Pruning Chinese Elm Bonsai
The bonsai will have been styled and pruned prior to dispatch so you should notice that the new shoots are a slightly paler green colour.
Pruning chinese elm bonsai. Check out our tinyroots 4 piece tool set which comes with a 101 tips book. Pruning is necessary to maintain the right shape of your bonsai and also to encourage new growth. You can prune the roots as you repot the tree but avoid any heavy root pruning. Chinese elm trees are ideal for beginners because their branches can be pruned all year and doing well when new shoots are allowed to develop eight leaf pairs and then trimmed back to two or three.
The basic premise of the clip and grow technique is covered along with directional pruning. In general 2 leaves for the top of the tree as the growth is usually the most vigorous and for lower branches 4 leaves might do. Cut back to 2 4 leaves depending on location and desired shape. Prune away all but the best couple of branches to create an open canopy.
Shape the bonsai tree. You ideally want to leave one pair of new leaves on each shoot and prune off anything longer than this. In good environments elm roots grow quickly and will most likely need to be pruned every year or two. After placing the bonsai in its new pot water the soil thoroughly.
Fast draining soil is important. The chinese elm may go into shock if the roots are pruned back too far. In answer to your question about pruning the chinese elm bonsai. In this video jason works on a chinese elm bonsai that he trunk chopped three years ago.
Frequent pruning of new branches will make your elm fuller. Make a pruning cut on young growth anywhere you wish for the tree to fork since new branches will emerge from the cut. Keep the bonsai in a shady spot for two to four weeks. This is subjective of course maybe you want a longer or thicker branch.
Hosted by jason chan of eastern leaf. The leaves grow in pairs either side of the small shoot. That means removing small branches buds and new shoots. Many bonsai trees including the chinese elm can be pruned and twisted into a number of shapes.
He goes over some basic pruning techniques and discusses things to keep in mind when ramifying the branches on your tree. In this video we go through some of the key techniques in training and shaping a chinese elm bonsai. How to prune chinese elm bonsai trees.