Decisions...pls help elm stump

[Popper]

Hey guys so I came across this stump in a friend's yard,being a noob I thought she'd make a perfect Lil piece to play with,learn a little and get some experience

So what we have here is a rather lelike Hackberry stump would u ground layer first?
Or prepare for recovery by cutting the
Roots 1 2 meters away from stump with a spade and as the season progresses get her into pot by summer? Maybe even pruning and clawing here and there especially that right hand sidex

 

[SeanS]

You forgot the photo.
I’m assuming you’re talking about a celtis, which isn’t an elm.

For the non-South Africans, “lelike” means ugly in Afrikaans (one of our 12 official languages)

 

[Michael P]

Photos showed for me after closing and reopening the thread.

Cutting the roots a meter away from the trunk won't help--the new fine roots that grow will all be cut off when you dig the tree. If your hackberries are like ours I would just collect the tree in late winter before bud break and put in a generous sized pot or grow box.

Until you expose the lower part of the trunk you won't know if it needs to be ground layered or not. Good luck!

 

[Popper]

You forgot the photo.
I’m assuming you’re talking about a celtis, which isn’t an elm.

For the non-South Africans, “lelike” means ugly in Afrikaans (one of our 12 official languages)

Lol sorry about that

Photos showed for me after closing and reopening the thread.

Cutting the roots a meter away from the trunk won't help--the new fine roots that grow will all be cut off when you dig the tree. If your hackberries are like ours I would just collect the tree in late winter before bud break and put in a generous sized pot or grow box.

Until you expose the lower part of the trunk you won't know if it needs to be ground layered or not. Good luck!

And exposing the lower part is a no no right nw?
Yeah we in mid spring...no preparation pruning needed?

 

[Popper]

somewhere around there?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Until you expose the lower part of the trunk you won't know if it needs to be ground layered or not. Good luck!

I agree with @Michael P . You could always start doing massive pruning on the top of the tree - but the risk is that you are doing the pruning while guessing at what the nebari looks like. Then when you dig up the tree, you may find that the roots dictate a completely different approach to the upper part of the tree - and that you removed part of the tree that you now wish you had kept.

Likewise, if you do heavy pruning now, it may delay your timing for pulling the tree out of the ground.

 

[SeanS]

Keep in mind Celtis are terrible at healing wounds so choose your battles wisely

 

[BrianBay9]

Yeah, I'd expose the trunk that's currently underground before making choices. Worst case, you could ground layer just below that clump of stuff and have two trees, one clump style and another with a more traditional trunk.

 

[Popper]

Thanks guys
Okay so decided I'm going to go in tomorrow with me Lil spade and dig down till the root flare...we take things from there then