet from yesterday's watering. The orange pot is where it is going, with some landscape figurines added. I'll do that tomorrow.

[gerald randall]

Very nice tree. I have many species of elm. English elm tend to be slow to emerge from dormancy. They drop all their leaves in winter, while most of the other species do not in our climate. You can thus treat it as you wish when it is dormant. Having said that, Elms do like to be potted just before they start growing. Once some of the energy has pushed up into the branches and buds. Otherwise you root prune a lot of the energy off and they grow slower in the season following a hard root prune. This one seems to need o good root pruning. Something to consider next time round. Also, do not wait too long before you do the winter branch pruning. You do not want the energy wasted on branches you were not going to keep anyway. Once you prune, seal and this will direct all the energy in the right places. You can then easily balance the energy across the tree in the growth areas you want. The tree seems to need a pruning.

My timing is this. When I see my Silver Bark Elms stating to grow (they start early- they all have four or five new leaf nodes totally open on every new shoot already), I prune all my elms, except the Silvers. They are done in the dead of winter, because they are early. I wire the young trees, very dramatically, the others for maintenance. Many still have wiring on them anyway from last season, but a good time to rethink the wiring and check if the branches have set. Roughly 10 days later, depending on our weather and the bud development on the trees, I repot. In that way the energy is directed to the correct branches, with the wiring setting quicker, while waiting for the energy transfer to the branches before I repot.

Just the way I do it. It doesn't mean that it is the right way of doing it, but maybe there is something in this which helps with your repotting.

[rodm]

Hi Bush Bunny,
Ok at this stage, I would take about 25 mm off all round. Then slice about 1/3 of the bottom of the root ball. Then with timber/bamboo stick and from the trunk going out untangle and straighten out the roots. Have a look under the root ball and see if there is any biggish root stubs going down or sideways chop them off and seal them. Repot with fresh and free draining mix. Water in a Seasol solution, then let it rest for a couple of weeks If it hasn't started to bud up you might be able to do a little bit of branch refinement (shaping). This should of been done well before repotting. Generally I do mine at least a month before.
Cheers Rod

[Bush bunny]

Thanks for the advice. Gerald I by mistake, branch pruned it last summer, so I might just tidy it up a bit, not much. I'll keep you all up to date. But thank you, it is a nice tree in full leaf. I rather like the wild look it has.

[Bush bunny]

Check out my update on English Elm. I'm pleased with it but followed your advice re root pruning, and it wasn't 'arf a job, I had to use a branch saw. Worked OK. Thanks for the kind of advice, and check out my update if you can? There were some various two actually hard bumps that I gathered were the original root cutting or branch cuttings? I didn't remove them not knowing what they were.

Cheers

Bush bunny.