Need some help please!!

[griffo84]

hi i bought this elm today at ray nesci;s im fairly new to bonsai, i have a rough idea but still at the very early stages of this beautiful hobby,i started to cut back and wire this tree then i suddenly didnt know what to do next,i hope some of you can help me out,thankyou griffo,

bonsai 003.JPG

bonsai 006.JPG

[craigw60]

Hi Griffo, its a young tree keep heaps of branches its easy to remove them down the track and much harder to put them back on. Elms look good with the branches trained more like a broom that is with an upwards slant rather than down like a conifer. Your tree could be shortened a bit but the most important task is to wire every branch. Don't even think about potting it up until late winter early spring next year, just start training it and feed it heaps. Just take your time with it no oint rushing.
Craigw

[kcpoole]

I would possibly chop it where the bulge in the trunk is ( about 2/3 the way up),and use the branch bit on the left as the new leader / top

ken

[Mitchell]

What Ken has said would work, but since you have the wire out, why not continue and wire the top branches and bring them down like the bottom ones you did. Perhaps we can hide the said bulge, whilst also establishing a formal upright tree.

[astroboy76]

so this is the tree in question?

i would leave it to be honest. let is grow freely then cut it back hard just before next spring. if u let it grow free all season it will get a lot of strength and vigour. so when u give it a hard prune next spring u will get loads of back budding along the existing branches and the trunk. then u can carefully select branches to keep and start working again from scratch

at the moment the two bottom branches are handle barred and only have budding at the tips and the top is too congested and too thick. i think let it gain vigour then cut it back and it will shoot everywhere. form these new shoots u can develop a great broom style

[kcpoole]

What Ken has said would work, but since you have the wire out, why not continue and wire the top branches and bring them down like the bottom ones you did. Perhaps we can hide the said bulge, whilst also establishing a formal upright tree.

Sorry but no way you can make a formal Out of this one. ( ps my pet hate is people trying to put a tree out as a formal when they are glaringly not)

A formal Upright MUST be Dead straight Vertical, with no bulges, lumps and with very formal Branching Left, right, back, left, right, back, with even spacings and Sizes. The nebari must be radiating evenly and the same sizes as each other

I have heard it said, that there are NO good formal uprights in Australia as it so hard to get perfect. If it Aint perfect, then it aint a formal upright
I have also heard several people say that a formal is the hardest style to do as they must be So "correct"

Ken
ps Where is the Ducking "Emoticon" ?

[griffo84]

THanks everone i now have a vision,much thanks!!