Neglected Chinese Elm
- wrcmad
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Neglected Chinese Elm
Hi all,
I had not kept a photographic history of my trees in the past, but since joining this forum I have been inspired to do so. The development and changes time can bring can be really surprising.
So, here goes my first progression....
This tree has a lot of sentimental value to me, for reasons I wont bore you with. However, I sowed the seed myself in 1987, and it has lived in a pot ever since (except when it thought it had escaped through the drainage holes on numerous occasions). The tree has been in and out of my possession a few times over the years, and has been very neglected over that time. In 27 years it had two trunk chops, and not much TLC. This year I happened to notice some potential in it, so I thought I'd pull my finger out and make something of it.
This tree in June 2014 - very sparse. I Chopped almost everything to start with a bare trunk for spring, keeping only a stump for the first branch, and the sacraficial whip to thicken the last of the trunk to the apex. The red lines indicate the cuts.
By September, I had selected nearly all of the branches from a profusion of budding.
By October, all branches had been selected (leaving a few extras just in case). But I had no luck with bud placement for the first rear branch, so decided to attempt an approach graft using a whip from the a bottom branch.
Today, I had time to start refinement pruning. Here is the before shot:
And After:
I am amazed how much growth this tree has put on in only around 6 months! To give an idea of what is possible in a pot (with a lot of feeding), I have a couple more pics. The first is the sacrifice branch, which has grown from a bud to around 20mm diameter in about 6 months. The second pic shows the first branch with a diameter of around 10mm from a bud in the same time:
Cheers
I had not kept a photographic history of my trees in the past, but since joining this forum I have been inspired to do so. The development and changes time can bring can be really surprising.
So, here goes my first progression....
This tree has a lot of sentimental value to me, for reasons I wont bore you with. However, I sowed the seed myself in 1987, and it has lived in a pot ever since (except when it thought it had escaped through the drainage holes on numerous occasions). The tree has been in and out of my possession a few times over the years, and has been very neglected over that time. In 27 years it had two trunk chops, and not much TLC. This year I happened to notice some potential in it, so I thought I'd pull my finger out and make something of it.
This tree in June 2014 - very sparse. I Chopped almost everything to start with a bare trunk for spring, keeping only a stump for the first branch, and the sacraficial whip to thicken the last of the trunk to the apex. The red lines indicate the cuts.
By September, I had selected nearly all of the branches from a profusion of budding.
By October, all branches had been selected (leaving a few extras just in case). But I had no luck with bud placement for the first rear branch, so decided to attempt an approach graft using a whip from the a bottom branch.
Today, I had time to start refinement pruning. Here is the before shot:
And After:
I am amazed how much growth this tree has put on in only around 6 months! To give an idea of what is possible in a pot (with a lot of feeding), I have a couple more pics. The first is the sacrifice branch, which has grown from a bud to around 20mm diameter in about 6 months. The second pic shows the first branch with a diameter of around 10mm from a bud in the same time:
Cheers
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- Josh
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Re: Neglected Chinese Elm
Well done and a great result. Funny hoe a tree can just sit there and suddenly something inspires you and then you see the tree within. Congrats on the progression so far, that is a great trunk and well worth the effort. Please keep us updated with photos as it progressed. This will be a great tree.
Josh.
Josh.
- kcpoole
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Re: Neglected Chinese Elm
What a lovely trunk and I like the "after" shot.
Congrats to you
Ken
Congrats to you
Ken
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Re: Neglected Chinese Elm
Wow... well done. It has developed well and your artistic styling is great. Nice to see it.
- wrcmad
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Re: Neglected Chinese Elm
About one year since starting work on this tree, and most of the branch framework is in place. Left another whip for a sacrifice branch to try and smooth the transition around a previous chop up high.
The attempted approach graft to place one particularly needed lower back branch failed, so in Jan/Feb I struck a few cuttings off the tree for an attempt at a thread graft this season.
Gave it a big hair cut yesterday and repotted into a training box. Quite a big amount of root work was needed (using a chainsaw). Reduced half of what is necessary - the other half will be done this time next year if all goes well.
Now to start working on refinement and the silhouette, which needs a little more girth.
The attempted approach graft to place one particularly needed lower back branch failed, so in Jan/Feb I struck a few cuttings off the tree for an attempt at a thread graft this season.
Gave it a big hair cut yesterday and repotted into a training box. Quite a big amount of root work was needed (using a chainsaw). Reduced half of what is necessary - the other half will be done this time next year if all goes well.
Now to start working on refinement and the silhouette, which needs a little more girth.
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- Elmar
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Re: Neglected Chinese Elm
Well done!
Must admit that would scare me at this point of my journey ... amazing what can be done to trees by someone that has a good understanding of the horticultural processes!
Must admit that would scare me at this point of my journey ... amazing what can be done to trees by someone that has a good understanding of the horticultural processes!
Cheers
Elmar
Elmar
- kcpoole
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Re: Neglected Chinese Elm
What a nice tree that this will be
Ken
Ken
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- wrcmad
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Re: Neglected Chinese Elm
Update.
Didn't look back after the chainsaw work, so remainder will be completed next July.
Still growing the thread graft with fingers crossed.
Sorry about the photography, but didn't want to do any weightlifting this morning, nor risk disturbing the graft.
I underestimated the amount of attention (hours) a chinese elm of this size needs in regards to pruning and pinching - these things are weeds, and ATM I am tip prunin/thinning twice a week.
Didn't look back after the chainsaw work, so remainder will be completed next July.
Still growing the thread graft with fingers crossed.
Sorry about the photography, but didn't want to do any weightlifting this morning, nor risk disturbing the graft.
I underestimated the amount of attention (hours) a chinese elm of this size needs in regards to pruning and pinching - these things are weeds, and ATM I am tip prunin/thinning twice a week.
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Last edited by wrcmad on December 20th, 2015, 6:45 am, edited 3 times in total.
- Ryceman3
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Re: Neglected Chinese Elm
Might be a lot of work but the reward is pretty obvious. Great tree (and great skills)!wrcmad wrote: I underestimated the amount of attention (hours) a chinese elm of this size needs in regards to pruning and pinching - these things are weeds, and ATM I am tip prunin/thinning twice a week.
"NO CUTS, NO GLORY"
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- wrcmad
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Re: Neglected Chinese Elm
Sowed the seed myself in 1987.Daluke wrote:That looks awesome. How old do you think it is?
- Ryceman3
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Re: Neglected Chinese Elm
That makes that tree 100% yours. Look forward to the day I have something that great and can say the same. Just awesome...wrcmad wrote:Sowed the seed myself in 1987.Daluke wrote:That looks awesome. How old do you think it is?
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