Hopefully Canopy Chinese Elm

Such'sBonsai

I've always liked the look and form of canopy trees. I bought this Chinese Elm last week from Bonsaiboy.com

I live near Tampa, FL. My climate zone is 9, close to the 8 zone.

I have plans to maintain and hopefully transform this Chinese Elm into a Canopy type Chinese Elm. Some aren't big fans of the S-Shaped Elms. However this one is suttle, that and I really just don't care what you think :-D

I did some preliminary pinching/trimming of the top-end inner budlings and left the bottom ones completly alone, reading the threads from http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...ght=Chinese+Elm it saying that these methods would be promote taper since these trees, especially in this form need all the help they can get tapering into a fine looking tree. There were 2 old nasty stubs left from the nursery in which I bought it from, on the lower part of the trunk that I cut off flush (and do intend on making concave -for healing purposes- but unfortunatly my tool supply really really lacks because I have a shallow wallet)

I REALLY NEED some people to step up and drop some posts on as to what I should look out for, *special* maintenace for this type of tree, and helping overall tips on how I should get this job done. I've literally been sitting here over 10 hours (probably the longest sitting session in the past 2 years) and read every post possible trying to sponge myself with knowledge. I know the basic fundamentals on how to take care of the Bonsai, but I wish for this one to be in the very best health (let along not dieing.) I would like to have it look something like this gentlemen's fine piece of art. http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...ght=Chinese+Elm (This is nothing short of mastery.) I know it takes a GREAT deal of time and patience, I would just like to start off on the right foot.

Stuff I Wish I Knew:
1.) How to properly expose and cultivate a healthy Nebari.
2.) Fattening a trunk (by other means than top-end pinching) if possible)
3.) Properly gnarling branches.
4.) Supplies without having to go to the internet/ends of the earth. Mainly sealant and annealed copper wire.
5.) Proper ridding of fungus and liverwort type deals (if it happens)
Thanks-
Tim

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D3rutat

1: a beautiful root base develops with the bonsai. Here's what you have to do:
on each repot use a root hook and comb the roots from the trunk towards the end of the roots(inside-out) this will eventually create a nice root spread.Then cut any big roots which don't belong there(ex: roots that are one above other, they are not natural looking) but not too many, about 2 on a healthy tree
Continue with the regular root pruning procedurees

2:i haven't heard of fattening a trunk by pinching.it actuallly slows development.If you want to fatten the trunk let it grow freely for about 2 years and plant it in a large pot.

3: if gnarling means wiring then it's hard to wire on a chinese elm. The development is pinch-and-grow.You can only wire the main branches.it's hard to wire bcos the smaller branches are small and dense

4:i'm not from usa but if i can't find wire i use electricians wire.That's all the help i can give you

5::Liverwort is usually removed by hand or use a set of tweezers.
Fungus means that the pot stays too wet for a long time. You can either change your soil mix or use a fungicide

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Thomas_J.

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.