Collected Winged Elm

[markyscott]

@markyscott thanks for the continued posting and progress commentary on this Elm. I’ve been learning a lot from this posting as I get closer to digging up several American Elms in my growing ground area. I’m gaining confidence for my next steps.

And...I keep looking at that cart that appeared earlier in this post. I need to find the base cart...and then I believe I can accomplish the wheel change.

I’ve made one other modification. I’ll take a picture to try and describe.

S

 

[markyscott]

Nice post, thanks for sharing your work.
I look forward to see new shots of the new shoots!
Greetings from Spain!

Leafing out


Scott

 

[markyscott]

First year of pinching



S

 

[Tieball]

Nice and full. The tree is filling out nicely....good healthy growth. Mighty fine! Well done.

 

[markyscott]

Fall work. First thing, fall happens. Takes a few minutes here in Houston. Then cutback. Done.

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

From summer to winter. Nice

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

From summer to winter. Nice

 

[markyscott]

Spring!

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Close up shot of the buds breaking, please ?

 

[markyscott]

Close up shot of the buds breaking, please ?

S

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Beautiful tree. Love the start to finish on this.

 

[markyscott]

More spring pictures.


S

 

[markyscott]

Must be spring. The Catt is in bloom.

 

[markyscott]

Mr. Elm has his summer clothes on. Almost ready to start with the pinching. This tree entered the stage where it was appropriate to begin that process last year when I pinched the new growth for the first time. The tree has responded very well and you can see how much more dense the foliage has become as a result. Pinching is one of the last stages of branch development and should only be done when the main branch structure is in place.


S

 

[markyscott]

The tree has grown thick and dense. I’ve found that a number of problems start occurring at this level of refinement. The outer canopy gets very dense, shading out light from the interior. As a result, the inner shoots start to yellow and die. The density of leaves on the apex and upper branches shade the lower branches. On apically dominant trees, this is problematic because the apex is stronger anyway. All of this has to be brought back into balance to maintain the health and the shape of the tree. Lengthening shoots can get overly strong too, thickening to the point where they grow out of proportion.

On Japanese Black Pine, we all know the drill - the tools we have to control growth and balance energy by controlling fertilization, decandling and selective needle removal. But how do you do it on broadleaf hardwoods? The same way, more or less, but instead of decandling and pulling needles we use pruning and selective leaf removal. Remember that these are refinement techniques - developing trees is different.

Should we remove all the leaves? I almost never do unless I’m getting ready for a show. Injudiciously removing all the leaves wastes one of the best tools you have for balancing energy. Instead, remove all of the leaves from the strongest growth and leave a more on the weaker growth. Leave more leave on the lower branches and fewer on the upper branches and apex. This is called “partial outer canopy defoliation”. It is used to weaken the strong growth and strengthen the weak growth as well as allow light and air to penetrate the outer canopy to keep the interior shoots healthy.

S

 

[markyscott]

Look at the interior growth here. See the yellowing? That comes from being shaded by the outer canopy. It also means that I’m already a bit late on this tree - the inner growth is already weakening. I should have been chasing after this a couple of weeks ago.



S

 

[markyscott]

The process for me is -

1. Prune back lengthening shoots to 2-3 leaves.
2. Prune any downward facing shoots
3. Entirely defoliate the apex and prune strong shoots back to weaker growth.
4. Defoliate the strong shoots on the upper branches. Cut the leaves on the weak, interior shoots in 1/2
5. On the lower branches, cut the leaves on the strong shoots in 1/2. Leave the weak interior shoots alone.
6. Wire any salvageable shoots growing in the wrong direction and bend them into place

 

[markyscott]

Pruning and defoliation:

 

[markyscott]

In progress


Done


Lot’s of leaves left on the tree. More on the interior than the exterior. More on the lower branches than the upper branches. I didn’t touch the apical growth on the secondary trunk I’m developing - I want to encourage that to extend and thicken for a few more years.

- S

 

[Smoke]

Like most elms, you overbuilt that top. It looks like another tree on top of a sparsely populated tree.

That defoliated picture of the top just accentuates the two tree look. Like six branches in the lower two thirds and 10 or more in the top 5 inches.

Whats the plan for that?

For me it would be to remove more than half the branches in the top.