"here I currently live the place was built in the 1999-2000 year,the outer area was brush cut for a fence to run the lines of the property.There is about a thousand 1"-4" thick cedar and winged(flat branched) elms that were cut down to about 10" tall,growing freely in the ground you can still clearly see where the trunks had been cut down."
You might go out an collect some of them and use them for bonsai
. They are very easy to collect, as they recover quickly from sever handling. I've dug 60 year old cedra elms, removed all their roots in Nov. and shipped them across the country. They sulked until the following June, but resprouted and took off after that. .They are extrememly tough and vigorous.
They can be root pruned of all their feeder roots and recover. They can be top pruned extremely hard. Trunk chops will close in a few years in a container--depending on root run and wintering conditions--some shelter is necesssary the first couple of years after collection.
Established collected trees will heal very quickly, in my experience. The wound from removing a branch a half inch in diameter will close just as quickly or more quickly than Chinese elm. I have both as bonsai. I have kept cedar elm in containers for over nine years now.
The lack of healling could have alot to do with the cut paste. Rewounding the edges of the cut surface IN THE SPRING, and allowing them to go unsealed will probably help.