Zelkova Serrata; fused trunks?

[John P.]

Wondering if anyone has seen fusing behavior with Japanese elms?

I'm surprised these trees aren't more popular on this board.

Thanks,

John

[alpineart]

Hi John , mate i can't say i have ever seen any in my time . There is no reason not to try them . They grow like noxious weeds so the would fuse in a season .. Usually Japanese Elms are utilized for there bark/trunk , fusing would have a different effect on the bold smooth look but i will be giving it a try .I have 3 - 600mm side shoots close together on my big tree and i plan to plait them over the next week or two then layer them off . .

Cheers . Alpineart

[John P.]

Thanks, should've figured you were already doing this!

Just ordered some seeds; we'll see!

[alpineart]

Hi John , i cant see the point in wasting branches and side shoots when they can be used as something different to the normal tree. I took some cuttings last year from this big trunk with a 50 %strike rate just pushed into the sand trays in which my trainers sit in all year round in the shade house .I didn't use any rooting powder as such , but they would have had plenty of fertilizers passed through the sands . I have taken Juniper Sqamata , Juniper Procumbens and Juniper Sabina using these sand trays without hormone powder . Waste not want not .

Cheers Alpineart

[John P.]

That's great to hear (re: the strike rate on cuttings). Seems a lot of the Google searches I ran came back with poor results from cuttings on Zelkovas, though most of the poor results came from problems overwintering the cuttings (which here in Southern California shouldn't be an issue).

[NBPCA]

Hi John

Zelkova are easy to strike from cuttings and if the seed is fresh you should also get a very high germination rates.

Here is a link to an interesting group of Zelkova we have here at the national collection.viewtopic.php?f=129&t=5450

Grant