Chinese elm root pruning

[Luke308]

Howdy!!

Repotted the elm I bought recently, and I was suprised to see such large roots. I am wondering how far I can cut the back in one root pruning session? I know elms are pretty hardy and beginner proof, but I would hate to kill a tree with such great potential.

So far I have pruned all downward growing roots, but I have left the huge think roots alone. Is this something I should be root grafting? Or can I cut them back hard without affecting the trees health?

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[shibui]

Few, thick roots are standard for chinese elm. This one has quite a few finer roots as well though. Many have no fine roots close in.
Looks like you have done a great job cutting the roots. Always remember back roots need to be shorter than the others so you can position the tree a little back in the pot.

[Andrew Legg]

. . . . and keep the ones you chop off for new trees!

[Luke308]

Thanks Neil, I was impressed with how many fine roots there were, but I am curious as to how to minimise the big thick roots over the coming years as I am sure they will only get thicker.

Andrew, I kept a heap of roots and potted them up as cuttings so hopefully they take off. ( I also did this with one of my tridents so )

[Craig]

Luke, the root ball still looks very messy and out of order. I would have gone alot harder with the removal of roots, cutting every root to with a certain distance from the trunk. I would have only kept 2 layers of roots coming from the trunk and chopped anything under that off.That is the correct way of building Nebari,,,see Bhodhidharma's tutorial- viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9062&start=0 . This way it will pull a cleaner Nebari and not just be a messy of fused together roots. There's always next time

[Damian Bee]

What's in that mix Luke?

[Dario]

What's in that mix Luke?

Looks like Mt Sylvia diatomite and pine bark nuggets?
Luke will correct me if wrong and add other(?) ingredients.
Cheers, Dario.

[Andrew E]

Luke, the root ball still looks very messy and out of order. I would have gone alot harder with the removal of roots, cutting every root to with a certain distance from the trunk. I would have only kept 2 layers of roots coming from the trunk and chopped anything under that off.That is the correct way of building Nebari,,,see Bhodhidharma's tutorial- viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9062&start=0 . This way it will pull a cleaner Nebari and not just be a messy of fused together roots. There's always next time

Agreed, the roots need to be radially spreading away from the trunk in order to increase the size and produce a better structured nebari. Long term the nebari will improve greatly. If not done the roots that are there will continue to thicken and stay in that curled shape and become an ugly mess over time. Any roots not conforming to this, i.e. curling under or crossing over other roots etc, should be pruned hard and/or wired into a better position. Don't be afraid to go harder next time as elms can take a fair bit of punishment. Any thick roots should be pruned hard to encourage feeder root development.

Cheers Andrew

[Luke308]

What's in that mix Luke?

Looks like Mt Sylvia diatomite and pine bark nuggets?
Luke will correct me if wrong and add other(?) ingredients.
Cheers, Dario.

Correct!! But there is a little bit of zeolite in there too. Approx 80% diatomite, 10% zeolite, 10% pine bark mini nuggets (orchard mix)


Thanks for the advice Craig, I had a feeling I should/could have gone harder, but I would hate to lose such a nice trunked tree because I am impatient. I did actually prune more roots away underneath than what you can see in the photo of the underside. The photo of it sitting on top of the potting substrate is how it was prior to potting up. Being this was only last weekend, do you think I can rootprune some more tomorrow and get away with it??? If so how far would you cut back the fat roots??

[Craig]

Luke, have the buds started to open yet??.

If not then yes I would, but if your not comfortable don't do it now just wait it out another year.It is a very good tree so The call is totally yours but "I would if the buds haven't burst yet".

Starting by removing (1)Every root that grows down that is not needed for the next step (2)I'd cut the large roots where the small red lines are and train all the remaining small roots in white outwards

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[Luke308]

Thanks Craig, your a champ

No the buds haven't burst yet, hence why I started this tree now.

Your right it is a very good tree, I can't thank Shibui (Neil) enough, he does some great work. Unfortunately this one missed out on his root training, but I am still very pleased with the trees progression to this stage, and I know in 3-4 years this will be a show worthy tree.

I shall take your advice and re-pot tomorrow. Watch this space..... more photos to come.