Plant ID & is it worthy?

[jessepap]

Any ideas here?
Also do people think the trunk might be worth while to dig up and use for bonsai?
Thanks all

[Daluke]

Chinese elm.

Is it worth it? Everything is worth it if you have the time.

[juan73870]

I would, but then again, I'd say that to anything

[jessepap]

Ha! I think I will - it’s quite an old and thick trunk will be interesting to see what it’s like. Looks like a pretty wide base to it. Bit damaged today taking something else out.

[juan73870]

Elms can withstand some heavy torture so once you pull it out, just chop it back hard to a rough shape of where you want it to go and see what happens. You'll have some fun with it I'm sure

[Homer911]

Looks a bit like Zelkova. Either Chinese elm or Zelkova, DIG IT!! Always worth a go....

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[jessepap]

I had a small dig around the base this morning. It’s quite a thick trunk below the surface and it’s a solid tree.
Any tips to hand dig this out? Other than the obvious? Dig wide and deep? Doesn’t look like it will come out easy!

[juan73870]

Doesn't matter if you cut the deeper roots, as you need to do so to fit in a pot anyway. Elms like this can withstand pretty harsh root chopping, so don't stress, just dig it up with a nice chunk of radial roots and pot her up.

[shibui]

I really reduce the roots when digging Chinese elms. Even big roots can be cut short because elms are quite capable of bowing new roots as easily as they grow new buds up top after pruning so no real need to keep long roots.
Note that elm roots exude clear gel substance when cut so don't be alarmed if you see this.

Chinese elm can have strong, deep roots. I broke a backhoe trying to dig one up. Take your time with the digging. It gets harder as you get further under the stump so you may need a wider hole to be able to chop/shovel/saw those roots heading down. Does not all need to be done in one go. When you get sick of digging just fill the hole to keep the roots damp and come back another time.

Best results for me have been late winter/ early spring. A few early dug elms seem to get infection through the cut roots in winter.

[jessepap]

Thank you guys.
I did a little dig but this thing is an old tree and I am going to have to invest some time to get it out.
Agree shibui I am going to take my time. I had a first thought that it would be fairly easy haha!!! This looks like a seriously hard task to get it out. But I want it now! It has a very thick stump. Hmmmmm to the drawing board.
It’s good to know I can cut roots - I saw a couple of the roots and they are very thick and grounded... hmmmm

[juan73870]

As shibui noted in another recent thread, any roots that are cut away from the tree can also be utilised to make really nice gnarly trees from themselves.... So you could possibly get a few nice trees out of this little (big) project.

[greg27]

I did a little dig but this thing is an old tree and I am going to have to invest some time to get it out.

Invest in an axe too

[shibui]

Battery powered recipro saw is great for cutting roots in confined spaces. Blades don't last long so get some spares.
Axe is good for chopping surface roots but really difficult to get a good swing at the deeper roots under the trunk.

[greg27]

Battery powered recipro saw is great for cutting roots in confined spaces. Blades don't last long so get some spares.

I didn't think of a recip for roots - something to add to my birthday list

[jessepap]

This half hour job so I thought I can see is no easy task!
We are talking about a proper tree removal