AusBonsai

Need some advice with this Chinese Elm I have been training at the school for a couple of years and one of the teachers said it had an issue that it needed another branch up the top just under the apex and I was thinking of doing my first thread graft but am not quite sure on where to exactly put it and is this the right time of the year to do it

Hi Paul, Elms should not have problem shooting up near the apex. Feed it well and that branch will shoot out one day. I however would change the potting angle a bit (15 degs CCW). Also pull the lower branches down a bit.
Cheers
DK

Hi Kvan
I like your idea of tilting the tree, will do it in the winter time, Yes I could wait for more shooting but I am not sure where another branch should be, any idea`s
Paul

To my eye there is a gap between the apex and the second and third branch that needs filling on both sides. And also a gap on the lower right hand side. I find my eye is drawn to those negative spaces and in my opinion they need filling.

Tony

I like the trunk and the apex.

If this tree were mine I would repot it into a nice bonsai pot next spring and remove all branches and the apex and spend the next 4/5 years developing the branch structure with no front .

G'day Paul , Maybe a slight tilt to the left as mentioned , wiring and placing of lower branches and 2 extra branches (marked in red) to fill the gaps. make sure you keep some nice back branches for depth.

Thanks Fella`s
Gee how do you blokes do all this stuff put branches on trees that are not there, crickey I have a lot to learn both with bonsai and with editing pictures it seems, wish it was real life and my tree could look like that in such a quick time.
Paul :