Ulmus procera..building show winning Nebari

[bodhidharma]

A huge heading i know. But we have to always strive to create the best Bonsai possible. This is a blow by blow description on the root work that must be done to create said best possible Bonsai. An English elm (Ulmus procera) must be repotted every year to get the optimum growth. If you leave it for a year the growth slows down dramatically and you lose potential growth time. I have missed a potting and observed growth slow down so much it nearly stopped. It is now the perfect time to repot Ulmus procera and perform any root work necessary. Please feel free to comment or add info to this thread as it is a benefit to us all here at A.B.

[Chris Sirre]

That's great advice Bodhi!

Thanks,

Chris

[bodhidharma]

Thanks Chris,
I hope the people in the forum will find it helpful

[Chris Di Nola]

Great Post Bodih

[irish]

Hi.

Thank you for showing how to do that. I have a Elm in a 8 inch pot that i was given to by a person at the beginning of this year. As i am very new to Bonsai this will be my first attempt at trimming the roots on a tree!

Is it possible to cut the height of the tree back at the same time

The tree will be placed in the ground when pruned.

Regards.
Irish.

[Tony Bebb]

Thanks Chris,
I hope the people in the forum will find it helpful

Great post Bodhi.

If that is not helpful you are not really looking.

It is one thing to say it, but far better to show it.

Look forward to next years growth.

Tony

[Scott Roxburgh]

You are a champion Bodhi! that tree is going great!

[kvan64]

Thanks for the valuable info Bodhi. I was wondering this was an airlayer of thick cutting? My uncle just chopped down his giant garden chinese elm last week and gave me a few cuttings as thick as 7 to 15cm. I gave a way a couple but put the rest in a bucket of water in hopping that it will pop up roots like olive. I checked this morning and there is a lot of jelly like substance in the buckets. Not sure how these big guys will do.
DK

[bodhidharma]

Is it possible to cut the height of the tree back at the same time

That would not be a problem Irish.

Great Post Bodih

Thanks Skippy, hope it helps.

It is one thing to say it, but far better to show it.

Couldnt agree more Tony. Fairly important stuff.

that tree is going great!

Thanks Scott..in another five years i reckon it will be the goods.

Not sure how these big guys will do.

Thats interesting Kvan, treating it like a willow cutting. Keep us posted on success or failure.

[Dario]

Hi Bodhidharma, firstly let me just say that that is a stonker!! Must have been hard work!
And thank you for sharing the knowlege too!
A couple of Q's if ok...
When you say that this elm was flat cut/bottomed, is that like an olive is, leaving no roots on once it has been cut? And if so, was this done on collection or the year after?
Also what soil mix do you find best for Ulmus procera in your local conditions.
Pines are my favourite but I really like English Elm (way more than Chinese Elm etc) and the Colin Lewis book was amongst the first I read and agree with you that the opening section on elms is really informative.
I will be collecting my first one on Friday...top chopped a few months ago, only small but hopefully a good starting point to learn about them.
Cheers, Dario.

[Grant Bowie]

Nice job,so many people forget about the importance of a healthy, functioning and beautiful root system.

People tend to get overwhelmed or impatient with collected stock and only focus on the trunk and branches.

Grant

[FatMingsBonsai]

Great post and thread for the beginner and advanced person, thanks..
Refreshes memories and learn/pick up something new each time

Cheers BD

[Mojo Moyogi]

Nice post Bodhi, now I am looking forward to giving my proceras a decent whack below soil level. As you know, they are a very underrated species for bonsai in Australia and are very widely available if you know where to look. I'll have to show off some of mine now, a little early to repot here at the moment, perhaps in a couple of weeks.

Cheers,
Mojo

[bodhidharma]

When you say that this elm was flat cut/bottomed, is that like an olive is, leaving no roots on once it has been cut? And if so, was this done on collection or the year after?

Hi Dario, No you cannot flat bottom an elm like an olive, not to my knowledge anyway. I leave higher roots on the tree and cut off underneath them. Over a period of years, as the tree develops new root systems, i cut off the old roots slowly as you see in the photos. Go slowly and do it when you think the tree has enough roots to sustain it. English Elms are busy trees and should produce lots of roots. My soils are not complicated and there is a thread on soils already posted and i have contributed to it.

People tend to get overwhelmed or impatient with collected stock and only focus on the trunk and branches.

100% percent Grant. I am aiming, like yourself, to promote a better quality of tree in Aus. Hopefully, one day, i will have a tree good enough to send to you guys in Canberra.

Great post and thread for the beginner and advanced person, thanks.

Great post and thread for the beginner and advanced person, thanks..

Thanks FMB, appreciate the compliment.

Nice post Bodhi, now I am looking forward to giving my proceras a decent whack below soil level. As you know, they are a very underrated species for bonsai in Australia and are very widely available if you know where to look. I'll have to show off some of mine now, a little early to repot here at the moment, perhaps in a couple of weeks.

I agree, more people should be developing them. You have to keep on them though and i think that wears people out. They get out of shape so quickly. Looking forward to seeing yours Moj

[alpineart]

Nice post Bodhi , very informative , need to get onto mine or they will take some hard work to pull them back . Time is against me .Cheers Alpine