Catgedral Elm trunk chop help

[ForrestGump]

I am pretty new to trunk chopping. But I wanted to chop this girl down that I got last year. Can I get some advice on when to chop and how low to go?

 

[rockm]

Wait until danger of frost has passed. Where to chop depends on what you want. The higher the chop, the more immature the final image will be--this isn't a negative, just a fact. younger trees are thinner as they grow up. Lower chops will force more dramatic taper into the trunk as a new apex is grown out and make the final image more mature or even ancient. The final tree will also be a lot smaller with a lower trunk.

Your trunk now is pretty uninteresting and uniform diameter for more than a few feet. I think you'd want to force a lot of taper into a shorter tree with it and skip trying to make that telephone pole trunk into something more by keeping it tall. If it were mine, I'd chop at six inches or even lower and aim for a final image with dramatic taper and a final height in the ten-12 inch range.

 

[ForrestGump]

Thanx for the advice... I'm thinking 3 or 4 inches?

 

[M. Frary]

A good rule of thumb is to chop to 2 times the diameter. So if the tree is 2 inches in diameter chop it at 4 inches tall.

 

[zelk]

I would say it looks like a graft, this is my impression when I tried to look for the best side and angle to perform the trunk chop. Another option is to spread the root ball radially and plant it over a slab. You can perform several air layers and then trunk chop.

 

[sorce]

You can perform several air layers and then trunk chop.

Aye.

Without bark or movement, you could layer an inch or 2 below each "new leader" up there and have a few faster starts.

By the time you get down to the bottom, hopefully it will have a 2in thick new leader to cut back to itself. And bark.
And you'll know a good front, which can help you know which bud to cut back to...ish.

Nice.

Sorce

 

[Zach Smith]

Thanx for the advice... I'm thinking 3 or 4 inches?

When you chop, pay close attention to where those dormant buds lie. They represent the original spots where leaf nodes were present. This is where your new buds/new leader will emerge. If you cut in between the node, you won't get a bud there but rather at the next lowest node. And seal that chop!

Zach