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bonsaiTALK Master Chief
Join Date: Mar-2002
Location: North Central Texas
Country: USA
Posts: 1,000
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Hi Tim,
I've been working on ch. elms for for around ten years. Go to my gallery if you would like to see some of them. Anyway here's a few things to get you started. The tree you have will probably not get any more taper than what it has. You might get lucky with one of trunk tapering methods, but why not just develop the tree with what you have. Here's a pic of one of mine which pretty much resembles yours that I've been working on for nine years now. It was developed this way with the clip and grow method which is basically what I do with all my ch. elms. I will wire only where I really need to. As for wire, ch. elms only need aluminum wire. That will be enought to hold whatever it is you intend to wire, and that can be purchased online pretty cheap. 2MM is a good basic size to use for medium size branches. As for diseases,
the one you really have to look out for is a leaf fungus caled Black Spot which will appear in the spring on the new growth from too much moisture on the leaves. Try not to water the crown at all during this time until the new growth hardens off. The other is scale. Both of these are treatable if you should encounter them.
If you have any more specific questions, let me know.
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Thomas J. 
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